Aston Martin F1 and Aramco enter a long-term strategic partnership

The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team and Aramco today announced a long-term strategic partnership, which will drive the development of highly efficient internal combustion engines, high-performance sustainable fuels, advanced lubricants and the deployment of non-metallic materials in vehicles.

In addition to joint research and development, the collaboration includes team sponsorship rights, a licensing agreement, as well as exclusive branding and endorsement rights for Aramco fuels and lubricants.

As a result, the team will be known as Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team. The alliance complements Aramco’s status as a global strategic sponsor of Formula One – the world’s premier motor racing event with over 1.9 billion fans worldwide.

The joint R&D efforts will underpin efforts made by the team to meet Formula One’s target to be powered entirely by sustainable fuels by 2025. Additionally, the partnership will focus on development and commercialisation of fuel-efficient engine technologies for road vehicles, and the development of more efficient hybrid engines in motorsport.

Lawrence Stroll, Chairman of Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team, said: “We are in the sport to win so I am delighted to welcome an incredible partner of the stature of Aramco, who I have learnt from this process has a tremendous amount of intellectual property and technical capability, which I know will greatly assist our team to achieve our goals of winning Formula One world championships. Our historic partnership demonstrates the scale of our ambition to make our team a pioneering and winning force in Formula One and showcase the sustainability and performance of Aramco’s products.”

Mohammed Al Qahtani, Senior Vice President Downstream at Aramco, said: “The partnership reflects Aramco’s efforts to reduce emissions in the global automotive and transport industries. Our ambition is to supply premium fuels and lubricants to the global automotive sector, and our tie-up with the Aston Martin team will help drive awareness of our high-quality products. It is an alliance that harnesses our shared commitment to engineering excellence and innovation, and has the potential to deliver winning results both on and off the track.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Group Chief Executive Officer of Aston Martin Performance Technologies, said: “Winning in Formula One is all about assembling and managing the right ingredients in the optimal way. Aramco is an innovative company whose ultra high-tech expertise will make a very real and hugely valuable contribution to improving the performance of, and delivering the future success of, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team.”

Ahmad Al Khowaiter, Chief Technology Officer at Aramco, said: “We are very excited to collaborate with such a renowned name in the automotive industry to advance motorsports technology. With our combined expertise we have the potential to improve engine performance and reduce emissions, helping lower the carbon footprint of the sport and, eventually, the automotive industry.”