Aston Martin has made it back to the pinnacle of racing, Formula 1, and they’ve done it in high style. Yes, I said returned, and reasons are just about as complicated as you would expect. Oh, and they brought along an old ringer, just for good measure.

Aston Martin used to run in F1 back in the 1950s. Actually, the last time they ran (more or less competitively) was when they won Le Mans outright in 1959. Aston Martin was better at sports cars back then than they were with open-wheel cars, but that’s no reason not to take another run at this. Hence the new Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One team.

The Famous Wings Return

The hows, whys, and wherefores sound like something out of The Real (Rich) Housewives of Montreal, but it’s all true. As you might know, not that long ago, Aston Martin was on shaky financial footing. Despite making outstanding road cars, and having this frighteningly capable Newey-designed Valkyrie waiting in the wings, ol’AM was looking really wobbly.
Enter Lawrence Stroll, a Quebec businessman and the money guy behind Tommy Hilfiger. He decided that a perfectly good thing to do with his money (current net worth: 3.2 billion) was buy Aston Martin. Good for him! The gearheads of the world thank you! But why get back into F1"

Rewind a few years. That’s when Lawrence bought the Force India team from Indian “billionaire” Vijay Mallya (last I heard, he was arrested and sought on...