The Latest Breaking News from Aston

Max Verstappen won the US F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit of Americas but Lewis Hamilton, who came second, was disqualified after failing the plank wear inspection on his car

Aston Martin started off the season strongly with six podiums for Fernando Alonso in the first seven grands prix, but rival teams have since caught up with the Silverstone squad.

After securing a double podium result behind dominant winner Max Verstappen last time out in the Japanese Grand Prix, McLaren is now 49 points behind fourth-placed Aston in the teams’ standings, with Mercedes and Ferrari ahead in the fight Red Bull has already sealed.

Hawkins tested the Silverstone team’s two-year-old AMR21 in Hungary a fortnight ago, becoming the first woman to drive a near current car since 2018.

Aston came flying out of the gates in Bahrain, with its lead driver Fernando Alonso racking up five podiums in the first six races.

Ferrari returning to the Le Mans 24 Hours was arguably the biggest motorsport story of 2021, while the famous Italian marque’s victory in the French classic will probably stand as this year’s feel-good moment. This week’s Aston Martin announcement should be viewed in a similar way.

The British manufacturer will remain involved in the GT3 and GT4 classes for the foreseeable future, it was announced on the launch of the Valkyrie programme on Wednesday. 

The winner of Le Mans in 1959 has firmed up the plans outlined by Autosport last month to revive the Valkyrie LMH project mothballed early in 2020 for twin assaults on the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Vandoorne has shared the Aston reserve job with Felipe Drugovich this year, essentially fitting in trips to grands prix around the Formula E calendar.