If Aston Martin enter Formula One as a manufacturer in the future then they believe they will be in demand from Formula One teams to supply them with power-units.
British sportscar manufacturer Aston Martin returned to Formula One in March of last year.
But that deal with Red Bull Racing was merely as an ‘innovation partner’.
But it brought with it plenty of speculation that they could be lining up a move to enter the sport as either a fully fledged manufacturer or an engine supplier.
At the turn of the year Aston Martin president and CEO Andy Palmer confirmed that entering Formula One as an engine supplier was under considering for 2021.
The reason for the specific date, is because that is the year that there will be a complete overhaul of the current power unit and engine regulations for that season.
The current V6 Turbo-Hybrid engines are set to be replaced, with yet to be agreed, but louder, potentially more powerful and certainly cheaper, power-units.
If they opt to enter the pinnacle of motorsport, Aston Martin believe they will be in demand for their services.
Red Bull Racing and sister team Toro Rosso are the obvious candidates, but its widely believed they have been approached by other teams as well.
The decision however will be driven, pun intended, by sales.
?With all of this stuff in F1, you have to factor in intangibles because you?re talking about a marketing return, not necessarily a physical return.
?Marketing return hopefully turns into sold cars, which is why we?re doing this. This is to seed the soil for when we bring a mid-engined car to compete with the Ferrari 488, which is what the Valkyrie [hypercar] was about. Palmer told motorsport.com.
?It?s about creating credibility ready for when we go mainstream face-to-face with Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren on the road.
?The timing of the 2021 regulations work really well, because it is about the time we?ll be bringing that car out.?
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