the war between Alpine y Fernando Alonso has only just begun. The Asturian pilot has decided to leave the French team in 2023 and embark on Aston Martin, a move that he logically did not like in which he is still his team. The crossings of declarations return to the order of the day.
After numerous frictions and incidents, everything seemed to indicate that the Spaniard would renew. They had it so clear in Enstone that they let Oscar Piastri escape. However, the Australian has already been confirmed to take over from Fernando Alonso and be Esteban Ocon’s new partner. It was speculated that the current reserve driver would already have a signed contract with another team.
Otmar Szafnauer enrages and accuses Alonso: “He told me he hadn’t signed with anyone”
The reactions to the goodbye of the ‘Nano’ have not been long in coming. After a brief ‘tweet’ from Alpinethe first statements have come from one of the directors who had friction with Fernando Alonso: Otmar Szafnauer. The team manager, who already dropped weeks ago that he preferred Piastri over Alonso, now says he feels cheated by the man from Oviedo.
In a statement to Motorsport, the leader has acknowledged that he did not know anything about the signing of ’14’ by Aston Martin until he saw the official announcement on social media this Monday. However, there were suspicions: “When we are in the paddock there are all kinds of rumours, and I had heard rumors that Aston Martin was interested in him. Once you hear that they’re interested, there’s probably been negotiations and there are some other indications that they talked about, like getting out of the same motorhome at the same time and all that kind of stuff that I saw.”
Despite this, Szafnauer took it for granted that ‘Magic’ would renew and accuses him of lying to him in Hungary: “I was sure that, even with the negotiations, and there was nothing wrong with exploring, We were very close to agreement. So yeah, the first confirmation I got was the press release. I asked Alonso and he told me: ‘no, no, I haven’t signed anything’. So I was surprised.”
The contract that Alpine had offered to Fernando Alonso
The director of the French team has also revealed the conditions under which they planned to renew the Spaniard: a fixed season and an optional one. Aston Martin, on the other hand, offered him a multi-year contract, an aspect that Alonso has prioritized. “There were only a couple of minor points that were pending, and he said his lawyer would contact us. I thought it was going to be like this,” explains Szafnauer.
“And so, before he left, I confirmed to him that we would be signing soon. And He told me: ‘Yes, don’t worry, I haven’t signed with anyone else. We will continue with this in the next few days,'” the Asturian confirmed. Some statements that, if true, would be a deception for Alpine but on which ‘Magic’ has not commented.
In any case, Fernando Alonso’s future is at Aston Martin. The English team, owned by Lawrence Stroll, will host the new adventure of the Spaniard and a significant improvement of the car is expectedwhich in 2022 usually occupies the last positions, so that in 2023 it points to ambitious challenges.
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