Aston Martin-Honda: a failure
The arrival of Adrian Newey to the team, Lawrence Stroll’s large investments, and the technical support from Honda seemed to be the solid foundations to bring Aston Martin among the ‘big’ teams of Formula 1, with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso also motivated and determined.
Read more Steiner straight talk on Honda and Aston Martin: “They should be relegated to F2”
Instead, as shown by the first GPs of this season, the Silverstone team has proven to be a real disappointment, as well as the potential of the Japanese power unit, with only one point scored in the championship.
Formula 2 as the ‘Serie B’
An aspect that, obviously, did not escape anyone, not even former Haas team principal Günther Steiner, now head of the Tech3 team in MotoGP. Interviewed on the Red Flags podcast, the Bolzano manager was very critical of Honda and the struggling teams, to the point of lamenting the absence of a ‘relegation to F2’ system for the worst teams: “It’s not that Lawrence Stroll isn’t trying – he commented – very few people have invested as much personal money in F1 as Lawrence. I believe Honda needs something more than just ADUO. He will take a big share of the funds because they are doing very badly, you know. He will definitely help them, because if they stay where they are, they will have to be relegated to Formula 2. I don’t think Lawrence Stroll is proud of what is happening, but the responsibility is his. It’s his team. Stefano (Domenicali) doesn’t have the authority to decide when they should participate, when not, what they should do or how they should behave. Unfortunately for Formula 1, there is no relegation rule; in most other sports, if you don’t get good results, guess what: you get relegated.”
Read more Steiner straight talk on Honda and Aston Martin: “They should be relegated to F2”
“Unacceptable”
Steiner, additionally, did not hold back another rather harsh criticism always towards Aston Martin, considering that the latter, regardless of the engine, has been slower than a debutant team like Cadillac: “Aston Martin even makes Cadillac look good, you know, and Cadillac was three laps behind at the end of the race. What Aston Martin is doing now is, in my opinion, simply unacceptable. It is no longer up to Formula 1 standards. You are last, but by miles, and on top of that you don’t even finish the race.”
Read more Steiner straight talk on Honda and Aston Martin: “They should be relegated to F2”
