Fernando Alonso was lured to Aston Martin by their “hunger for success, success and success”

At 41, Fernando Alonso is still as ambitious as ever. He's betted on Aston Martin who 'will take anything and will do everything' to succeed.

Fernando Alonso was lured to Aston Martin by their “hunger for success, success and success”

Fernando Alonso

When Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from Formula 1, it was quite a shock. But the shocks were only just beginning. To replace him, Aston Martin brought in Fernando Alonso. A world champion replaced a world champion. But many were suspicious of the move – considering it to be one of Alonso’s classic ‘bad career moves’. Last season, Alpine finished fourth, while Aston Martin could only manage seventh. It was seen as a downgrade, at least on car performance.

But the doubters may just be proven wrong this time. In the 2023 pre-season testing, Aston Martin looked pretty good, to say the least. In fact, a lot of people are even putting them above Alpine in the ‘power rankings’ – some are even putting them over Mercedes. Mercedes’ team principal, Toto Wolff, had said that Lawrence Stroll’s team could end up in second place.

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Alonso is clearly ambitious – just being in the midfield is not enough. He will turn 42 this year, but the hunger to win his third (perhaps more) championship remains. He feels Aston Martin are the right team for his goals. Speaking to CNN, he said: “It has to be an ambitious project. It has to be a project that wants to win, a project that will take anything and will do everything to make it happen. And that is what I feel in Aston Martin. There is this talent and this hunger for success, success and success.”

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Fernando Alonso: ‘Not the drivers’ role to make decisions on F1’s future’

Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso

The 2023 calendar features 23 races, which is the largest it has ever been. If not for the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, there would have 24 race weekends for drivers to attend in 2023. 24 is the maximum number allowed under the current agreement with the teams. For the fans, it’s more action, but for the drivers and teams, it’s definitely not going to be easy. Many feel that drivers don’t have enough say in the sport, and Fernando Alonso agrees. However, he thinks it’s not their role.

The two-time world champion said: “But this is maybe not our role on this sport. We drive these cars in on Sunday afternoons, but we cannot forget that this is a team sport. I think we have the right people leading the sport. We are in good hands with Liberty [Media], with Stefano Domenicali, with the FIA as well. I think we should put trust in our leaders.” he knows it’s going to be “challenging”, but: “I think it’s going to be demanding on teams, mechanics, media, all of us. But we love what we do. We have a dream job. We enjoy every second of it.”

Whether Aston Martin and Alonso will be successful or not, only time will tell. Their performance at pre-season testing was definitely impressive. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything in and of itself. It’s not entirely representative, because we don’t know how much fuel the teams are running on, what program they’re using, etc. We will find out how Aston Martin REALLY look this weekend.

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