Aston Martin set to scrap F1 engine plans

Aston Martin has been a Red Bull faithful for some time now. And they were in line to take their relationship to the next level by entering F1 as an engine supplier too.

However, those ‘dreams’ have been squashed, as Aston Martin is scrapping all plans of becoming an engine supplier in Formula one.

With the new regulations set to be confirmed in a few weeks time, Formula one could see a massive paradigm shift, one that will ultimately set in in 2021.

The repercussions of the the blueprint of the new engine regulations though can already be felt, as Aston Martin have cancelled plans of coming into the sport because of those ‘tedious regulations’, one’s that don’t make much business sense to Aston Martin.

“It doesn’t look like the new regulations will be of interest, sadly.

“Aston was interested on the basis that costs would be controlled and that the formula would be one part of an equation that would put control back into the hands of the driver. I don’t see the costs coming down far enough with the regulations I’ve heard discussed and I do see that the opportunity to spend a fortune chasing down a tenth of a second a lap will remain.”Aston Martin CEO, Andy Palmer told Autocar.

“At Aston, we love the sport, and we’d love to be involved, but we cannot get involved in an arms race. It’s needlessly expensive and it undermines the sport, because whoever has the advantage of that tenth will win. I won’t say we’re definitely not going to do it until I see the final proposal because there are still some areas where there is not enough clarity. But if the door is left open to a spending war, then we won’t be involved.” he added.

Aston Martin though will continue on as sponsor to Red Bull. Red Bull will now have to reconsider their engine options from 2021.