DUNBAR

Aston Martin begins its strongest push for

Formula 1 success

Can Aston Martin really take on Formula 1’s big teams? The squad, previously known as Racing Point (among many other monikers), has long had a reputation for punching above its weight. And, with Lawrence Stroll’s financial clout behind it, that punch should soon have a lot more energy. Whatever you think of Stroll’s commitment to running son Lance in one car, and the move of the Aston Martin name away from its traditional home in endurance racing, it’s hard not to think that a beefed-up version of the slick Force India/Racing Point squad will be pretty effective. This season is too early to challenge Mercedes and Red Bull – Aston will surely be in the fight with Ferrari, McLaren and Alpine for third spot in the constructors’ championship – but the team is another eyeing the new 2022 regulations with relish. What it can achieve this year will be heavily influenced by what it’s drivers can deliver. Sebastian Vettel has to revitalise his career after a dismal final campaign at Ferrari, while Stroll Jr needs to step up his game to justify his long-term place in F1. But, as several key members tell Luke Smith in our cover article on page 20, the team believes it can create the right environment for both to thrive. We couldn’t let Aston’s fine GT programme with Prodrive pass into history without a proper farewell, so Gary Watkins takes a look back at what could be argued is its finest motorsport period (p32). So far…

Kevin Turner Chief Editor kevin.turner@autosport.com

NEXT WEEK 18 MARCH Who won the testing war? Our in-depth analysis of

Formula 1 testing

in Bahrain

COVER IMAGES Aston Martin, Motorsport Images/Ehrhardt

PIT & PADDOCK 4 Le Mans postponed until August 6 Quartararo tops MotoGP test 8 Aitken to race GT Lamborghini 10 Aston Martin AMR21 technical analysis 12 Williams FW43B technical analysis 15 Opinion: Alex Kalinauckas 16 Opinion: Marcus Simmons 17 Opinion: Hugh Chambers

ASTON MARTIN SPECIAL 20 Aston Martin targets F1’s big guns 28 The team’s F1 peaks and troughs 31 Top five ‘Team Silverstone’ F1 cars 32 Prodrive and Aston’s enduro success

INSIGHT 40 Can DJR succeed without Penske? 44 Brian Redman’s top 10 drives

RACE CENTRE 51 World of Sport: NASCAR Cup

CLUB AUTOSPORT 58 New arrive-and-drive Audi TT series 60 Junior saloon aces join Mini grid 62 More changes for April club events 63 Opinion: Andy Meyrick 64 Autosport’s top 2020 club racer

FINISHING STRAIGHT 68 What’s on this week 71 Have-a-go hero: Yelmer Buurman 72 From the archive: 2001 French GP 74 In defence of: aerodynamics

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11 MARCH 2021 AUTOSPORT.COM 3