Reports claim Aston Martin is scrambling to drop another bomb on Formula 1

A bombshell report has claimed a billionaire team owner is scrambling to secure one of the most seismic deals in F1 history.

ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - AUGUST 24: Second placed qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing attends the press conference after qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on August 24, 2024 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Aston Martin already sent shockwaves through the F1 world this week with the official announcement that Adrian Newey would be building their chassis from 2025 onwards, moving from Red Bull on a rumoured $30 million per year contract.

Newey has built a mythical aura in the sport after winning 12 Constructors’ Championships with three different teams over the course of his career. His partnership with Max Verstappen at Red Bull had become so powerful that fans were beginning to tune out, with the Dutch magician claiming three championships on the trot.

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The combination of Newey’s aerodynamics and Verstappen’s generational talent had proved too strong for the grid, despite it being chock-full of all-time greats like Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso and a handful of young assassins tipped to be future champs.

While the news Newey would be jumping ship to Aston Martin initially came as a breath of fresh air to fans hoping his prowess behind the scenes would even out the grid, it appears billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll has only begun his war.

Stroll is now being linked to a stunning poaching manoeuvre that could see Verstappen follow Newey in the coming years. Verstappen, 26, is the F1’s highest paid driver with an estimated $60 million salary and Stroll has been preparing a hefty counter to lure him across, according to Italian motorsports publication Autosprint.

If the bombshell news is true, Stroll, who currently employs his son Lance to partner Alonso at Aston Martin, will be forced to make a tough decision between keeping Lance on board and potentially having the most dangerous driver line-up on the grid with Verstappen partnering two-time champ Alonso.

At 43, Alonso has defied all odds to remain one of the sport’s most feared competitors. And he hasn’t hinted he’s leaving anytime soon.

The Autosprint report suggests that negotiations are already underway with the three-time world champion, despite Verstappen being contracted with Red Bull until 2028.

Everyone wants a piece of Max.

Verstappen’s relationship with Red Bull is getting shaky, with the three-time champion slamming the car as ‘undriveable’.

Adding fuel to the fire, Red Bull’s partnership with Honda is set to end after the 2025 season.

Aston Martin will then take over the reins with Honda in 2026.

Additionally, Aston Martin’s technical director Dan Fallows also worked closely with Verstappen during his time at Red Bull.

Throw in the allure of Newey behind the blueprints and you have a very tempting offer for Verstappen, who hasn’t been shy in shredding his team for the “monster” of a car he has been forced to drive in the second half of the 2024 season.

After three solid years of utter domination, including a remarkable 10-race winning streak, this blip in the radar may prove too much for Verstappen’s patience with the team, which already went through an uncomfortable PR nightmare concerning Christian Horner earlier this year.

Lawrence Stroll wants to win.

But what happens to Lance?

Verstappen’s morale has dipped so much that he doesn’t believe he can retain his world title after flopping at the Italian Grand Prix.

The man who turned Red Bull’s rocket ship into 61 race wins now believes the car is “undriveable”.

His lead on Lando Norris in the drivers’ championship was cut to 62 points after he finished sixth at Monza as his barren run of GPs without a win was extended to six.

Asked by reporters whether he was worried about losing what had looked like a certain fourth straight world crown when he won the Spanish GP in June, Verstappen said: “At the moment both championships (drivers’ and constructors’) are not realistic.

Verstappen and Alonso would be a dangerous pairing.

“The car is undriveable. It’s a massive balance problem that we have. And that of course is not only over one lap but also in the race.”

The 26-year-old expressed his frustration with changes to his car which, combined with a series of improvements made by Norris’ team McLaren, have left him and Red Bull looking over their shoulders.

With eight races remaining McLaren are just eight points behind Red Bull and on current form look favourites to win a first constructors’ title since 1998.

“It’s up to the team to come with a lot of changes with the car because we basically went from a very dominant car to an undriveable car in the space of, what, six to eight months,” added Verstappen.

“We need to really turn the car upside down … with how we are at the moment, we are bad everywhere. So we need a lot of changes.

“Last year we had a great car, which was the most dominant car ever. And we basically turned it into a monster.”

Red Bull has had two weeks to make changes to the car before the Azerbaijan GP, which will be held in Baku over September 13-15.