Martin Whitmarsh returns to F1 with Aston

Aston Martin has announced that former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh will join the team as CEO of its Performance Technologies division. Whitmarsh was last involved in Formula 1 with McLaren in 2014 but will return with Aston to oversee the team’s “transformation into a World Championship-winning organisation within the next four to five years”. As well as involvement with the manufacturer’s F1 efforts, he will also oversee technologies across key divisions of Aston Martin.

In 2014, Whitmarsh was brought in by the FIA as a consultant to inform the regulatory changes around the cost cap, introduced this year. Most recently, Whitmarsh was selected by Lewis Hamilton to join the board of the Hamilton Commission that has been set up to increase diversity and black representation within motor sport.

“I am delighted to have been appointed by Lawrence [Stroll],” Whitmarsh said. “I have known and admired Lawrence for many years and have been extremely impressed by his formidable business acumen and his ambition. Equally, I have always respected ‘Team Silverstone’, if I can call it that, which has often punched above its weight under its various incarnations, including Jordan, Force India and Racing Point, and which now has the weight with which to punch harder than ever before.

“Lawrence intends the Aston Martin Formula 1 team to win World Championships, and I would not have joined him in that endeavour unless I was utterly convinced that it was an entirely achievable aim.”