Why the 'persuasive' Lawrence Stroll is actually a strength of Aston Martin

During the announcement, Newey made it clear that Lawrence Stroll played a key role in attracting him to Aston Martin. The two had already met in the gym, but Lawrence additionally spent a lot of time convincing Newey to join the Silverstone-based team.

"Lawrence's passion and commitment and enthusiasm is very endearing. It's very persuasive. The reality is if you go back 20 years, then what we now call team principles are actually the owners of the teams. Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan etc. In this modern era, then Lawrence is actually unique in being the only properly active team owner. It's a different feeling when you have somebody like Lawrence involved like that. It's back to the old school model," Newey revealed at the press conference at Silverstone.

Why Lawrence Stroll is a strength of Aston Martin

Lawrence Stroll's involvement is often portrayed as a bad attribute of the team owner. Otmar Szafnauer, for instance, was very clear about Stroll's role within the team after Szafnauer left Aston Martin. Mike Krack, like Adrian Newey, thinks very differently. The Luxembourger agrees with Newey and sees that Stroll's involvement is precisely what allows Aston Martin to make such improvements.

"It's fantastic. Especially as I have worked in the corporate world for a couple of years and when you see how quickly we can make decisions without having to prepare a pack or whatever. You can just go there and say this is what we want to do, and within ten seconds, you can go and do it or not," Krack stated in a conversation with GPblog.

"This flexibility came to light when we started a collaboration with Fernando [Alonso]. It was a matter of hours where other structures might take three months to decide. I think in the case of Fernando, his situation was dragging, dragging, dragging and we just made facts. This is only possible with someone at the top like Lawrence, who has a clear mind, a clear vision and he's a strong leader. He just says this is what we're going to do and this is what is an asset of this team."

Under Lawrence Stroll's wing, Mike Krack is already in his third season as Aston Martin team boss. In Azerbaijan, GPblog spoke at length with Krack, and the Luxembourger was clear about 'the opportunity of a lifetime' to become team boss at Aston Martin.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton