Aston Martin: 100th anniversary of First Grand Prix in France

TT1 – Vettel driving and Herbert, both with their own racing histories.

This weekend’s Formula One race allows Aston Martin mark the centenary of its maiden challenge at the 1922 French Grand Prix. Aston notes that no current Formula One “manufacturer has such an early history of top-flight competition.” The current Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One^TM Team will race with original Aston Martin button badge on its cars.

Ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix, four-time F1^® world champion Sebastian Vettel drove TT1 – warmly nicknamed ‘Green Pea’ – around Circuit Paul Ricard, 100 years after the celebrated car took to the road circuit of Strasbourg for a 60-lap, 800 km race as one of two Aston Martin entries.

The past as preview of the present?

The cars were built by founder Lionel Martin, and commission by wealthy young motor racing driver and pioneer Count Louis Zborowski. He invested £10,000 in their construction and the development of an entirely new 16-valve twin overhead cam four-cylinder race engine. TT1 and TT2 were originally intended for the 1922 Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) event, but a delay resulted in the marque’s international racing debut at the French Grand Prix on the 15 July 1922. Zborowski drove TT1. He later went on to design ‘Chitty Bang’ the car which inspired the book, film, and stage musical Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.

“Green Pea holds a very special place in Aston Martin’s heritage, and you can almost feel that century of history beneath your fingertips when at the wheel,” said Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One^TM Team driver.

This weekend, the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One^TM Team will race with the original Aston Martin logo from 1913 on the nose of its cars, mirroring the marque on Green Pea. The symbolic switch comes in the week that Aston Martin launches a new update to its iconic wings logo. The new Aston Martin wings are on the monocoque sides of the AMR22 car.

The first Aston Martin Grand Prix car used a 1,486cc engine  that made ~ 55bhp at 4200 rpm. The car – built with a body conforming to the voiturette style – weighed 750kg, 45kg lighter than today’s AMR22 challenger. It had a top speed of 85mph and carried two seats, one off-set, as per the Grand Prix regulations of the time, to accommodate the riding mechanic who was an essential member of the team not least because of his job to pressurize the fuel tank via a hand pump.

The fledgling team, based at Abingdon Road, Kensington, then continued their Grand Prix adventures. The rest of the history is still unwritten.

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