Aston Martin officially announced this week that it is selling Aston Martin. Specifically, Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc, the carmaker that has been giving James Bond his wheels for decades, has signed a binding letter of intent to sell its stake in the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team. The undisclosed buyer is taking the stake at $146 million, resulting in a valuation of the team as a whole at $3.2 billion. In other words, Aston Martin only ever had a 4.6% stake in Aston Martin anyway
and is now looking to cash in its chips.
And boy does it need the money. As Bloomberg lays out, the company is not in good financial health at the moment. The maker of the Vantage, Vanquish, DB12 and DBX has lost half its stock value in the last year, also known as "ouch." Second-quarter revenue dropped 34%, partly due to lower than expected demand for its supercars like the Valkyrie and upcoming Valhalla.
Worst of all, of course, is the new tariff regime affecting exports to the United States. While a deal between the U.S. and UK does lower the auto tariff to 10% from the ridiculous 27.5% it reached, that's still four times bigger than what it's historically been. Worse, the deal only gives that 10% rate to the first 100,000 vehicles shipped in a year, on a first-come first-served basis. After that, it's back to 27.5%, baby. For small volume makers like Aston, that's terrible news.
Read more: Every 2025 Formula 1 Livery, Ranked From Worst To Best
Winning In (The Business Of) Formula 1
Formula 1 has actually been something of a bright spot for Aston Martin this year (the car company, not the racing team, which has been struggling all season). Continued momentum in the sport's fortunes has apparently boosted the sale price, which the company had estimated at closer to $100 million when it first announced its intent to sell its stake in March, per Autosport. So the final sale price is turning out to be around 50% higher.
The F1 team is run by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, whose Yew Tree Consortium also owns 33% of the carmaker — and whose son races for the team. An existing arrangement between the two entities means that the F1 team will continue on under the Aston Martin brand, even though the actual manufacturer is cashing out. The buyer of the 4.6% stake isn't known yet, but in all likelihood the team will keep on being the Stroll Show for the foreseeable future.
Despite its woes this season, the Aston Martin F1 team has some reason for optimism going forward. 2026 will bring a fresh new set of regulations that ought to shake up the grid, potentially giving the green cars a window of opportunity. Red Bull's former lead engineer Adrian Newey has joined the outfit, and if he can work the same magic for Aston as he did for RB, it's possible that a challenge to the front of the grid could materialize.
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