Fernando Alonso reveals billionaire Lawrence Stroll refused to give him ‘any discount’ on Aston Martin cars

F1 drivers are often gifted a car from their teams, but Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin seem to be an exception.

Fernando Alonso reveals billionaire Lawrence Stroll refused to give him ‘any discount’ on Aston Martin cars

Lawrence Stroll and Fernando Alonso (Via: Motorsport, Imago)

Aston Martin is one of the most renowned luxury sports car brands worldwide. Its presence in F1 has aided the brand in increasing its value as its sales have been skyrocketing, which can be attributed to Fernando Alonso being the brand ambassador. This led fans to assume that he would have been provided with a car by the manufacturer. However, Alonso revealed Lawrence Stroll‘s attitude towards discounts as he is not provided with any.

Sebastian Vettel decided to retire from the sport after hauling F1 machinery for more than a decade. This left Aston Martin scratching their heads to fill the void left by the former world champion. Subsequently, his absence was soon filled by the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who soon became the leader in the English marque’s success in F1.

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Moreover, the Spaniard is often spotted arriving at the paddock in an Aston Martin during race weekends but revealed how none of the cars that he gets chauffeured into the race venues are his.

They don’t give me anything for free [laughs]. They lend it to me and at the end of the year, they take it back. I was always surprised because I negotiated with Lawrence, I asked him what discounts we Aston Martin employees or drivers got and he said: None, why? To pay like everyone else, zero discount.
Fernando Alonso said in an interview with DAZN Spain

Alonso jokingly said he does not get anything for free as the cars he arrives in are lent to him and taken back once the season is over. He then revealed how he expected a discount on buying Aston Martin cars as it was a norm within the paddock but claimed how Lawrence Stroll argued that there are no discounts for anyone. Despite this, he bought an Aston Martin Valkyrie last year, which broke down recently in the streets of Monza.

Fernando Alonso labeled his Italian GP weekend costly and painful

On the other hand, Alonso has been heading Aston Martin’s chariot ever since joining the team. However, the oufit has hit a slump in performance and is struggling to score points during a Grand Prix race weekend.

Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso (Via: Imago)

Though the Spaniard qualified 11th, closely behind the points-paying positions in Monza, he finished the race in the same spot and lost out on scoring a point by two-tenths.

Disappointed because we did a very good start, overtook Nico [Hulkenberg] and then very good strategy with the two stops, we undercut Alex [Albon] and were running P9 comfortably. But at the end with the second stop, we could not catch quick enough Alex and we finished a second behind him and one-tenth behind Magnussen so for one second, two positions [lost] is costly and painful.
Fernando Alonso via F1

The Spaniard confessed that he was disappointed by the team’s pace around Monza as they had made up positions on the race start and were slated for a good result. Anyhow, his race was compromised by the strategy, which caused him to fall back in the pecking order.

Apart from this, the Silverstone-based squad currently resides in a no-man’s land. The team stands fifth in the standings with a huge gap to Mercedes. Thus, Aston Martin is poised to finish fifth after starting the year on a high by fighting McLaren and Mercedes.

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