Fernando Alonso expands on moving to yet another new team – Aston Martin – and why he thinks they are on an upward trend in F1.
Ever since Alonso decided to move to Aston Martin for 2022, there were several who raised the question of him moving to the Silverstone-based team which ranked lower than Alpine in 2021. The Spaniard returned with the French team with a fresh hope but didn’t extend his contract beyond the deal he had in place.
Now having spent some time and also showcasing the 2023 car while completing a filming run, Alonso is pretty happy to join Aston Martin who thinks have the vision and will to take that step to challenge the Top 3 teams in the standings. The outfit has already started on with expansion project with new infrastructure and new people.
Having always achieved more than what they had under their previous names, Alonso feels that Aston Martin has that hunger for success where they will not settle for even second in time to come. Since it is a team which hasn’t tasted continued success and so the hunger is there to achieve the thing which they haven’t in the years they have been in F1.
Moving to Aston Martin, being happier –
Alonso: “Well, because I’m very demanding on everything that I do, I expect a lot from people that I work with, I give my 100% and expect the same from the people that I work with. Since the first day in Aston Martin, I felt exactly the same values from the people around me. Obviously, we have the leadership of Lawrence that I know for many years now. He had a lot of success in many different things and many different projects in his life. And I see, you know, there is no doubt that Formula One will not be different, he will succeed sooner or later.
“So that’s something that is very motivating the new people that join the team. You know, Dan follows Eric, the best people in each of the competitors. Aston Martin went there and took them and convinced them. So there is something for sure, going on in this team that we make makes things special. And as I said before, you need the investment and you need the talent in Formula One. We have the investment, we have the facilities, and we have the talent. So we see as a matter of time. Unfortunately, I’m not 20. But I will do my best to help the team.”
Coming into yet another new team –
Alonso:“In these days, Formula One is a bit different. We don’t have the freedom to develop the car in many different ways. There is a lot of restrictions and regulations, there is less creativity. So it’s all about details. It’s all about quality on every aspect of the car. I think there is some about the background of this team coming from the previous names that this factory had. Everyone here is humble. Everyone here is hungry for success. Maybe they need experience fighting for wins regularly or championships or podium every weekend.
“But they trust in themselves. They have self confidence and they know that they can achieve that. But they never did yet. So this is very different compared to the new teams that I joined in the last few occasions where maybe they have success in the past and they were just in a comfortable position, they were just fourth, and they were happy with fourth, they were happy with fifth, if we were finishing seventh in a race, there was a celebration. Here there are no celebrations until we win. And this is very appealing.”
Settling since Abu Dhabi test –
Alonso: “Yeah, you’re more happy every day. I’m happier. Honestly, I’ve been coming to the factory regularly. In January, we had some simulator work. We have also, all the drivers that they are helping us stuff, Felipe, which we are constantly talking about the simulator as well, how to improve that. There is a lot of teamwork at the moment. And I love that between the drivers between all the departments.
“We’ve been following the wind tunnel model for the last two months. Finally, we see the full size of the real car. I think the fans will appreciate as well that we launched the real car. It is sometimes disappointed to see just a showcar with different stickers. So yeah, this is just more more tougher on everything.”
Team personnel you recall at Aston Martin –
Alonso: “From the team personnel? Yes, obviously, I know a few people. Every time I join a team, there are always some familiar faces that I work with, in different teams. But normally, yes. Now with the timing, I’m getting older, so they are younger and younger. So I don’t know, I work with a son of someone that has been working with me. My front mechanic, he’s 19. So obviously, the other day he was telling me, he went to service, something like that. And he was just a baby when he was just attending to the grand prix. And I think there are a few people that believe it or not, they’ve been working in Ferrari in 2014. In McLaren in 2017, in Alpine last year, and now in Aston Martin. So we change four of the last teams more or less together, and in different years, but we seem to meet always.”
Team’s over-achieving habbit –
Alonso: “Yeah, sure. I mean, this team has been always standing in terms of delivering results for the possibilities that they had on the facilities are, maybe not a top team. And right now, this is just the opposite project, you know, we are just witnessing the growth of the team, they nearly doubled the personnel in the last 24 months. This year, three of us moved to Aston Martin and I think there is a lot of things going on right now with these new people that joined the team and new ideas on the new factory, new wind tunnel.
“For sure, it will take time, this more long term benefit that you will see. But in the short term, you will see also with a new car, that there are a lot of things that they are already visible on, on how the team can grow up quickly. So let’s see. There are a lot of things right? In Formula One, there are no shortcuts, you need the investment, you need the talent in the factory, this project is very ambitious at the moment and has a lot of things to prove, but a lot of things to go through in the next few years. And I know that my time is not unlimited, behind the wheel, but I will try to make it short as possible this this process and help the team as much as I can.”
Here’s Aston Martin on track
Here’s 2023 Aston Martin car
Here’s Eric Blandin on immediate feedback from Fernando Alonso
Here’s Tom McCullough on Nico Hulkenberg
Here’s Eric Blandin on different Aston Martin for 2023