Why Aston Martin’s failure is BAD NEWS for Audi

Audi F1 Aston Martin looked very promising in the 2023 Formula One season with lots  of podiums and great results. Unfortunately for the Silverstone team,   they slumped in the second half of  2023 and never looked fast again. That’s very bad news for them but  also for another giant in Motorsport. The German manufacturer Audi is  preparing for their entry into   the pinnacle of motorsport in 2026 and they  are planning to be competitive immediately. That is a huge challenge and  one that many tried before them. I’m Wimbo, Here’s three seconds to leave a like. Aston Martin Underwhelming Aston Martin underwhelming. The current Aston Martin F1 team ticks all the  boxes needed for a successful Formula One team. When Lawrence Stroll invested in Aston  Martin taking a 16,7 % stake in the company,   they rebranded the Racing Point team  he owned into Aston Martin F1 Team. So there are significant funds to run the team,   especially since technology company  Cognizant became their title sponsor. Lawrence Stroll is a fashion  billionaire, so he knows his business! The team also had great drivers on the grid. Well, Sebastian Vettel is a four-time World  champion and he scored the team’s first podiums. Unfortunately, the second-place podium was taken   away due to not having enough  fuel in the car in Hungar. The other driver was and still is Lance Stroll. He’s paired up with a two-time world champion now. Fernando Alonso scored loads  of podiums in the period when   Aston Martin was competitive however,  lately he has not been in a good mood. I’ve read that the AMR24's issues largely flare up  in circuits with longer radius or faster corners,   and that’s why there’s a lack of performance at  tracks like Barcelona and the Red Bull Ring.  In 2021 they grew the workforce from 535 to 800   employees to make a team  that can fight for titles. Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer was replaced by   Mike Krack who worked for BMW and  Porsche in motorsport for years. In 2021 the construction of their  new factory started where there   was a place for every department  needed for a Formula One team. From design and manufacturing  to a brand-new wind tunnel. The facilities aren’t finished yet and they are  using the Mercedes wind tunnel in the meantime. Everything seems to be in place but  the results are pretty poor so far. The design team led by former  Red Bull engineer Dan Fallows   is struggling to create a car that is  quick enough to fight the teams in front. They currently sit at p5 in the standings. Aston Martin is still hiring class people in the  F1 scene like Ferrari's Enrico Cardile as chief   technical officer and Andy Cowell as group CEO,  Aston Martin is also hoping that it can improve in   the short term before their new personnel start  to have an effect on the team going forward. The only big change that is still  coming is a new engine supplier. Honda has been very successful in the history of   the sport but they keep coming  in and leaving all the time. They stopped the collaboration  with Red Bull who started their   own powertrains department because of it. Honda then decided to come back  in 2026 for the new regulations   and will supply Aston Martin with the new engines. So maybe they’ll be fighting ready in  2026 but seeing how they’ve fared the   last 3 seasons a lot more needs  to happen before we have an Aston   Martin constructors championship or  a driver from that team with a title. You can’t say they aren’t trying their best. Lawrence Stroll is throwing everything but the  kitchen sink at it but so far it isn’t working. And that doesn’t bode well for  an ambitious team like Audi. Audi's Ambitions Audi’s Ambitions. The manufacturer from Germany announced  in August 2022 that they will join F1   as a power unit supplier when the  new regulations are set to start. Instead of being an 11th team on the grid  they bought out another team to join F1. After years of running teams in different  forms, Sauber has sold the team to Audi. The small Sauber team had relatively  small facilities in Switzerland so   big investments were made by Audi  to get the whole project on track. Another big facility was built in  Neuberg Germany and the two sites   need to work closely together over that distance. Audi is jumping at the opportunity  to be in F1 since there has been a   big boom in the sport with lots of  new fans interested in Formula One,   and the budget cap makes it possible to outline  the cost needed to have the team running in 2026. Which was difficult in the years  before the budget cap when the big   teams