Ex-McLaren team boss Whitmarsh joins Aston Martin as group CEO

Former McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has been named as the group CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies, and tasked with making it a $1.4 billion business.

Whitmarsh will start work at the beginning of October, overseeing the new arm of Aston Martin that will encompass the Formula 1 team and take the wider group’s technical abilities to market in a similar way he did with McLaren Applied Technologies. Whitmarsh was at McLaren for 25 years, leaving as team principal in 2014 and most recently being involved in the Hamilton Commission.

“I have known and admired Lawrence (Stroll) for many years, and I have always been extremely impressed by his formidable business acumen and his seemingly inexhaustible ambition,” Whitmarsh said. "Equally, I have always respected ‘Team Silverstone,' if I can call it that, which has often punched above its weight under its various previous incarnations, and which now has the weight with which to punch harder than ever before.

“Lawrence intends Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team to win Formula 1 World Championships, plain and simple, and I would not have joined him in that endeavor unless I was utterly convinced that it was an entirely achievable aim.

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“I know what it takes to win in Formula 1, and, inspired by Lawrence’s leadership and backed by the skill, passion and resolve of the workforce, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure that our team becomes the winning operation that Lawrence is determined that it should be.

“Last but far from least, I am very enthused about the formation of the new Aston Martin Performance Technologies, under which corporate umbrella Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 Team will sit, and I am excited about the prospect of developing and applying our technical capabilities and intellectual property as a successful and profitable new business.”

Aston Martin executive chairman Stroll shared that Whitmarsh will work alongside him to make the team successful both in a sporting and financial sense.

“Martin will enjoy senior leadership responsibility and will assist and support me in setting the new strategic direction for Aston Martin Performance Technologies and its subsidiaries, including the crucial objective of leading the transformation of Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 Team into a Formula 1 World Championship-winning organization within the next four to five years, and evolving it into a £1 billion ($1.4b) business over a similar time period,” Stroll said.

“Martin has enjoyed a long, successful and high-profile career, spanning the motorsport, automotive, aerospace, marine and renewable-energy sectors. Moreover, he is a proven winner in Formula 1. He is therefore the ideal person for the job of working with me and our senior management team to lead and inspire our workforce to future success both on and off track.”