Stroll projects title fight for Aston Martin in 'four or five years'

Lawrence Stroll is making every effort to transform Aston Martin into a championship winning outfit, but the Canadian billionaire expects it will take "four of five years" to realise that ambitious aim.

Since the summer of 2018, when he led a group of investors to buy Force India, Stroll has invested significant time and money in the Silverstone-based squad.

From the team's rebranding to Racing Point and then this year to Aston Martin – in the wake of Stroll's take-over of the legendary British sportscar manufacturer – to the construction of an all-new state-of-the-art factory and a wind-tunnel, to the growing of the team's human resources, Stroll's baby is on a 'no compromise' transformational path to the Canadian's favourite destination: success!

"We’re currently in a good place," Stroll told the media this week. "We share Mercedes’ wind tunnel, so we’re in one of the best wind tunnels.

"It’s not as good as having your own, but it’s not like we’re sacrificing by being in a poor wind tunnel.

"Facilities-wise, we’ve definitely outgrown our facilities. We’re putting up a lot of temporary facilities around our site in order to accommodate all these new hires.

"I think we’ll be in the new place in 18 months, call it 20 months, the end of next year.

"We’re not really compromising on anything. Formula 1, like any other business, I don’t think you could realistically plan on winning before four or five years. I think that’s realistically what it takes."

"My track record, pretty much as with every other business I own, is to win. In this case, winning in Formula 1 means obviously world championships, and ultimately that's what we are striving for, what I am striving for.

"Of course, we all know that success in Formula 1 - or any other business for that matter - doesn't come overnight. It takes years to put the right people, the right tools, the right processes in place.

"But we are building and investing in our team, with the ambition of moving up the grid year by year, and our ultimate ambition is to win world championships."

Aston Martin's aggressive recruitment driver has seen it hire recently top Red Bull aerodynamicist Dan Fallows as the team's future technical director, his co-worker Andrew Alessi and Alfa Romeo man Luca Furbatto.

On Wednesday, Aston announced its latest recruit, Mark White, a motor industry veteran who spent time at Honda, as the team's Operation Director.

"We are hiring brilliant new senior technical and engineering talent all the time," commented Stroll.

"The result will be a technical and engineering strength in the company, and the depth, equal to, if not better, than any other F1 team.

"We announce pretty much almost on a weekly basis now, hiring brilliant new senior technical and engineering talent.

• Read also: Aston Martin staff growth still 'a work in progress' – Szafnauer

"If you're going to be a push around, for lack of a better word, I don't think you're going to succeed in this sport or in any other sport," added the Aston Martin chairman.

"I don't know that I've been a disrupter. I've stood for what I believe to be correct. I have not made a significant investment in this company, not to be fighting for world championships. So we're going to do whatever it takes, within the rules, obviously.

"And being a gentleman, I don't think we've done anything that any other team wouldn't want that's trying to build a fantastic organisation. I speak out when I think something's been wrong."

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