LONDON: The Aston Martin Formula One team and Saudi Arabian state-owned energy giant Aramco Thursday announced a long-term strategic partnership.
In addition to joint research and development, the collaboration includes team sponsorship rights, a licensing agreement, as well as exclusive branding and endorsement rights for Aramco fuels and lubricants.
As a result, the team will be known as Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team. The alliance complements Aramco’s status as a global strategic sponsor of Formula One – the world’s premier motor racing event with over 1.9 billion fans worldwide.
The joint R&D efforts will underpin efforts made by the team to meet Formula One’s target to be powered entirely by sustainable fuels by 2025.
Additionally, the partnership will focus on development and commercialisation of fuel-efficient engine technologies for road vehicles, and the development of more efficient hybrid engines in motorsport.
Aston Martin chairman and Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll said: “We are in the sport to win so I am delighted to welcome an incredible partner of the stature of Aramco, who I have learnt from this process has a tremendous amount of intellectual property and technical capability, which I know will greatly assist our team to achieve our goals of winning Formula One world championships.
“Our historic partnership demonstrates the scale of our ambition to make our team a pioneering and winning force in Formula One and showcase the sustainability and performance of Aramco’s products.”
Martin Whitmarsh, Group chief executive officer of Aston Martin Performance Technologies, said: “Winning in Formula One is all about assembling and managing the right ingredients in the optimal way.
“Aramco is an innovative company whose ultra high-tech expertise will make a very real and hugely valuable contribution to improving the performance of, and delivering the future success of, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team.”
Ahmad Al Khowaiter, chief technology officer at Aramco, said: “We are very excited to collaborate with such a renowned name in the automotive industry to advance motorsports technology.
“With our combined expertise we have the potential to improve engine performance and reduce emissions, helping lower the carbon footprint of the sport and, eventually, the automotive industry.”
Aramco signed a global long-term deal with Formula One in 2020, while Saudi Arabia hosted its first grand prix around the streets of Jeddah last year.
The Aston Martin deal further boosts the country’s profile on the motorsport stage, with the Gulf kingdom already hosting the Formula E championship and the Dakar Rally, Reuters reports.
Formula One is aiming to achieve a net zero-carbon footprint by 2030, and is moving towards 100% sustainable fuels.
