Aston Martin hire Martin Whitmarsh as former McLaren boss returns to Formula 1

Whitmarsh will run a new department at Aston Martin in order to boost the team’s title ambitions

Martin Whitmarsh was team principle at McLaren for six years (Getty Images)

Former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is returning to Formula 1 to take up a new position at Aston Martin.

Whitmarsh has been appointed as the head of Aston Martin’s new Performance Technologies department to aid team owner Lawrence Stroll’s aim of winning a Formula 1 world championship “within the next four to five years”.

The 63-year-old worked at McLaren for 24 years and was their team principle from 2008 to 2014.

“Martin has enjoyed a long, successful and high-profile career, spanning the motorsport, automotive, aerospace, marine and renewable-energy sectors,” Stroll said.

“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.”

Whitmarsh added: “I have known and admired Lawrence for many years, and I have always been extremely impressed by his formidable business acumen and his seemingly inexhaustible ambition.

“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.

“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.”

Aston Martin team principle Otmar Szafnauer welcomed Whitmarsh, stating: “Martin’s arrival will allow me to put 100 per cent of my energies into making Aston Martin a winning machine.”

Whitmarsh will begin his new role on 1 October.