18/12/2023
NEWS STORY
Lawrence Stroll has hit out at speculation that he is to 'part company' with Aston Martin.
Despite the ongoing development of the team and its facilities, speculation over Stroll's future with Aston Martin came into doubt last month after it was announced that private investment firm Arctos Partners was investing in the Silverstone-based outfit.
As speculation mounted, Stroll was keen to make clear that Arctos Partners investment was more about strategy than finance, with Aston Martin aiming to make use of the company's vast network of partners and thereby the potential to develop the brand and the team's reach.
Nonetheless, the rumours continued and Stroll has taken the opportunity to set the record straight.
"I don't know where that speculation came from," he tells the New York Times. "I've read it in one or two publications recently.
"You don't go spending hundreds of millions of pounds, building the greatest new Formula 1 campus, if you're about to leave the business, and you don't go hiring another 400 of the greatest employees if you're about to leave the business," he insists.
"I've proven through my commitment, and it could not be any further from the truth, that I have any interest in ever not being the majority shareholder of this team for a very, very, very, very long time, and it is the same with the road car company. I plan to run these businesses for many, many years... I'm at the beginning of the journey on both."
Referring specifically to the Arctos investment he insists that this was a one-off, though he admits that his current deal with (sole title sponsor) Aramco could see the oil giant acquire a 10% stake in the team.
"That's true," he admits, "but we're not open for anymore investment. I always want to stay the majority shareholder. That will never change.
"When I say never, one day, but certainly not in the next ten years," he adds, "if I could put it in that duration. Hopefully longer.
"I'm not getting any younger. I feel younger, but I'm not getting any younger. But I'm not going anywhere.
"It made great sense to take them as a minority partner for what they bring to the business," he says of Arctos. "They add value, and particularly in America with all their investments with their other sports teams.
"There has to be some financial synergies and commercial opportunities that we could do together through sponsorship, marketing, etcetera.
"So that was the motivation for letting them buy a minority stake. Great reputation, American-based, super people who are very aligned with my vision of a very long-term future."