Stroll Senior Wants To Be Knighted For Aston Martin & F1 Team Investment

The billionaire Lawrence Stroll believes he deserves a knighthood for saving thousands of jobs at the iconic British sports car maker Aston Martin. Stroll didn’t just acquire the struggling company best known for providing James Bond’s vehicles; he also took over Force India, the former Jordan Formula 1 team. In 2020, Stroll first turned Force India into Racing Point, then rebranded it as Aston Martin’s F1 operation in 2021, after his consortium gained control of the car company.

Under Stroll’s leadership, Aston Martin’s value has skyrocketed. Mercedes is a major investor, and Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff owns a large personal stake. The Chinese Geely group has also invested, and recently Lucid Motors took a share in exchange for electric vehicle technology. The F1 team’s fortunes have also risen, with Aston Martin beating Ferrari in the constructors’ championship and Fernando Alonso posing the only credible threat to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

The F1 team has just moved into a new factory and hired top talent like Red Bull’s former technical director Dan Fallows and ex-McLaren F1 chief Martin Whitmarsh as CEO of motorsport.

“I deserve a knighthood for what I’ve done,” Stroll proclaimed. “I’ve saved thousands of jobs and built a new F1 factory with hundreds of millions in investment. The sums are staggering.”

“Our cheapest model now is the Vantage,” Stroll told Gear Patrol, “but with the next generation of sports cars, that will go up. I can’t see an Aston Martin for under £200,000.”

Stroll said that when he took over as chairman, “For 2024-25, I want £2 billion in sales, £500 million in EBITDA, and 9,000 to 10,000 cars. Well, we’re ahead of those projections from three years ago. Way ahead.”

“There seems to be no limit to what people will pay for an Aston Martin,” he added.

Of course, part of the appeal of Stroll’s F1 investment is that his son Lance drives for the Aston Martin team. In 2017, the younger Stroll became F1’s second-youngest driver at 17 with Williams. In 2018 he moved to Force India, which went into administration, leading his father to acquire the team. But Lance Stroll’s career has been uneven, flashing brilliance and petulance while being outperformed by teammates.

Against the legendary two-time champion and most experienced F1 driver Fernando Alonso, the gap between Lance Stroll and the front has been glaring, especially given Aston Martin’s competitive 2023 car. Were it not for Stroll’s poor performance, Aston Martin could have been second in the constructors’ championship, ahead of Mercedes.

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