just spent whatever they wanted and  none of them made a penny through the sport. The cars will feature increased electrical   power and 100% sustainable fuels  will be introduced in two years. Audi has a deal with BP Castrol and the different  types of sustainable fuel are being tested. Audi says the development of the  engine and the fuel is on track,   but I didn’t expect them to say otherwise. The early processes were led by Seidl and Hoffman,   but they were let go out of  their position not so long ago. I suppose the groundwork was  done, something Seidl did really   well for McLaren too and now it’s time  for the next phase with fresh blood. So former Ferrari team boss and  a personal favourite of mine,   Mattia Binotto was announced  as chief operating officer. His first hire is Red Bull legend  Jonathan Wheatley who will be teamboss. So Binotto running the technical department and   Wheatley running the operational  side looks like a very good lineup. The Stake F1 team, which is what  the team is called at the moment,   struggled with pitstops all season long and  that’s a speciality of Jonathan Wheatley. The first driver they have signed is  the German veteran Nico Hulkenberg. The second seat is still to be decided on. It’s very well possible that Valterii Bottas will   keep his seat for another season,  before getting a proper driver in. Just kidding. Bottas is great! I like him. Zhou and his yen friends might stick  around if Alpine doesn’t pick him up. I might be forgetting a few details about  Audi joining Formula One, but all in all,   this looks pretty decent and  they have set the bar very high. And this is where the problems start. Bad News Bad News So now we’re getting to the point of this video. Throughout the history of  the pinnacle of motorsport,   there have been new manufacturers and  teams who joined with great promise. The last team who were taken over  to start another team was Alpine and   it’s safe to say they aren’t shaking up  the grid with their great performances. Ocon did score a win in a bizarre race in 2021  with a lot of assistance from Fernando Alonso. Before that, there was Honda who returned to F1   after a break in 2015 when they  supplied engines to McLaren. This also failed, but eventually, they  found success with Red Bull 5 years later. Before that happened there was a new team called   Mercedes who started their own team  after taking over Brawn in 2010. It took them 41 races to score their first win. What I’m trying to show here is that it  takes more than showing up with a car,   staff and facilities to have  great achievements in this sport. Aston Martin, as I described  at the start of the video,   has everything in place to win  prizes, but so far have failed. They are ticking all the boxes  and there is more to come,   but as it stands I don’t know who to  put my money on for the 2026 season. We know the grid will be shaken up again with  these new regulations but it’s safe to say some   teams are already better equipped to handle new  regs, especially when it comes down to engines. The easiest bet would be on  Mercedes, or one of their customers,   as Mercedes knocked it out of the park  in 2014 with the hybrid V6 engines. Although I don’t think they  have a headstart this time. lol Ferrari has built loads of engines  in-house too so they know the score. They haven’t won anything in ages either,  but there are other reasons for that. The engines were the least of their problems. Red Bull just started a new department to   build their engines in-house in the  Red Bull Power trains department. That’s not a guarantee for success either. And then there’s Audi who is brand new at   the game and Honda who is building  engines for Aston Martin in 2026. What I’ve seen over the years is that   many fantastic teams on the grid take  their position in F1 very seriously. They score podiums sometimes,  and they win occasionally,   but to really excel like Mercedes  and Red Bull have done since 2010,  a team needs exceptional people and a vision  beyond just ticking the boxes and 5-year plans. Unless Adrian Newey is indeed joining  Aston Martin and they finally get rid   of Lance Stroll, I don’t see  Aston Martin winning titles. And the same goes even more  for a new team like Audi. They are brand new and shouldn’t  set the expectations too high. All that does is set yourself up  for huge backlash and criticism. I know they were successful in other  motorsports and they are a huge serious brand,   but looking at the history of Formula  One, a team joining and dominating just   doesn’t happen. Prove me wrong! Subscribe! Take care now! Doei Doei!