F1 is nice, but GT racing is a 'must do' for Aston Martin

It’s not easy to have a discussion in a sportscar at speed – even if that sportscar is a circa $260K limited-edition Aston Martin Vantage S Red Bull.

And there’s added pressure on the driver (not me!) because we’re lapping on the live track on race day at the Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix.

The driver is Aston CEO and MD, Dr Andy Palmer. And the passenger is yours truly. And it’s obvious Andy is as enthusiastic about his cars behind the wheel as he is behind a lectern or behind the big desk in the corner office. He’s most certainly an ‘engaged’ executive. And an executive that this year plans to do at least four endurance races of six hours or more…

We’re talking motorsport of course. And it’s an extension of a discussion I started with the ex-Nissan exec just a couple of days before.

Aston Martin’s tie-up with Dan Ricciardo’s Red Bull F1 squad has meant that this time of year there’s a focus on Australia for Aston. In fact, the car we’re in made its global debut Down Under.

So, is the fact we’re driving on track, on race day, at the Aus GP, a pointer to more involvement in the F1 circus from Aston Martin?

Perhaps an engine-supply agreement? Currently Red Bull’s engines are Renault units badged TAG Heuer after the team and the Frenchies fell out a year ago.

“One never says never… Because you never know where the sport is going to go, do you?” Palmer answers when I ask him if a deeper F1 involvement is in the offing for the Brit brand.

“I like F1, and I don’t really make any bones about it.”

Aston will debut the Valkyrie hypercar in 2018-19 – the result of collaboration between the marque and Red Bull chief designer, Adrian Newey. But that’s a result of the interest in the formula, suggests Palmer – not the other way around.

“I like F1 for a couple of reasons,” he says.

“One is that it’s the cutting edge of technology and we should be on the cutting edge of technology – and not [just] the sexy technology. Not, you know, touch screen connect stuff but in terms of the manufacturing [essentials]. The use of exotic materials, carbon-fibre, the way of bonding those together, etc…

“It’s really useful to be involved at that level, and that’s what we get through working with Adrian.

“Formula 1 is interesting [also] because it gets the cars in front of lots of audience and if we’re competing with Ferrari on the track [as well as in the showroom], that’s good in terms of the mindset,” Palmer proffers.

The Aston boss is also a fan of the pace of F1 – not just on the track.

“In all the years I’ve been associated with Formula 1, I always find that Formula 1 teams do it better than car manufacturers,” he says candidly.

In terms of Aston Martin-built racers, however, there are other series that hold more of the brand’s attention – and budget.

“WEC [World Endurance Championship] is at the heart of the company,” Palmer says in a matter-of-fact way.

“The theory being that what you can buy from our dealer, you can essentially race on the track… And you can see it; last year we won the drivers’ championship and the team championship for the [WEC] GTE class.”

The Red Bull edition Vantage S V8 Palmer is driving with verve around Albert Park is right in this GT sweet spot. Although an all-new Vantage is due later in 2017 and will spawn the next generation of the marque’s GT3 and GT4 cars, in this current iteration the F1-GT-road car triangle it creates is an appealing prospect for fans of the brand, racing and performance cars alike.

Just 17 of the RB Vantages will come to Australia and all but a couple are sold. We’re tipping most will get Riccardo’s signature commemorative footplates, rather than those of his Dutch teammate, Max Verstappen.

Palmer is deadly serious regarding the importance of GT racing to the brand – and is especially bullish about the prospects of Aston in the burgeoning GT4 class.

“This association [with GT3 and GT4] is, I think, just part of the company,” he explained.

“If you asked me, the most important racing we do is GT4. It’s GT4 because there’s so-called gentlemen racers who can associate the car that they race with the car on the road.

“All manufacturers will tell you, you know, racing’s in our DNA, and [talk about] technology transfer and all the rest of it. Most of the time, it’s bollocks. But you can see in the case of GT4, they’re fundamentally [road cars].

“So, I think that if money got so, so tight and you had to make loads and loads of [cost-cutting] decisions, the one that would be the last man standing would be GT4,” Palmer confesses.

Our few laps at Albert Park are coming to a close – apparently Ricciardo & Co want their track back… So, with purely mercenary intent, I ask Palmer about Aston Martin and his own Bathurst 12 Hour plans (well, he’ll need a journalist teammate, surely?).

“I really wanted to race this year,” he says.

“[But] because of the work I was doing I didn’t get enough practice and I didn’t feel safe enough to go race it.

“I’m acutely conscious of how Bathurst can bite you. I will do it though. I hope, four races this year – three of them are 24 hour races – will be the right prep,” the CEO who races says with a glint in his eye…

Perhaps with the very same Vantage as Albert Park? If so, hopefully I’ll get to sit in other seat for a few hours…