Aston Martin has never quite had a good grip on finances, but when Lawrence Stroll invested heavily in the company, he brought in Tobias Moers from Mercedes-AMG. This helped streamline a great many projects, but the CEO has now been replaced by a former Ferrari executive, suggesting that he wasn't as effective as hoped. And after recent comments from Formula 1 drivers that the Vantage safety car is too slow, the news is negative on almost all fronts. It's quite clear that the brand needs the support of its partners more than ever, and based on the automaker's own financial reports, that support can't come soon enough.

In the first quarter of this year, Aston Martin recorded a net loss of £47.7 million (around $58.7 million at the time of writing) and net debt of over £956.8 million (around $1.1 billion), an increase from the £722.9 million (approximately $890.5 million) net debt owed during the same period in 2021. Net debt, by the way, is the term used to describe the debt that would remain if a company combined all its cash and sold off all its assets at their current value to pay its creditors. Essentially, this means that Aston Martin is so far in the red that it would still owe a fortune even if it were liquidated tomorrow morning.

The embattled automaker has reported an operating loss every year bar two since 2010. Worse still, its stock price has collapsed by 90% since its initial product offering (IPO) in 2018, and its market value has dropped from around $5.3 billion to around just $1.3 billion. That's just $100 million off its net debt, which means the company could soon owe more than it's worth. So how did we get here?

Well, there are a number of factors. The DBX SUV hasn't been the cash cow it was expected to be, with the facility that produces it capable of building 5,000 SUVs per annum but the brand only delivering around 3,000 worldwide in 2021. The Valkyrie has faced endless development challenges and even broke down twice during its Goodwood debut. Then the Valhalla was extensively redesigned, costing yet more money. We could go on and on, but with the recent confirmation that Audi is interested in taking ownership of the F1 team, there could still be a way for Aston to get its head above water.