Aside from becoming the two main claims of the same car brand, James Bond and Fernando Alonso have something else in common: wherever they go there is a ruckus.
Logically, the blows given by the most famous secret agent in the world of cinema are much more explicit than those of the Spanish, even though Alpine may not entirely agree with it.
Last Monday morning, Aston Martin announced the hiring of Alonso, who next season will put on the green jumpsuit that makes the company so recognizable.
The contract specifies a minimum duration of two seasons, so the Asturian ensures that he will be part of the Formula 1 grid until 2024, when he will have already turned 43.
The official statement caused a chain reaction that made Alpine, Renault's sports division, look ridiculous.
Otmar Szafnauer, director of Alpine, acknowledged that same Monday that he found out about Alonso's goodbye when he read the press release and, that the day before, on the Sunday of the Hungarian Grand Prix, he took it for granted that he would be able to reach an agreement for your renewal.
When asked, Szafnauer came to say that he could not contact Alonso as he did not have this coverage, since he was in Greece on vacation.
That same afternoon, the runner posted a series of sequences on his Instagram profile that made it clear that he was, in fact, in Oviedo.
As if those responsible for Alpine had not been sufficiently exposed with all that representation, Oscar Piastri, the one chosen to replace Alonso and become a couple with Esteban Ocon, flatly denied having signed any agreement with the Enstone formation, with whom,
NEWS: @AstonMartinF1 announces Fernando Alonso for 2023.
We are delighted to confirm that two-time #F1 World Champion @alo_oficial will join the team from next season on a multi-year contract.
Tap below to read more.
⬇️#WeClimbTogether
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) August 1, 2022
Alpine thought they had the upper hand and tightened the rope because they wanted to ensure the best possible line-up and in the most favorable conditions, either with Alonso or with Piastri, involved in their development program.
At this point in the film, the team has already been shorn at the media level and it remains to be seen how the conflict with the young Australian ends, who is understood to have a pre-agreement with McLaren to replace Daniel Ricciardo in 2023. Alonso, while Therefore, he will be able to enjoy the summer after solving his future, although it will be interesting to see how Alpine receives him in Spa (August 28).
His landing at Aston Martin is difficult to justify from a sporting point of view, since he will leave the structure that appears in fourth place in the table reserved for constructors to land in the penultimate.
Despite the investment that has been made and will be made in new infrastructures -wind tunnel-, the history of the championship does not offer too many examples of hits, the most recent being that of Brawn GP, which in 2009 took the title with Jenson Button, after Ross Brawn paid a pound for Honda.
So, what has been the element that has seduced Alonso to return to a change of scenery?
The answer is not what, but who: Lawrence Stroll, owner of 16.7% of the prestigious car brand made popular by the Bond movies, and who also holds the position of president.
Stroll, short for Strulovitch, is a Canadian tycoon who is ranked 1,012 on the Forbes list of the world's richest people in 2022. His estimated wealth is 2,944 million euros, of which he allocated 101 million in 2018 to save the Force India team from bankruptcy, to fulfill the wishes of Lance, his son.
At 23 years old and in what is his sixth World Cup, the best result of what will be Alonso's new teammate is the third position he won in the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which made him the second earliest to achieve it , second only to Max Verstappen.
The boy takes the payment pilot concept to another level, although it is true that it would take a lot of incapacity to end the empire of his father, known in the business world as King Midas, for his success in operations.
From his private collection of vintage Ferraris, the 250 GTO stands out, one of the most expensive vehicles in existence, whose value can reach 70 million euros.
This billionaire born in Montreal 63 years ago also likes the sea, since among his toys there is also a cathedral yacht almost a hundred meters long, for which he paid 200 million euros.
At this point it remains to be seen if he will have as much view in the world of racing as he did before in the world of fashion.
Stroll made most of his fortune from the sale of the shares he owned — along with Silas Chou, his Hong Kong partner — in the Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors brands in 2014 for about €850 million.
Both had founded Sportswear Holdings, which at the end of the 1990s took over the majority shareholding in Tommy Hilfiger, whose expansion exceeded all expectations.
In 1992, Tommy went public and Apax Partners bought it, in 2006, after paying €1.6 billion.
"Stroll is the King Midas of F1", assured a few months ago Eddie Jordan, founder of the team that after five identity changes is now Aston Martin.
“Everything he touches turns to gold.
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