From Jordan to Aston Martin: the six lives of the Silverstone team

Just over 34 years ago, on March 10, 1991, the Jordan team took the start of its first Grand Prix in Phoenix, USA. More than three decades later, the Silverstone-based team still lives under the Aston Martin colors, after several changes of leadership.

Published 20/03/2025 à 18:10

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From Jordan to Aston Martin: the six lives of the Silverstone team

Jordan (1991-2005)

250 Grands Prix – 4 victories – 19 podiums – 2 pole positions
Best ranking: 3rd (1999)

In 1991, a new team arrived in Formula 1 after having experienced several years of success in promotional formulas: Jordan. Named after its creator, the eccentric Irishman Eddie Jordan, the team based in Silverstone (UK) arrives in the premier category with very limited resources.

It acquired a reputation as a small, friendly team on the board thanks to the colorful character of its founder but also for having launched big names in the discipline: Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and Eddie Irvine started with Jordan.

The Irish team reached its peak in 1999 with two victories and a 3rd place among the constructors, narrowly failing to win the drivers' championship with Heinz-Harald Frentzen. In the 2000s, the team slowly declined towards the back of the grid and was bought in 2005 by the Russian Alex Schnaider.

Midlands (2006)

18 Grands Prix – 0 victory – 0 podium – 0 pole position
Best ranking: 10th

In 2006, Jordan became Midland under the leadership of its new owner, Alex Schnaider. Midland is a Russian group specializing in the sale of steel… and completely new to F1. The change of identity is total: new colors, new drivers, new identity. Unfortunately, this wind of novelty does not pay off.

As in 2005, the Silverstone structure is vegetating in the lower reaches of the grid with Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro. In the 18 Grands Prix of the 2006 season, Midland scored no points, with a best result of 9th place at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Alex Schnaider, aware that he had underestimated the costs in F1, sold his team mid-season to a Dutch consortium led by Michiel Mol. The Midland team even uses a completely different livery, orange, on the last three races of the season.

spykers (2007)

17 Grands Prix – 0 victory – 0 podium – 0 pole position
Best ranking: 10th

After Midland, it is Spyker, a small Dutch manufacturer, who takes the torch. The team still benefits from the facilities at Silverstone and moves to an engine Ferrari for the 2007 season. However, the team remains stuck at the back of the grid without being able to escape.

Spyker becomes the laughing stock of the set after the incredible scene of Christian Albers tearing off his fuel hose at the French Grand Prix. Dismissed by the Dutch team, the Dutchman is replaced by Markus Winkelhock. For his first and only F1 race, the German took advantage of a daring but profitable strategy during the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring to find himself in the lead of the event when the rain arrived. The team then leads an F1 Grand Prix for the first time.

Unfortunately, this will remain the only moment of glory for Spyker who, despite a point snatched by Adrian Sutil in Japan, finished last in the championship. Following the manufacturer's financial difficulties, the sale of the team to the Orange India Holdings consortium, led by the Indian Vijay Mallya, was recorded in September 2007 for an amount of $88 million.

Force India (2008-2018)

212 Grands Prix – 0 victories – 6 podiums – 1 pole position
Best ranking: 4th (2016-2017)

For the 3rd consecutive season, the Silverstone structure is changing its name. After Midland and Spyker, the team became Force India in 2008, the first Indian team in F1 history. The ambitions are great for Vijay Mallya: to make Force India a team capable of competing for podiums.

After complicated starts in 2008 and 2009 – despite a surprise pole for Giancarlo Fisichella in Belgium in 2009 – the team began to assert itself as a serious contender for points at the start of the 2010s, then for podiums at the finish of the turbo hybrid era. Arriving in 2014, Sergio Pérez became the face of the Force India team, scoring several podiums (5 between 2014 and 2018). Force India ranks as the 4th force in the field in 2016 and 2017, gaining 'best of the rest' status behind all three top teams Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

However, the team faces financial difficulties. In mid-2018, while Vijay Mallya was accused by India of money laundering and fraud, Force India was placed in receivership. The Indian team is narrowly saved by a consortium led by Canadian multi-billionaire Lawrence Stroll, father of the pilot Lance stroll. Following negotiations with the FIA, the team is renamed Racing Point Force India and can continue the 2018 season. The former Force India team is excluded from the 2018 season with immediate effect and loses all of its points in the constructors' championship. acquired until the Belgian Grand Prix.

Racing Point (2018-2020)

38 Grands Prix – 1 victories – 4 podiums – 1 pole position
Best ranking: 4rd (2020)

Racing Point is therefore born from the ashes of Force India. Lawrence Stroll places his son, Lance Stroll, in the second seat of the team. The Canadian billionaire has crazy ambitions: to transform his team to play for the title. If the 2 season is disappointing, the Racing Point all dressed in pink – due to sponsorship with the Austrian company BWT – suddenly climbs the hierarchy in 2019… against a backdrop of controversy. The British team is suspected of having copied the Mercedes W2020 champion the previous year. The Racing Point RP9 acquired the nickname “Mercedes Rose”.

Sanctioned with 15 points by the FIA after a complaint filed by Renault, Racing Point regularly plays for podiums, to the point of winning the Sakhir Grand Prix with Sergio Pérez. This is the first victory for the Silverstone team since the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, 17 years previously.

Because of its penalty points, the British team was unable to secure 3rd place among the constructors, which would have been the best ranking in the championship since 1999. At the end of 2020, Lawrence Stroll, now owner ofAston Martin, decided to rename the team under the name of the famous English manufacturer.

Aston Martin (since 2021)

96 Grands Prix – 0 victories – 9 podiums – 0 pole position
(stopped after the 2025 Australian GP)
Best ranking: 5th (2023-2024)

After a first appearance in Formula 1 at the end of the 1950s, the Aston Martin name returns to the premier category in 2021. Lawrence Stroll sees things big: the Silverstone factory is expanded and modernized, the team recruits quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel to lead the project, always alongside Lance Stroll. Many great engineers are also hired, like Dan Fallows, former right-hand man of Adrian Newey at Red Bull.

In 2021 and 2022, the team is struggling to hang on to the lead teams and stagnates in the 2nd half of the table, with two 7th places among the manufacturers. However, Aston Martin reveals itself at the end of the 2022 season with numerous effective developments, to the point of threatening the mid-grid teams.

In 2023, the British team replaces Sebastian Vettel, who retired, with Fernando Alonso, two-time world champion. The promises of 2022 seem to be kept for 2023: Aston Martin astonishes and surprises everyone by climbing the hierarchy in spectacular fashion. Fernando Alonso even scored a podium in his first Grand Prix with the team before taking seven more throughout the year.

Unfortunately, the hopes of 2023 gave way to despair in 2024. The green team failed to confirm its position and gradually fell back in the hierarchy. Although it still managed to secure 5th place overall in the Constructors' Championship, Aston Martin finished as the 7th force in the field, or even 8th at the end of the year, whileAlpine, Haas and Racing Bulls were doing very well.

In an attempt to bounce back, and while he dreams of a world title as soon as possible, Lawrence Stroll has taken out his checkbook and recruited some heavyweights with the arrivals of Andy Cowell (CEO and new team principal), Enrico Cardile (technical director from July) and especially Adrian Newey (technical management partner) with 2026 and the big revolution in sight. This would allow the Silverstone team to perhaps win a first title in more than 30 years of existence.

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