Racing Point CEO and team principal Otmar Szafnauer insists its tie-up with Aston Martin won’t have an impact on the team’s on-track objectives for this season.

2020 will mark the final campaign the Silverstone outfit competes as Racing Point before it switches allegiances to Aston Martin Racing next year.

Co-owner Lawrence Stroll bought a stake in the automotive company that will see the Aston Martin name return to Formula 1 for the first time in over 60 years.

Speaking at the launch of the RP20, Szafnauer outlined the importance the deal brings to both the team’s future ambitions and the sport itself. 

“It’s significant news for Aston Martin and for Formula 1 itself,” Szafnauer said, as quoted by Crash.net.

“As one of the most iconic sports car brands in the world, Aston Martin needed a presence on the F1 grid and this solution delivers a fully-fledged works Aston Martin F1 Team from 2021 onwards.

“Lawrence [Stroll] spoke to the staff last week and set out the clear objective to establish Aston Martin as one of the top teams in the sport.

“Everyone is proud to represent a legendary car manufacturer returning to the pinnacle of motorsport.”

Racing Point is eyeing a significant improvement on last season’s seventh place in the overall standings, with a clear target to head the midfield battle in 2020.

Referring back to the Aston Martin agreement, Szafnauer hopes it doesn’t distract the team from its “main task” this year.

“There’s no immediate impact on our current campaign and we will continue to compete as Racing Point until the rebrand takes place at the start of the 2021 season,” he added.

“From then we will be known simply as ‘Aston Martin F1 Team’ – so the Racing Point name will disappear. It’s important we don’t take our eyes off the main task for 2020, which is to be competitive on the racetrack with the RP20.”