The announcement of the signing by Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso for the 2023 season, it took the entire Formula 1 paddock by surprise. Certainly, for some time there has been rumors of interest from the British team for the two-time world champion from Oviedo, but few would have imagined the lightning deal finalized within three days. And among the most surprised there is the Alpine, the current team of the Spaniard, which in those days was negotiating with him the renewal, as evidenced by the statements made even after the race by Otmar Szafnauer. Alonso is therefore preparing to face the last 9 races with the transalpine jersey, starting with the Belgian GP which saw him get on the podium on three occasions, without ever experiencing the joy of a success. Below are the statements made by the Alpine champion during the traditional press conference to present the event.
The landing in Aston Martin. “They called me after Sebastian’s announcement, and this possibility became apparent. At that point we sat down and found an agreement. The project is attractive, a lot of investments have been made, there are new people coming to the team full of talent, and new structures. I thought I had a very interesting project in front of me for the future and we were happy to join forces. Going from a 4th to a 9th team? We will see, there are certainly risks in every decision you make in F1. Nobody has the crystal ball to guess the future. But in F1 as in sport either you win or you don’t win. It doesn’t change anything to be 4th, 9th or 13th. Either you are first or you are not winning. We are all here to get on the top step of the podium. Among the possibilities I had on the table for 2023, the Aston Martin card seemed to me to be the right one. There are the right ingredients that can lead to success with this type of investment. We will see if we can very quickly become a top team already next year.
It all started with Sebastian’s retirement, Aston Martin wanted to continue with him and then they tested the waters. I was one of the riders on the list and I was available, we talked about it in Hungary on mutual expectations, which are met very quickly. On Monday we agreed and made the announcement. My intention was to continue with Alpine, I was happy with the progress, I consider this team a family. I was happy, but for one reason or another, we hadn’t been able to make progress in the negotiations for a few months. It seemed like a logical decision, given how much Aston Martin wanted me. It seemed to me a situation in which we all had to gain, also considering the presence of Piastri. “
Expectations for Belgium. “I hope to maintain this consistency of results, with the 8 consecutive points races. In Austria it could have been better, as well as in Barcelona where we started last because of the engine and despite these difficulties we scored points. Now the car is strong and we have improved a lot in the last few months, I hope here in a top5 or top6. We want to conclude in the best possible way, a podium would be a dream. “
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