Mercedes owns 5% of Aston Martin, and has a technical partnership with itAston Martin's tie-up would instigate Mercedes engine deal for four-time F1 champions
Aston Martin is negotiating a shock return to Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing next season.
The British sports car manufacturer is in talks over a deal to become a brand partner with four-time world champion Red Bull Racing in exchange for brokering a deal for the team to run the championship winning Mercedes-Benz F1 engine. An Aston Martin spokesman declined to comment on the potential deal when contacted by Autocar.
Aston Martin is 5% owned by Mercedes and competed in F1 for just two seasons, in 1959 and 1960, with very limited success.
Click here to read Autocar's archive story on Aston Martin's entry to F1 in 1959
Under the deal Mercedes would be recognised as the official engine partner of Red Bull Racing, but Aston Martin would become a technical partner and have branding on the cars, most likely around the air box that sits over the engine.
The deal is said to have the blessing of Mercedes, which is eager to run more customer teams to offset the costs of its investment in F1, and because it does not consider Aston Martin to be a competitor for road car sales, despite their strategic partnership.
F1 insiders have drawn parallels with the deal that allows Lotus to run Mercedes engines at present despite the potential conflict with the road car manufacturer of the same name.
The deal is understood to have been instigated by Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer and Aston Martin's director of marketing and communications Simon Sproule, both of whom were credited for the long-term sponsorship deal that has put Infiniti branding on the Red Bull Racing cars, despite the team being powered by Renault engines. Infiniti is the upmarket brand of Nissan, which is in an alliance with Renault.
Red Bull Racing has a contract to compete with Renault engines until the end of 2016, but the championship-winning relationship has soured over the past 18 months as the French firm has struggled to match the pace of Mercedes.
Last month, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz appeared to be trying to force a split with Renault when he claimed in an interview that Renault’s inability to improve its pace was “destroying” his enjoyment of F1. The comments are understood to have caused severe ructions between the two sides, and have been widely interpreted as Mateschitz trying to find a way out of his contract with the firm.
from Autocar RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1RYxyql
via AGYA
