F1 Rumor: Aramco wants to buy Stroll's F1 team

–by Mark Cipolloni–

While standing in the paddock at the Circuit of the Americas during the USGP F1 weekend, I observed Lawrence Stroll walking into the FOM office, and he did not come out for quite some time.

My first thought was that he had decided to sell the team, and he was informing FOM and discussing the implications.

Given the poor performance of his son Lance and the realization he is never going to be good enough to be World Driving Champion, perhaps Lawrence is beginning to lose interest in owning an F1 team, and mom is rumored to think it is too risky a profession for Lance given what he will inherit. She is rumored to be putting pressure to stop racing.

I did not write about it until now, but the more I thought about it, the more I was drawn back to this rumor – Michael Andretti and his investors could save a lot of money if they could find a team to buy rather than start one from scratch.

And they would be ahead of the game by 10 years.

Perhaps related to this rumor, influential Spanish journalist Albert Fabrega has posted an enigmatic message hinting at a significant rumor circulating in the paddock, leading to widespread speculation.

Prominent F1 personalities such as Will Buxton and Luke Smith have engaged with the post, further fuelling the intrigue and curiosity among fans.

Fabrega’s post, which was shared on twitter, reads:

“I don’t want to believe the rumor they have told me in the paddock now. No.”

No me quiero creer el rumor que me han dicho ahora en el paddock. No.

— Albert Fabrega (@AlbertFabrega) October 30, 2023

Fabrega is a journalist from Spain and of course, he has his ear to the ground about anything involving Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr.

His tweet says he does not want to believe the rumor, so it is likely he has heard something not so good from his perspective. Perhaps if Stroll does sell, it will be to Aramco and the Saudi Arabia PIF, which has zero racing background but a lot of money.

And where would that leave Fernando Alonso?

If Andretti were to buy Aston Martin, what engines would he use to start? Stay with Mercedes, or switch to the anemic Alpine/Renault Power Unit until the Cadillac Power Unit is ready. Given his advanced age, Alonso is not going to stay with a team and wait for a better power unit. If he has zero chance of winning, he could just decide to retire.

Per what Fabrega heard, it could be that Lawrence Stroll is going to sell his team, or that Audi has decided not to enter F1 (see Audi rumor) where Carlos Sainz Jr. was rumored to possibly be headed.

Michael Andretti was in Austin to meet with F1 boss Stefano Domenicali to discuss next steps toward his entry. Did he possibly meet with Stroll on Friday is Austin? I have no knowledge of that. Andretti met with Domenicali on Friday and was not seen the rest of the weekend. Stroll met with Domenicali on Saturday when I saw him walk into his offices.

Anyway, we shall if this rumor has legs, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

While watching who was coming and going in the paddock in Austin, I also saw some other important people who are or may be getting involved in F1:

Bill Ford – Ford Motor Company Chairman who have signed an engine deal with Red Bull Powertrains for 2026
Lisa Materazzo – Ford Global Marketing Officer who is working on a plan to market Ford around F1.
Elon Musk – owner of Tesla, Space X and Twitter. He was there with his son and was also at the Miami GP. Word is he wants to get involved in F1.
Bob Iger – the chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company that owns ESPN that owns the USA TV rights for F1
Fred Smith – former CEO of Fed Ex who is said wants FedEx more involved in F1 given DHLs presence
Darren Woods – CEO and Chairman of Exxon Mobil, a Red Bull team sponsor
Safra Catz – CEO of Oracle are primary sponsor for the Red Bull team and is said to be ecstatic by all the PR they are getting from Max Verstappen’s dominance of the sport.

October 8, 2023

As we stated below – Michael Andretti will spend well over $1 billion to build an F1 team from the ground up. He has been urged to buy an existing team instead.

Perhaps now he has an opening.

Speculation is mounting that Lawrence and Lance Stroll could be on the verge of quitting Aston Martin and F1 in light of another disastrous qualifying showing at the Qatar Grand Prix.

