Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll has come in for strong criticism from a former boss of the squad, who believes that the billionaire's mangement approach is "wrong". Colin Kolles held roles at the team in their former guises as Jordan, Midland, Spyker and Force India, before becoming Team Principal at the HRT outfit until the end of the 2011 campaign. Watching on now, Kolles disagrees with how Stroll - who acquired the squad in 2018 when they were under Racing Point branding - has managed the operation. "You have a team owner who thinks he is the team boss, who knows everything better and thinks he can put his son forward," Kolles told Germany's AvD Motor & Sport Magazin . "That's completely the wrong approach in my opinion."
"I don't see the race team going anywhere"
Aston Martin have had a difficult start to the 2022 F1 season, and Kolles seems to have laid the blame at Stroll's door. "The fish always starts to stink at the head. I don't see the race team going anywhere," he said. "Until Mr Stroll realises that he needs to do nothing but pump money into the team and let the people who actually know about it do the work, then it's never going to work."
Kolles warns that money is not enough
Since taking over the Aston Martin outfit, Stroll has invested heavily in the project, with the team in the process of building a new factory near Silverstone. They have also made staff changes, which has included the recruitment of former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh. Kolles, though, believes that money is not enough to promise success in Formula 1. "There have been many investors in the past who have tried to make me believe that they know how things work," Kolles explained. "Then I said that may be true, but Formula 1 is a different story. "If you throw a million into the fire, the money burns as quickly as if you were in Formula 1 and didn't know what you were doing. That's the case with Aston Martin. "If someone thinks you can get into F1 and be at the front overnight, it's not going to happen quickly. You have to have a plan."
Most read
