Had Alonso predicted Aston Martin success ahead of time?
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
When it was announced last summer that Fernando Alonso would move from Alpine to Aston Martin, there were many surprised reactions. Now a year later, Aston Martin is doing a lot better than Alpine. Did Alonso predict this beforehand?
Fernando Alonso has a long history in Formula 1. Besides being the oldest driver on the grid, he has changed teams no less than six times in his career. After returning from his temporary retirement, he came to drive for the Alpine team, but after two seasons he decided to sign with Aston Martin.
For many people, this was a striking choice. After all, Alpine was above Aston Martin in the constructors' championship in both 2021 and 2022. This changed in 2023. Indeed, Aston Martin is having a very good season this year with no fewer than eight podiums for the Spaniard.
Master forecaster Alonso
In an interview with GQ, Alonso reveals that Aston Martin's performance in 2023 also came as a surprise to him: ''It was a nice surprise, we cannot lie. We had some hopes, as I say, with new people joining the team. They seemed to know what they were doing, but this was a long-term vision. We were thinking in 2023 we’d be consistently fighting in the top ten, and maybe a podium or two would be possible, and then in 2024 be a regular contender for the podium. We found ourselves regularly fighting for podiums in the first half of this season, and that was definitely a surprise, so I was happy.''
So there seems to be no crystal ball, but the switch to the British team seems to be working out very well for the Spaniard. Alonso therefore sees a long-term partnership ahead with his new team.