“My role is not changing” – Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer confirms he will report to former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh.
Aston Martin, in order to achieve success like its predecessors Racing Point and Force India did, has signed Martin Whitmarsh, the former McLaren boss, as the Group CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies.
Welcome to the team, Martin. 🤝
Martin Whitmarsh has been recruited to the new role of Group Chief Executive Officer of Aston Martin Performance Technologies.
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— Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) September 21, 2021
Whitmarsh spent 24 years with McLaren and has been brought in by Aston Martin to aid in their huge ambitions of winning the world title within the next few seasons.
As a result, team principal Otmar Szafnauer will now report to him instead of promoter Lawrence Stroll. This has been confirmed by the under-pressure Szafnauer himself, who seems to be keeping the job, for now.
“[The Aston Martin Performance Technologies] includes the Formula 1 team – so the Formula 1 team reports to Martin.
“My role is not changing. Martin will become CEO of the group, and the group means we will build a business for applied technologies, Aston Martin Performance Technologies, which will market and sell the intellectual property and developments of the Formula 1 teams to other industries.
“Martin was with McLaren back then and has the experience in the field. He can show us the short-cuts along the way that he knows from back then.
“He’s also worked in sailing for the past seven years, including a new company that transfers technology from sailing to cargo ships.
“It’s an applied technology business, it’s all about technology transfer. He’s got the experience there and so he will help us to build up this line of business.”
