Luxury carmaker Aston Martin unveiled its first new Formula 1 car in more than 60 years with the help of Tom Brady and Daniel Craig. Take a look at the AMR21.
Kate Duffy
- Aston Martin on Wednesday unveiled its new Formula One racing car.
- The car, called "AMR21," will be driven by Germany's Sebastian Vettel and Canada's Lance Stroll.
- The last time the carmaker competed in Formula One was in 1960s, with the DBR5.
British luxury carmaker Aston Martin launched Wednesday its first Formula One racing car in more than 60 years, as it prepares to compete in the world's most popular motor-racing circuit.
The British luxury carmaker unveiled the "AMR21" car during a virtual event broadcast live from London. Celebrities such as James Bond actor Daniel Craig and NFL star Tom Brady attended the online launch.
The AMR21 will race against the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren in the 2021 Formula One World Championship, which kicks off on March 28 in Bahrain.
"Today is a truly historic moment for Aston Martin, as we return to the pinnacle of motorsport for the first time in more than 60 years," said Tobias Moers, Aston Martin CEO, in a statement.
Here's what the team's new racing car looks like:
Aston Martin's brand new AMR21 will debut in the Bahrain Grand Prix later this month.
The car will have its first run at Silverstone in a promotional day on March 4, before it races properly at Bahrain between 12 and 14 March.
The last time Aston Martin raced in the Grand Prix was in 1960 with the DBR5.
Aston Martin's last Grand Prix car was the DBR5 more than 60 years ago.
It was driven by Roy Salvadori and Maurice Trintignant in the 1960 British Grand Prix.
This year, four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel will be racing the new AMR21.
"Even though I have raced for four Formula One teams and for many years, starting a new season with a new team still gives me a sense of excitement," said Vettel in a statement per CNBC.
"I have always kept my eye on the competition and this team has consistently impressed me with what they have been able to do without the biggest of budgets."
It will also be driven by Canada's Lance Stroll, son of billionaire businessman and Aston Martin's executive chairman Lawrence Stroll.
"The potential is there to fight up at the front, perhaps even challenge Red Bull. Mercedes are going to be very difficult because they are a bit further up the road and hopefully we can increase the gap over the teams we were fighting last year," Stroll said in an interview with the BBC.
The AMR21 boasts the traditional racing car colours of Aston Martin.
The car is powered by a turbo-charged Mercedes-AMG F1 M12 E Performance engine with hybrid energy recovery, Aston Martin said.
American IT giant Cognizant will be the main sponsor of Aston Martin.
The team's other sponsors include beer maker Peroni, cryptocurrency website Crypto.com, and cybersecurity company SentinelOne.
The team was created out of a rebrand of the Racing Point F1 team by Lawrence Stroll.
Lawrence Stroll dropped more than $240 million on a 16.7% stake in Aston Martin in January 2020 when the company was financially struggling.
Stroll took the position of executive chairman in April.
"The first step was to raise the financing to see our business plan through for the next five years," he told CNBC. "We raised $800 million in equity, with the majority of that coming from myself and my consortium. That was for a business plan that brings us to 10,000 cars, $2 billion of volume and $500 million EBITDA in the next four years."
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