Aston Martin Managing Director for Commercial and Marketing Jefferson Slack has explained how the Silverstone-based Formula 1 team is enjoying a rapid rate of growth with new partners.
2024 wasn’t a successful year on track for Aston Martin as the team took a backwards step in terms of points scored, 186 less than the year before in fact.
However, that hasn’t stopped Aston Martin from growing its sponsorship portfolio, which began expanding at a rapid rate during the latter months of 2024 including the arrivals of Puma, Xerox and Glenfiddich.
This expansion has continued in 2025, with the addition of trading partner Pepperstone, AI partner Arm and most recently, logistics partner Atlas Air.
Motorsport Week spoke exclusively with Slack to understand how Aston Martin is achieving commercial success.
“Firstly from a macro standpoint, the sport is in amazing health, if you’re a global marketeer right now, it’s probably one of your best options to have as a platform to reach a global audience,” Slack said.
“That’s just thanks to Liberty Media and a lot of other hard work that’s been done that we are the beneficiaries of so you’ve got a growing pie, the pie is getting bigger, there’s more partners out there so that’s very helpful for us.
“Then there’s the stuff that we do influence, there’s the brand, the brand is timeless. I knew what Aston Martin was but until I worked for the team I didn’t fully understand the appeal of the brand.
“Obviously, if we’re winning more or doing better that’s not bad but the brand is the brand and it’s 113 years old and it’s going to be 114 years old and it’s going to be 115 years old and it’s still going to be aspirational and make beautiful cars and have James Bond and all of those things that we see is Aston Martin. We’ve got that as kind of a linchpin benefit for us.”
Slack boastful of Aston Martin’s approach to partnerships
In addition of having a powerful brand image to attract partners, Slack is boastful of the way Aston Martin treats its partners and the innovative approach the team has towards content.
“This is a bit self-serving but I feel that we treat our partners really well and we understand sports marketing and we are marketeers and we approach our relationships not just from a sales standpoint but from a marketing standpoint,” he said.
“What we did with Jessica Hawkins and [title partner] Aramco in Riyadh. Having Jessica drive, the first woman ever to drive a modern ground effect F1 car, a woman, a gay woman in Riyadh and the symbolism of that, we produced all of that, the content production was first class in terms of quality that was really inspirational and a great thing to do.
“What we did with Glenfiddich in six weeks from when we kind of shook hands – our contract wasn’t even signed until three days before the launch so it shows you the level of trust – we helped do the creative in terms of the CGI, for a global launch, out of home, in Times Square, Piccadilly Square, things like that, billions of impressions that was all done in six weeks with our in-house team working hand in hand with Glenfiddich.
“I think companies that we speak to see that and they recognise that that’s a value to them, they’ve got a brand but they’ve also got a partner who will activate that out of this and achieve their objectives.
“Other teams are very good and excellent in commercial areas but I just talk about the stuff that I can control, we can control, that’s what we can do and so that’s one of the reasons that we’re having commercial success.”
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