Time will tell. I am no judge, but Alonso must have seen his advantage in switching to Aston . Stroll Sr has invested a lot in the team apparently, so there may be some potential there from Alonso's point of view. Ricciardo went to Renault on the promise (by the management of the time) of an improvement in facilities, and that never materialised. Renault/Alpine is always run on a shoestring.
Aston still has a long way to become competitive, no matter how much Lawrence invests. https://www.planetf1.com/news/fernando-alonso-renault-ambition/?fbclid=IwAR1apCH5K2dNNDwPZ7b74fDyYhVpNV3GnrnRYCl6GY4xStU0EhisfVq6W88&fs=e&s=cl
Now it is personal lol— Alpine confident it will beat Aston Martin while Alonso is there Alpine Formula 1 boss Otmar Szafnauer believes that his team can continue to outperform Aston Martin during Fernando Alonso’s tenure at the Silverstone squad when he switches camps for 2023.
Yup. Just look how long it took Ferrari and Red Bull to get back to the front. Mclaren still struggling massively. Can aston make a big jump? Yes, but only because they are so far back.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/alonso-strange-feeling-as-alpine-f1-talks-stalled-for-a-couple-of-months/10357708/ Alonso: "Strange feeling" as Alpine F1 talks stalled for a couple of months Fernando Alonso says there was “always a strange feeling” in his Formula 1 contract talks with Alpine for 2023 before Aston Martin’s approach made him feel more wanted. Image Unavailable, Please Login By: Luke Smith Aug 25, 2022, 4:18 PM Image Unavailable, Please Login Less than four days after Sebastian Vettel announced his plan to retire from F1 at the end of the season, Aston Martin confirmed it had signed two-time F1 world champion Alonso as his replacement on a multi-year deal from 2023. It came as a shock to Alpine, who had expected to retain Alonso for next year, and blew the driver market wide open with repercussions for a number of other teams. Alpine now finds itself in a contract dispute with McLaren over Oscar Piastri, who it intends to field next year alongside Esteban Ocon. Alonso spoke publicly for the first time about the move on Thursday at Spa, revealing he was contacted by Aston Martin shortly after Vettel’s retirement plan was announced. The contract was signed on the Monday after the race before the team “decided to announce quite quickly before any leak.” Alonso reiterated that his intention was to stay at Alpine prior to Aston Martin’s approach, but that talks were “not moving forward for a couple of months already.” “It was a logical move to me because Aston was very willing to have me and trust on my abilities on the track and off-track as well to develop the project,” Alonso said. “In my case also, it felt that after all the negotiations and the months, having the seat available for a younger driver and talented driver like Oscar, it was the right thing to do and a win-win situation it seems for everybody.” One of Alpine’s reservations in negotiations with Alonso was offering him a long-term contract, preferring a deal that had yearly options. Alonso added it was not only the length of the contract that was a sticking point in talks, saying it was “also the trust that you feel, and how you feel wanted in a place - if it was just a temporary thing, or if it’s just facts and a time they are happy with.” “It was always a strange feeling,” Alonso said. “I felt that it was the right decision to move to Aston, because they seemed to really want me and appreciated my performances over the past two years.” Image Unavailable, Please Login Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team A522 and team mate Esteban Ocon, Alpine F1 Team A522 Photo by: Alpine Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer revealed after Alonso’s exit was announced that he only found out the Spaniard would be leaving when the press release was issued by Aston Martin. Alonso admitted that Szafnauer “probably didn’t know anything” but said he did tell everyone who had been involved in talks that he was leaving prior to the announcement. “I informed [Alpine CEO] Laurent Rossi, president Luca de Meo, my mechanics and my engineers before any announcement,” Alonso said.
I don't know why Szafnauer plays the injured party, when the management had already been told of Alonso's departure. Don't they speak to each other at Renault ?
Seems FA was certainly much more 'open' about this than most think. Not a tremendous amount of mystery at all.
While the car isn't very competitive, I think Alonso is an upgrade from Vettel. At the very least he will be more aggressive and push the garage harder.
It looks to me that Renault never considered that Alonso could have a choice , but had to accept their terms (1+1 year contract). But Alonso looked around, and offered his services to Aston who signed him with better conditions (2+1 years). Alonso got what he wanted, and the Renault/Alpine management "end up with egg on their faces". Alonso has never been my favourite driver, but I am happy for him.
