Aston Martin 'fishing' Fernando Alonso

Only four days after Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from Formula 1 once this season ends, Aston Martin made it official this Monday that the person in charge of replacing the German from next year will be Fernando Alonso.

The Asturian, who turned 41 last Friday, will participate in 2023 in his twentieth championship after having previously passed through four teams (Minardi, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari), and with a record that highlights the two consecutive titles he won in 2005 and 2006 (Renault), with which he broke the dominant inertia of Michael Schumacher, who chained five crowns between 2000 and 2004, all of them wearing the red jumpsuit of 'Il Cavallino Rampante'.

After a first goodbye that for two years (2019 and 2020) led him to try other disciplines outside of F1, the Spaniard returned in 2021 at the hands of Renault, renamed Alpine, who gave himself to him to argue the revival of a project that never met the expectations it generated.

After 13 grand prix, Alonso is tenth in the table, with only 41 points and a fifth place (Silverstone) as the biggest prize.

Between that, the will of the French structure to renew him downwards – both in duration and in quantities – the talks around his renewal entered a deadlock with a sudden outcome.

Vettel's departure not only gave him a lever with which to put pressure on his current formation, but also created a space that will ultimately be the one he will occupy,

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Aston Martin is the team that remains from the root of Jordan, which Canadian tycoon Lawrence Stroll bought in 2018, when he was racing as Force India, for Lance, his son, to run.

Since 2005 it has changed its identity up to five times (Jordan, Midland, Spyker, Force India, Racing Point and Aston Martin), even though all that bustle never allowed it to equal third place in the statistics reserved for the constructors of 1999, in its first stage.

In his second year as an Aston Martin, and despite using Mercedes engines, the best result so far is Vettel's second place at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – the only podium to date – a race that saw several blowouts. they became a real carousel, and that was decided in a lap thrown at the sprint.

Passed the equator of the 2022 calendar,

the German is 14th in the standings, with only 16 points, 25 points less than Alonso and 242 less than Max Verstappen, the leader.

Stroll, for his part, is in 18th place, with only four points in his locker, all of them as a result of tenth positions.

It is difficult to interpret this last movement by Alonso, historically much more skillful with a steering wheel in his hands than when deciding the course he should follow.

In this sense, the figure of Martin Whitmarsh has surely played a relevant role, with whom he already coincided in his time at McLaren and who since last year has held the position of CEO of the Silverstone troop.

“I still have the hunger and ambition to fight to ride at the front”, Alonso highlighted in the official statement, in which the duration of the agreement is not specified and it is only specified that it is a multi-year link.

"I intend to win again in this sport and therefore I must take advantage of the opportunities that seem appropriate to me," added the rider, who finished sixth at the Hungaroring this Sunday.

As he did in each of the previous air changes, the pilot pointed out his future garage as the most suitable to achieve the goals he has set for himself.

“Today, no one in F1 is showing greater vision and commitment to win [than Aston Martin], and that makes it a great opportunity for me,” reiterates Alonso, whose Alpine slot will most likely be filled by Australian Oscar Piastri

“I have known and admired Fernando for a long time”, agreed, for his part, Lawrence Stroll, who considered it a “natural” maneuver to send him an offer, after learning of Vettel's departure.

"We quickly found that we share the same ambitions and values, so it was logical to confirm the intention to go hand in hand," emphasizes the owner of the entire shed.

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