Aston Martin recruits former McLaren man Martin Whitmarsh

Martin Whitmarsh has been recruited by Aston Martin where the former McLaren team principal will serve as group chief executive officer of Aston Martin Performance Technologies.

The Aston Martin division will encompass "the brand’s Formula One activities and will also develop, apply and take to market the Group’s technical capabilities and intellectual property, with the aim of providing best-in-class innovation, engineering, testing and manufacturing services across a variety of key industry sectors".

From 1989 to 2014, Whitmarsh enjoyed a 25-year tenure with McLaren in various positions culminating with the role group CEO and team principal of the McLaren team.

As a long-standing member of the Woking-based outfit and an ally of former McLaren owner and chairman Ron Dennis, Whitmarsh was involved in more than 100 Formula 1 wins and multiple world championships achieved by McLaren.

"I am very pleased to announce that Martin [Whitmarsh] will be joining us as Group Chief Executive Officer of the new Aston Martin Performance Technologies, from October 1st 2021," said Aston Martin executive chairman Lawrence Stroll.

"Martin will enjoy senior leadership responsibility and will assist and support me in setting the new strategic direction for Aston Martin Performance Technologies and its subsidiaries, including the crucial objective of leading the transformation of Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team into a Formula One World Championship-winning organisation within the next four to five years, and evolving it into a £1 billion business over a similar time period.

"Martin has enjoyed a long, successful and high-profile career, spanning the motorsport, automotive, aerospace, marine and renewable-energy sectors.

"Moreover, he is a proven winner in Formula One. He is therefore the ideal person for the job of working with me and our senior management team to lead and inspire our workforce to future success both on and off track."

• Read also - Stroll: New Aston Martin factory 'the reverse' of McLaren's MTC

Whitmarsh is obviously no stranger to 'Team Silverstone', having been attentive to the outfit's performances in F1 in its previous guises and witnessed its ability to "punch above its weight".

"I have known and admired Lawrence for many years, and I have always been extremely impressed by his formidable business acumen and his seemingly inexhaustible ambition," said the 63-year-old Briton.

"Equally, I have always respected ‘Team Silverstone’, if I can call it that, which has often punched above its weight under its various previous incarnations, and which now has the weight with which to punch harder than ever before.

"Lawrence intends Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team to win Formula One World Championships, plain and simple, and I would not have joined him in that endeavour unless I was utterly convinced that it was an entirely achievable aim.

"I know what it takes to win in Formula One, and, inspired by Lawrence’s leadership and backed by the skill, passion and resolve of the workforce, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure that our team becomes the winning operation that Lawrence is determined that it should be."

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