Barely a month after shaking the specter of the Formula 1 World Championship with the announcement of his departure to Aston Martin with a view to the coming course, Fernando Alonso explained the reasons that led him to star in the most notorious maneuver in the 2023 transfer market, With permission from Daniel Ricciardo's farewell from McLaren.
At 41 years old, the Asturian will put on, at least until the end of 2024, the Aston Martin jumpsuit, where he will share a workshop with Lance Stroll, Lawrence's son, the owner of the entire shed.
Alonso's departure from Alpine caught the executives of the French structure off guard, who took the continuity of his main claim for granted, no matter how much they pressured him with all the elements they had in order to tighten the nuts, both in the duration of the contract (a single year),
as with the emoluments to be received.
As he said this Thursday, from Spa, where the championship starts again this Sunday, the signs he received from Alpine in those conversations about his future did not convince him, rather the opposite.
The announcement of the withdrawal of Sebastian Vettel at the end of this year precipitated the approach of Aston Martin, which in just four days presented him with the project in the short and medium term, and convinced him to sign, in a process that lasted four days.
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"Everything went very fast," Alonso summed up, before making a chronological presentation of the events, which occurred at the Hungaroring circuit, where the last test before the summer break was held.
“Vettel announced his retirement and I got a call from Aston Martin.
We sat down and I told them about my claims.
They accepted and told me about the project.
In a few minutes we reached an agreement.
We signed and on Monday my signing was announced,” said the two-time world champion (2005 and 2006), who will thus leave, for the third time, the company with which he won his two crowns (Renault).
“At Alpine every year they were going to evaluate me based on my age.
At Aston Martin I found a proposal that shows that they will welcome me with open arms.
They put all their trust in me and do not look at the passport, but at the results”, he deepened.
As is logical, the runner was asked the meaning of leaving the team that appears in fourth position in the points table, to end up in penultimate.
As he did on other occasions, such as when, for example, he returned to McLaren (2015) after ending his time at Ferrari, Alonso based his argument on a hypothetical future, based on indications that were not as solid as might be expected.
“Right now I know where Alpine is and where Aston Martin is.
But looking ahead, there may be more possibilities at Aston Martin.
At least, that is what I believe and hope”, agreed the man from Oviedo, who was initially to be replaced by Oscar Piastri, before the young Australian denied the possibility of running for Alpine, given that his intention is to do so with McLaren, in Ricciardo's position.
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