Brief history of Aston Martin in F1: a missed appointment

It's no secret, Aston Martin is more renowned for its incursionsEndurance. The British firm has a victory in the general classification of 24 Hours of Le Mans 1959 and three successes in the GT category since 2007. 

But did you know that the English manufacturer had participated in several Grands Prix of Formula 1 ? We are not talking about a sponsorship contract as carried out with Red Bull since 2018, but indeed from a factory team. 

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In the mid-1950s, Aston Martin was eyeing F1, but had neither the time nor the human resources to develop a project in parallel with the DB3S sports car, named DBR4. However, a prototype was built for pilot Reg Parnell for some full-scale test events in Oceania in 1956. 

The results are convincing and Aston Martin gives the green light for an official F1 program. The chassis and engine are taken from the DB3S. Under the front hood is a 6-liter inline 2,5-cylinder engine delivering between 250 and 280 horsepower. This is much more than the blocks fitted to the rivals Cooper and Lotus, but the Aston suffers from serious overweight. 

In addition, reliability is poor. The engine, created for an endurance car and wide spaces, is cramped in a single-seater. In addition, the development of the DBR4 is dragging on. The years go by and technology evolves. Cooper begins the rear-engine revolution.

As a result, when the DBR4 appeared in competition at Silverstone for a non-championship event on May 2, 1959, it looked quite old. It is the only car to use a De Dion rear axle while everyone else has adopted independent, less rigid suspensions.

The statistics are not flattering. Aston Martin scored no points during four appearances in the 1959 season, and the DBR5 version, supposed to make the car lighter, more powerful and more modern, brought no rewards. 

However, three high-calibre drivers took turns at the wheel of the Englishwoman: Roy Salvadori (winner at Le Mans with Aston Martin in 1959), the famous Carroll Shelby and Maurice Trintignant (first Frenchman to win F1 at Monaco in 1955). 

The best position of an Aston Martin in F1 came at the Portuguese Grand Prix, on August 23, 1959. This event is a worthy example of the F1 of yesteryear, much less concerned about safety. The race takes place at 17 p.m. in order to avoid the summer heatwave. 

The Monsanto circuit near Lisbon also offers a complex surface. The competitors drive through a municipal forest park, then have to cross a tramway track several times! 

Left behind, the Aston Martins race alone. Roy Salvadori will finish sixth and Carroll Shelby eighth, respectively three and four laps behind winner Stirling Moss (Cooper-Climax).

Disappointed by this lack of performance, Aston Martin withdrew in the middle of the 1960 season, in order to refocus on the Endurance aspect. The end of a surprisingly inglorious episode for a legendary automobile manufacturer!