Yes at the time one could think Alpine were correct in the assessment of driving options for Alonso. Logical and complete. Quickly things do change in F1 to keep us on our toes and keyboards lol
This is the racer whose driving is exciting to me. And he is doing it with an underperforming car. He'll get a nice payday from Stroll, but will he have a car that will be better than this year's Alpine? Or is Alonzo using this move to show all the teams that he will outperform any car you give him? Is this Alonzo's way of sending a message to RB and Ferrari and Mercedes?
I give him 6 months before he seeks divorce proceedings lol Alonso ‘100-plus’ per cent happy with Aston Martin move after first F1 test Fernando Alonso now feels “100-plus” per cent happy with his Aston Martin move for 2023 after completing his first Formula 1 test for the team in Abu Dhabi.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/what-we-learned-from-alonsos-first-aston-martin-formula-1-test/10403755/ What we learned from Alonso’s first Aston Martin Formula 1 test Fernando Alonso wasted little time in getting his long-awaited first Formula 1 test for Aston Martin underway on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi ahead of his 2023 move. By: Luke Smith Nov 22, 2022, 2:40 PM Image Unavailable, Please Login As 9am came around and the light at the end of the pit lane went green, Alonso immediately peeled out of the Aston Martin garage, running in a sponsorless livery, blank overalls and a camo dazzle helmet, and was the first man out of the pit lane. He did the same when the session resumed after a red flag for Oscar Piastri’s stoppage in the third hour. But was it a coincidence? “No,” he said. “And yesterday here, in the paddock.” Again, he was the first man in. Clearly, there was no time to waste. Less than 18 hours after making his final Alpine appearance in the F1 season finale, Alonso was already starting life with Aston Martin by completing a seat fitting on Monday and getting to know his future colleagues. Although he will not officially start until 1 January, Alonso knew the test would be an important chance to get ahead of the game for 2023. The primary reason for Tuesday’s running at the Yas Marina Circuit was to sample the Pirelli tyres and help young drivers - not including Alonso, as it did in 2020… - get some more track time. But there were still a few things we could glean from Alonso’s first test for Aston Martin, and some early signs of what we could expect from the new partnership. Image Unavailable, Please Login Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR22 Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images The first test only further justified the move to Alonso When the first opinions were cast about Alonso’s decision to ditch Alpine for Aston Martin in 2023, one of the simplest questions was: why leave a team fourth in the championship for the one in ninth? Alonso always said it was about the potential that Aston Martin was showing, the team setting ambitious targets under Lawrence Stroll’s ownership. The construction of a new factory at Silverstone is ongoing and, by all accounts, moving at impressive speed. The team recognised where it went wrong with the new regulations, but showed good flexibility in reacting to mount a late charge that left it just a point away from beating Alfa Romeo to sixth in the standings. Alonso said after the test that he was “90% happy” when he signed the deal with Aston Martin in late July, the lingering 10% perhaps a result of the lack of performance there had been through the year up to that point. “When they started improving and finished the season on a high, I was 100%,” he explained. “This morning, I was 100 and now I’m 100-plus.” Although Alonso noted the car philosophy was “very different” compared to what he had at Alpine, he did not appear to struggle getting in the right groove with it, saying it was “behaving well”. He pointed out that on his first run, he did a 1m26.6s lap time and joked: “It’s three-tenths off my best time - so adaptation is nearly over!” Energised by a fresh start Alonso will hardly be starting life with Aston Martin at an especially low ebb. His performances through 2022 have been undeniably impressive, to the extent he maintained even on Sunday in Abu Dhabi that it was “absolutely” his best season in F1 since coming close to the title in 2012. But the frustration over Alpine’s reliability struggles and the impact on his final points tally - 11 points lower than that of Esteban Ocon across the garage - was not something Alonso hid. On Sunday night in Abu Dhabi, he said his retirement from the race due to a water leak was a “summary of the season.” The comment about Aston Martin’s engine mileage being “high by my standards” before completing a 97-lap test shows it is still a sore point. Alonso’s had many fresh starts in F1 over the past 20 years, but there is a clear energy he feels with Aston Martin. This isn’t like 2021, when he was returning after two years away and needed time to get up to speed. He feels he is performing at his best, and sees the potential around him for the team to go much further. “I cannot be overconfident for sure, because everything is going to change for next year,” Alonso said. “But the feeling I had today in the garage with the guys and the potential of the team, the talent that I see in the engineering room here is outstanding. I’m really, really, really happy right now.”
I hope it will work for Alonso, and Aston Martin, and prove the pundits wrong. I think the years to come will see Aston climbing in the ranking.
