Jefferson Slack, Managing Director, Commercial and Marketing at the Aston Martin Formula 1 squad says Team Owner Lawrence Stroll is a “captivating force of nature.”
Slack joined Aston Martin in September 2020 in the final years of Racing Point, to head Aston Martin’s commercial and marketing activities.
The American boasts experience in a variety of sporting fields, including managing NBA legend Michael Jordan’s marketing activities, working as CEO at Inter Milan and commercial adviser at Dorna and FIBA.
But Aston Martin was and is his first foray into F1 and it’s all down to the captivating influence of Team Owner Stroll.
“What prompted me [coming into F1] was meeting Lawrence,” Slack told Motorsport Week in an exclusive interview.
“I hadn’t known Lawrence before, and we met, we have some mutual friends.
“Lawrence is a captivating force of nature and he explained his vision of where he was taking this and that he bought the team and was in the process of acquiring the road car company and was going to relaunch the Aston Martin brand in F1 for the 2021 season.
“I hadn’t been thinking about F1, it wasn’t a space that I had a lot of experience in, but it seemed like a really interesting opportunity and a great guy to work for and that was a pretty compelling offer.”
Slack added that the lure of the Aston Martin brand made Stroll’s offer all the more interesting.
“I mean, without Aston Martin, Lawrence saw that as a brand guy is that that’s one of the world’s most iconic ultra-luxury brands, especially in terms of motorsports,” Slack said.
“So it was Aston Martin or nothing, really it wasn’t an interview where we were looking at F1 for other things, it was this project that was the compelling one.”
Stroll is ‘the best guy I’ve worked for’ – Slack
Slack’s experience in the world of sports marketing is vast.
As a result, he’s worked with big names, big brands and enterprises.
However, it’s working with Stroll that has left a profound impression with Slack’s measure of the Aston Martin Team Owner positive to say the least.
“I’ve worked for and with some great people, but [Lawrence is] the best guy I’ve ever worked for,” Slack said.
“You know, you can have whatever public image you want of Lawrence, but this is a guy, I mean one of the things you look at with a guy like Lawrence, with his success and all his toys and playing stuff, is this guy really going to want to get up and work hard and make this happen? Because without him, you know, I’ve never seen somebody work harder, put more into it with greater intelligence, not to mention he’s stepped up, if he’s put his own right checks, this is a guy who wants to win, wants to build things, look at what he’s done with his team.
“He is the most generous person, he gives you, he empowers you, he inspires you, he makes you want to run through walls, so I’ve enjoyed every minute working with Lawrence.”
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