Page 19 - Aug 2022

the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 team, has also ushered in a new era for our iconic British brand."
While Stroll rhapsodized about all the things and innovations the company plans to do with its new infusion
of cash, commentators on the iinternet were less sanguine, writing: "How does the F1 team benefit their road
car operations? Well, they did keep sending out F1 mechanics to fix Valkiries (sic) that won't start on customer
delivery. I guess they'll keep doing that for them, too." or "Past that, F1 was never linked to Aston Martin. It's a
sport car company. Even the idea of a mid-engine car is crazy as it's a market already saturated, and McLaren
made Ferrari raise their game in that arena too!"
Meanwhile, Aston Martin has begun delivery of its road legal hypercar, the Valkyrie, selling for 2-3million
pounds a pop, while developing an ever deepening relationship with Mercedes' AMG division for its engines.

As a company, Aston Martin seems to be the cat with nine lives. Since its 1913 founding it has survived 7
bankruptcies, pulled away from the brink by those who have been drawn in by the allure of a company that
has always had its cars purchased by drivers and dreamers. These are people with disposable income and
more heart than head, drawn both to the car's mystique and by the fact that when the cars run, they are
superb machines to drive. Stroll, the most recent dream merchant, happily points out that ?Our focus on
building brand equity and unleashing the potential of Aston Martin is already delivering growing demand from a
new generation of customers, with more than 60% new to the brand in 2021.? (Even as the reality was that
production of the cars fell behind projections in 2021 while its SUV has been met with a yawn. )
Now it remains to be seen whether this modern Lawrence and Arabia will have more success than the last
joint venture did following World War I. That's when real politik between the European allies sold out the
Arab rebels who had once been allies in the microwar with the Turks and their allies the Germans. [-Of course
all that unpleasantness was before what would become Saudi Arabia was found to be sitting on an ocean of
crude, developed a PIF, and branched out into international finance.]

Back when Aston Martin was a newby, a young T.E. Lawrence, the Englishman first came to Arabia as an
archaelogist before serving in the British army. He became a legend in the field , a warrior and demolition
expert, the champion of Arab rebels who became allies, and a writer about the culture of the desert. After
the war, disillusioned, he ultimately became, in the years after his death, a man whose legacy shifted with
the sand. Like Lawrence, Stroll, too, may leave a legacy that could shift about a bit.

In an article written by Scott Anderson in 2014 entitled The True St ory of Lawrence of Arabia, published in
the Smithsonian Magazine, the first paragraph could be prescient :
"Sipping t ea and chain-smoking L&M cigaret t es in his recept ion t ent in Mudowarra, Sheik Khaled
Suleiman al-At oun waves a hand t o t he out side, in a generally nort hern direct ion. ?Lawrence came
here, you know ?? he says. ?Several t imes. The biggest t ime was in January of 1918. He and ot her Brit ish
soldiers came in armored cars and at t acked t he Turkish garrison here, but t he Turks were t oo st rong
and t hey had t o ret reat .? He pulls on his cigaret t e, before adding wit h a t inge of civic pride: ?Yes, t he
Brit ish had a very hard t ime here.?
Great Expect at ions, seems like a good re-boot title for this new venture. Only time will tell how the story
turns out for Aston Martin and its new stash of green, courtesy of a desert kingdom that only recently
decided that its own women could drive on the country's roads.
Young American Driver Makes News at Brit ish Grand Prix

In the F2 division, it was an American , Logan Sargeant, who had the trifecta day of his career. Driving as a
member of the UK based Williams Formula One Team Drivers' Academy, Sargeant was the first driver from
the United States to win a Formula 2 Race at the British Grand Prix. He started the race for his first time at a
pole position. He won the 1st feature race of his career with this drive. He is now stands 3rd in the
division's personal rankings.
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