Stroll’s struggles alongside two-time World Champion Alonso in 2023 have fuelled speculation that he could choose to walk away from F1 in the near future, despite father Lawrence’s ownership of both the Aston Martin F1 team and the road car company.

Lance Stroll climbs out of his destroyed Aston Martin

Now a report by German publication F1 Insider claims both father and son could both quit the sport, with Lawrence Stroll “toying with the idea” of selling the team.

Officially, the team doesn’t want to know anything about it. “Lawrence has made it clear that a sale is out of the question,” a spokesperson said. “The sport is more popular than ever and the value of the teams is steadily increasing. Nothing is planned.”

Stroll himself is quoted by Aston Martin as saying: “The sale is not planned at the moment. However, we have been approached. Formula 1 is a sport and a business that burns.”

Nevertheless, speculation persists. Background: Stroll, who built his fortune estimated by Forbes at $3.2 billion by buying and making fashion brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren or Michael Kors big, lacks the motivation to further promote the career of his son Lance, according to reputable sources.

If the rumors are indeed true, why sell it to the Saudi Arabians when Michael Andretti is willing and waiting for such an opportunity?

Michael Andretti Smiles — Michael Andretti should offer to buy the team for $1 billion – he’ll spend twice that starting and developing a front – running F1 team, and it could take 10 years to run up front. The team will run Honda engines in 2026 and Andretti already runs Honda powered cars in IndyCar and Acura powered cars (owned by Honda) in IMSA. Where would that leave Cadillac?

October 6, 2023

(GMM) Wild rumors are doing the rounds in the Qatar paddock about the potential sale of Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin team.

According to Sport1, Canadian billionaire Stroll is said to be mulling over a giant EUR 800 million offer lodged by the Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco – already the team’s title sponsor.

With his son getting schooled by his teammate, is Lawrence Stroll ready to sell the team? — With his son Lance getting schooled by his old teammate Fernando Alonso, is Lawrence Stroll ready to sell the team?

Officially, the Silverstone-based outfit denied the news.

“Lawrence has made it clear that a sale is out of the question,” a spokesman said. “The sport is more popular than ever and the value of the teams is constantly increasing.

“Nothing like that is planned.”

Billionaire fashion magnate Stroll, however, commented: “That (a sale) is not planned at the moment. But we were approached.

“Formula 1 is a sport and a business that is on fire at the moment.”

Well-known F1 sources are wondering if Stroll is simply losing his desire to keep investing in the sport because his 24-year-old son Lance has struggled to make an impact.

Journalist Ralf Bach said: “(Lance) Stroll’s mother Claire-Anne is said to be putting pressure on his son to end his motorsport career after a few accidents this year.”

F1 legend Gerhard Berger thinks the stark contrast between Stroll’s performance and that of his 42-year-old teammate Fernando Alonso could also be a reason for the sale rumors.

“Sebastian Vettel was no longer really motivated,” he said. “He was already in the comfort zone and doing the bare minimum when he drove next to Stroll.

“But Alonso, like Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, is one of the few great champions who don’t need encouragement from teammates to always deliver their maximum performance.

“Lance Stroll is now feeling this,” said Berger, “even though he’s not a bad racing driver.”

Aston Martin Cognizant F1 drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso

An unnamed F1 insider, meanwhile, thinks there is truth to the claim that Lawrence Stroll may be finally giving up on making his son a world champion.

“Father and son once came to our factory to look at it,” he said. “I have never seen such an interested father and such a disinterested son.”

It is possible that Lawrence, 64, has realized that a more competitive driver needs to be alongside Alonso for the team to take the next step.

A move from F1 to the world endurance championship and Le Mans for Lance might therefore make sense, especially as news has just broke that Aston Martin will enter the Adrian Newey-penned Valkyrie hypercar in the WEC from 2025.

When asked if he might be interested in racing at Le Mans again, this time at the wheel of an Aston Martin, Alonso told DAZN at Qatar: “Right now I don’t have it in my head because I am concentrated on Formula 1.

“But it’s good news for the team, for the brand, to be in all the important competitions and it shows a bit of Aston Martin’s ambition also outside of F1,” the Spaniard added.