Stroll targets wins as Aston has 'the weight to punch harder'

Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll wants more podiums and perhaps a couple of race wins in 2021 for his rebranded team which vows to follow a step-by-step process to become a championship winning outfit.

Team Silverstone which finished fourth in the Constructors' standings last year will revive the Aston Martin name in F1 with the help of new major partner Cognizant.

Stroll says the American IT company will play a "digitally transformative" role in F1 alongside Aston Martin.

"There’s lap time in IT...it gives us a digital engineering expertise to help the team go to a new level,” the Canadian told Reuters.

"This team has always punched above its weight. Now that we are Aston Martin and with the backing and support of Cognizant, we will not only punch above the weight but have the weight to punch harder."

And a harder punch implies another step forward in the team's performance level in 2021.

"My aim with this, like the other businesses I've owned, is to win," said the Canadian billionaire.
"F1 is a process that takes years to be successful; it is not an overnight thing, but no business is built overnight.

"This will be the same. I want to continue where we finished last year, only stronger.

"We had several podiums, we had a win. I'd like this year to have several more podiums and another win or two - step by step fighting for more and more wins."

As the team embarks on a promising future that will include an on all-new factory set on its Silverstone premises, Stroll says he queried technical director Andy Green on the potential changes required to turn Aston Martin into a championship winning.

"I said: 'We have the new rules coming in for 2022, we are here to win, it's why I'm here, it's why we're all here, but I have the ability to give us the resources we need to win," he added.

"What would we do if anything differently in order to become world champions?’ And Andy said: 'My initial answer is I don't think I would change a whole lot.’"

• Aston Martin confirms Cognizant as F1 title partner

However, one significant change that has already occurred for the ambitious outfit is the arrival of a four-time world champion, and Stroll has no doubt that new recruit Sebastian Vettel will help lead Aston to where it wants to go.

"Sebastian had a very challenging year last year," Stroll said.

"All of us would find it challenging that you lose your job before the season starts. That's mentally very difficult, and you know how mental a game F1 is for drivers.

"He had a car he found tricky to drive that didn't suit his driving style. We've seen that before in his last year at Red Bull [in 2014].

"But he's a four-time world champion. I don't think he forgot how to drive in one year. He has a work ethic that is known as second to none in the paddock in terms of how hard he works.

"One of the ways we are going to be world champions is to get my guys to think and act like world champions. And how you do that is bring a four-time world champion into the team," added the 61-year-old businessman.

"He is going to take the team in a direction of leading us to where ultimately we want to be.

"I am not concerned," Stroll added. "I know Sebastian well, and I have 100% confidence and belief he will do a fantastic job with us. He is more motivated than he has ever been."

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