Aston Martin boss defends £200m cash call for new Formula 1 HQ

Aston Martin’s boss has defended plans to tap the public for £200m to build his Formula One team’s new headquarters, claiming his “big bank balance” will ensure investors are not left short-changed.

Lawrence Stroll said launching a retail bond would allow fans and employees to own a slice of history: “British people feel a sense of ownership to this 108-year-old iconic institution.”

The Canadian billionaire rebranded his Racing Point team into Aston Martin Cognizant for the 2021 season after taking a 25pc stake in Aston Martin Lagonda, the listed car maker, a year earlier.

Mr Stroll announced plans in September for his F1 team to build a new headquarters near Silverstone. At the time it was announced that the campus would be funded privately by a consortium that also included JCB owner Lord Bamford.

“I looked at the various options of how to finance this campus,” Mr Stroll said. “And one of them was this retail bond, I said ‘this is fantastic.’

“It gives them an opportunity to say I'm part of this team financially. So it was a goodwill gesture to say: ‘here's what we're doing to make you feel included.’”

The businessman, who said he turned down an opportunity to attend Boris Johnson’s Global Investment Summit on Tuesday, bought what was the Force India team out of administration for £90m in 2018.

Force India is just one of a long list of teams to have bowed out of F1 after failing to achieve their ambitions and running out of cash.

Mr Stroll reassured retail bond investors that his team would not go the same way.

“[These teams] did not have my level of financial backing, did not have my level of vision, did not have my track record of success at everything I've done… maybe [they] shouldn't have been in the business to begin with.” he said.

“You can't compare me to the people who probably couldn't afford to be there to begin with. And [they] certainly didn't have my track record and my bank account.”

Another reason was F1’s budget cap of $150m that was introduced this year, he said, which would allow the team to be “extremely profitable”.

Mr Stroll said about a third of his net wealth was tied up with the British car brand: “I have about $1bn roughly invested in the Aston Martin brand.”

The F1 team’s new headquarters are scheduled for completion in 2023 with the campus featuring the sport’s first new wind tunnel since 2004.

Since taking over the team Mr Stroll said staff numbers had increased to about 400, leaving little space at its existing Silverstone base.

Since Mr Stroll took the wheel at Aston Martin Lagonda, the company is forecasting a change in fortunes after a disastrous stock market listing two years ago.

The company expects to be profitable in the current financial year in part as a result of the popularity of the carmaker's new SUV.