2014 Aston Martin Vanquish Volante Convertible 2d on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Aston Martin closing deal with Force India F1 team

Aston Martin is returning to the Formula One grid. Only instead of starting its own team – or even taking control of an existing one – the British automaker is reportedly on the verge of announcing a new partnership with the Force India team. According to Autosport, the deal would see the team switch names from its current national identity to Aston Martin Racing. Beyond naming rights, however, the partnership could see the two outfits partner on technical collaborations as well. The Johnnie Walker whisky brand – a longtime McLaren partner – is said to be joining as a sponsor of the newly rebranded team, which has previously featured branding from whisky brands Royal Challenge, Whyte & Mackay, and Dalmore. The current engine deal with Mercedes (which owns part of Aston Martin) is expected to stay in place. Force India isn't the only team Aston Martin is said to have evaluated. Previous reports had linked the manufacturer of luxury GT cars to Red Bull, while Williams was also said to have been under consideration for such a partnership. Ultimately, however, it appears to be cash-strapped (and strong-performing) Force India that has sealed the deal, expected to be announced in due course. If the notion of an automaker sponsoring (but not running) an F1 team strikes you as odd, it isn't without relevant precedent. Infiniti has long sponsored the Red Bull team that is powered by its corporate cousin Renault. That deal was brokered while the Japanese luxury brand was chaired by Andy Palmer, who now runs Aston Martin. Aside from considerable achievements in sports car racing, the British firm only participated in F1 for a few races in 1959 and 1960. The deal would put an end to the Force India name that has adorned the team since Indian businessman Vijay Mallya took it over late in 2007. Mallya, it should be noted, helms United Spirits Limited, which produces all those beverages mentioned previously that have sponsored Force India. The team was founded in 1991 as Jordan Grand Prix, under whose name it ran until 2005 when it switched ownership and name first to Midland and then to Spyker. Mallya sold nearly half of the team's stake to the Sahara India Pariwar conglomerate in 2011. Since taking over the team, Force India has gone from a back-marker in tenth place to a solid midfield contender routinely landing sixth in the championship standings and currently running fifth this season.

Aston Martin DB11 gets back to work at the Nurburgring

The Aston Martin DB9 has been around for over a decade now. Classic though its styling may be, that means it's ripe for replacement. Fortunately that's just what Aston Martin is working on, as you can see from these latest spy shots. Snapped undergoing development at the notoriously grueling Nurburgring, this prototype appears to have ditched the camouflage worn by the last one we saw in favor of the black body cladding from our earlier shots. That makes it tough to tell anything about its final design, but if precedent proves anything, it ought to be pretty striking once the production bodywork is put in place. The new DB11 (or whatever it's ultimately called) is being built on a new platform that's set to replace Aston's long-serving VH architecture that has adapted over the years but essentially dates back to the V12 Vanquish that debuted way back in 2011. Aston is expected to keep using its even longer-serving 6.0-liter V12 engine on certain models, but the new DB11 is more likely to get the new twin-turbo V8 being built for it by Mercedes-AMG.

Aston Martin confirms DP-100 for Gran Turismo 6 and Goodwood debut

Gran Turismo 6 is set to come to life this weekend at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. That's where Mercedes-AMG will run its Vision Gran Turismo and Nissan will show a full-size mockup of its Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo. Now Aston Martin has announced it's getting in on the action as well with its Design Prototype 100. Aston has released a video two teaser images to give us a hint at what it's working on, but will reveal the finished product in the Supercar Paddock at Goodwood tomorrow, although we don't know if that will be in the form of a scale model, a full-size show car, a series of design sketches or a virtual rendition existing only in the game. From the look of the two images, though, it appears that we're dealing with an LMP-style racer with Aston's ubiquitous V12 mounted in the middle of a carbon-fiber chassis. What we do know for certain is that, when it's released for download next month, it will be the latest (but certainly not the last) in a long line of concepts designed specifically for driving on the PlayStation 3.