Generation 3: How Aston Martin and Aramco’s partnership is levelling up

Aramco began its full title sponsorship of the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team in 2024, but the racing green cars aren’t merely vehicles for logos; they represent a partnership that goes well beyond the track, affecting tangible change around the world.

The next step of Aston Martin and Aramco’s partnership was announced ahead of the 2024 United States Grand Prix, where Generation 3 was first revealed.

Khalid Al Zamil, vice president of public affairs, Aramco, said: “Generation 3 takes our partnership to the next level.”

Aramco and Aston Martin have already accomplished plenty since joining forces in 2022, after which Jessica Hawkins became the first female to drive a modern ground-effect car.

STEM activations have inspired students in Riyadh, Shanghai, and Oviedo; a university undergraduate placement programme was launched to support careers in STEM and motorsport; and the winner of the Aramco Esports Challenge joined Aston Martin Aramco Esports Team.

Here’s how Generation 3 will build on this pivotal work.

The three pillars of Generation 3

There are three key focuses of the Generation 3 initiative.

The first is social value: inspiring the next generation through STEM education and opportunities - including a new Generation 3 STEM scholarship programme in 2025 and further karting initiatives involving Aston Martin Aramco drivers and engineers.

Technological innovation is the next pillar: focusing on fuel and material innovation. Aramco will deliver fuels to the Aston Martin Aramco F1 team under the new FIA regulations in 2026 - but this pillar has already begun to grow.

Finally, the partnership will breed technology transfer: where F1 innovation goes beyond the track and makes an impact in mobility and beyond.

Generation 3 therefore aims to inspire, innovate, and impact.

How Generation 3 will inspire and deliver social change
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Rob Bloom, chief marketing officer at Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team, explained how the partnership is already inspiring people across the world and providing social value - delivering on the first of its three core pillars.

“Aston Martin and Aramco is one of the most significant partnerships in sports marketing. A partnership of this size is befitting of a platform, like Generation 3, which is a wrapper of all the amazing work that's going on in the Aston Martin and Aramco partnership on and off the track.

“And I think Generation 3 is really about the parties who are involved in the equation. So, clearly it's Aston Martin, it's Aramco, but that third party is you. And you could be a younger STEM student; you could be a technologist, a scientist, an academic.”

Bloom added that the inspirational work behind Generation 3 has already begun, with Hawkins becoming the first female driver to pilot a ground-effect F1 car while Aston Martin Aramco young driver Jak Crawford launched this new stage of the partnership by driving the Aston Martin AMR22 in Houston ahead of the 2024 United States Grand Prix.

Houston is a significant location. It’s Crawford’s home city and the most populous city of Texas, where Aramco’s Americas’ headquarters - which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024 - is located.

The demonstration run in a Generation 3-liveried F1 car was also dovetailed with an event with local STEM students in the city’s Ion district, a 16-acre innovation hub in Houston.

There, a crowd of more than 500 people including the Mayor of Houston and STEM students attended the 'Race to Innovate' event at Rice University, where Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team showcased the work it has been doing with Aramco.

Attendees heard from team members including Aston Martin Performance Technologies engineering director Claudio Santoni and Aston Martin Aramco development driver Crawford, who shared their thoughts and experiences from working in motorsport.

“That was inspirational for that community and the students that witnessed the demo run. And the millions who saw it on social media as well,” added Bloom.

“We’ve done four or five key student engagement programmes so far. We have also had an internship programme at our technology campus. You can see that providing some huge opportunities as well. So, this is a long-term initiative where we want to inspire the next generation. And we know that we're only just getting started in that.”

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How Generation 3 will deliver technological excellence
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Generation 3 will deliver innovation and performance through Aramco’s global expertise and Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team’s pursuit to become a contender for the Formula 1 world championship.

Al Zamil explained: "Since joining forces in 2022, our dynamic partnership with Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team has harnessed a shared commitment to engineering excellence and innovation, with the potential to deliver winning results both on and off the track.”

In September 2024, a four-way technical partnership was signed between Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team, Aramco, Honda, and Valvoline - in preparation for the wide-ranging 2026 technical and sporting regulation changes.

“With every big partner, first you have to fight together, you have to create the correct forum, set the correct working groups and then you have to set each other goals and challenges and responsibilities,” said Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team team principal Mike Krack. “But this has all happened already.”

“We have a very ambitious target for ‘26, it's progressing well on all fronts, but I'm sure we will face fierce opposition when it comes to the moment.”

Krack pointed out that fuel will become a major performance catalyst in 2026 as, along with the new engines, teams will use fuel, which will meet the FIA’s sustainability standards.

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Aramco will supply fuel to Aston Martin.

“In 2026, fuel will be a big talking point - we think it will be a performance differentiator. This is a partnership at the cutting edge… to produce not only the engine but also the fuel for it,” said Krack.

“We have everything to be successful, with all the recipes that are required from the FIA in terms of advanced sustainable fuels.”

Krack added that Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team’s expansion - with the newest factory in Formula 1 almost completed, and esteemed F1 designer Adrian Newey set to join the team - will inspire future generations to pursue engineering as a career and help the team source the next great generations of engineers.

“Our latest signing in Adrian Newey is very inspiring for young people, and it will create a difference.

“Having Aramco on board will help Aston Martin to acquire young generations, young talent - we want to bring in these people. And I think we have a responsibility here to ensure successive generations of talented engineers join F1.”

How Generation 3 will nurture innovation

Aramco and Aston Martin are working beyond the track too through the Performance Technologies arm of Aston Martin (AMPT).

Using Aramco’s expertise and experience in energy and composites combined with Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team and AMPT's drive for performance and rapid expansion ahead of the 2026 regulations, this partnership will catalyse innovation in other sectors such as mobility, sustainability and more.

“It's a fairly wide canvas in terms of which aspects of transportation, carbon reduction, energy transition and other areas in which we are collaborating on,” said Santoni.

“For example, non-metallics, polymer technology, and how that can be used to address technical challenges is one of the areas.

“There's quite a lot of work going on, for example, in electrification and other forms of automotive propulsion. We’re fairly agnostic in terms of exactly which form of propulsion to use.

“It's great having a partner like Aramco, the technology and the effort that they can put behind the right ideas.”

One current example of Aramco and AMPT's collaboration revolves around the Valhalla hypercar - which relies on carbon fibre.

“Lightweight and performance are essential for the profile and the brief of that particular car,” explained Santoni.

“A substantial part of the engineering of that car is actually happening in Silverstone in our offices and we have a fairly integrated engineering team that is taking care of the heavy aspect of the engineering of that car.

“In terms of, for example, the carbon fibre, the monocoque, the lightweight, the 3D printing etc. there is quite a lot of technology transfer between Aramco and Aston Martin Performance Technologies.”

Generation 3 is just getting started but work is moving at a rapid pace and the positive results are already being realised - with STEM students already receiving invaluable insight from Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team and Aramco personnel, and more events on the horizon.

“I see new liveries on Formula 1 cars on a regular basis but I don't think I see the substance in a programme that we have behind this partnership so much up and down the grid,” said Bloom.

“We as a team have a fundamental belief that sport has the power to change lives and I think if you look at the inspirational work, the technology work that's going on, this is having a real-world impact.

He concluded: “The game changer for us in this partnership with Aramco is substance.”