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The ‘love story’ of Alonso and Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso did not wait to cross the finish line in Bahrain to declare his unconditional love for Aston Martin’s new AMR23. “This is a lovely car to drive! A pleasure to drive this car,” he said enthusiastically over the radio, after beating Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and, shortly before, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, in an overtaking that will go down in history, on the way to from his first podium of the season.

Finally, ten years later and at 41, the Asturian driver once again has a competitive car: “But what have you guys done, what have you done?” He sarcastically asked his engineers, who also ‘went crazy’ in the shared celebration: “Gooo, Fernaandoooo Alooonsoo” they sang to him, spraying him with champagne. Alonso a rictus of happiness that many no longer remembered.I am very proud of this team, what they have achieved this winter is incredible… unreal”, he insisted in front of the cameras.

The owner’s son

Even Lance Stroll, the owner’s son, seems to have surrendered to the ‘magic’ of his new partner, a legendary driver who won his first world title when the Canadian was just six years old. “Are you happy, huh? Are you glad you’re not at Alpine?” she snapped. Stroll a Fernandointerrupting his appearance before the Spanish media. Lanceelated after reaching sixth place in the race just ten days after undergoing surgery after fracturing both wrists, he got a mischievous smile from Alonsowatching out of the corner of his eye the disaster of his former team and Esteban Oconwho withdrew after receiving three penalties while the driver from Oviedo claimed his 99th podium. Pierre Gasly, his replacement, finished ninth

“This is a dream come true. Eight months ago, when I signed for Aston Martin things were looking much worse. She could not even imagine that she could fight with Ferrari and Mercedes. Let alone that he could finish on the podium in the first race and have the second fastest car on the track after Red Bull. I think it was a surprise for the whole team”, he conceded. Alonsowho already started to inflate the ‘soufflé’ recalled that “maybe the 33rd will come soon, maybe not yet this year, they will try…”.

The story of a double rescue

In the 2018 season, Mercedes swept the World Cup with Hamilton and Ferrari tried to get closer without success. Kimi Raikkonen y Sebastian Vettelwho had held the position of Alonso at the Scuderia after chaining four titles at Red Bull, they could not stop the hegemony of the silver arrows. TO Fernando he was not doing well on his return to McLaren either. AND Lawrence Strollone of the greatest fortunes in Canada, owner of an impressive collection of Ferrari cars and even a circuit in his country, came to the rescue of the Force India team, which despite having finished fourth in the constructors’ championship the previous year, was on the verge of bankruptcy.

He changed the name of the team, Racing Point BWT, motorized by Mercedes, and built a custom team for his son Lance, who had struggled for two years at Williams. But Mister Stroll wanted more and signed a checkbook to Sebastian Vettel, attending more to his four-time champion resume than to his discreet results in his last stage at Ferrari. In 2021 the German inaugurated the new era of the team already under the acronym of Aston Martin, but expectations were not met and last season, taking advantage of the summer break, he announced his goodbye to F1. Lawrence Stroll fished in ‘tough waters’ and took Fernando Alonso by surprise.

risky decision

The decision was as unexpected as it was risky on the part of Alonso, which despite the bad atmosphere prevailing at Alpine, changed the fourth team on the grid to seventh in 2022. The rest of the story we began to discover this winter. Aston Martin is completing a million-dollar investment, with a new factory and wind tunnel at its Silverstone headquarters. And Stroll has given him a letter Dan Fallowsuntil two years ago Adrian Newey’s closest collaborator at Red Bull, as the team’s technical manager.

“Work with Fernando It’s impressive,” he says. Fallows. “He is motivated, incredibly competitive and has brought great energy to the team. I think he’s been impressive from the moment he got in the car. His comments are where you would expect them to be for someone with his level of experience. And he has an enormous ability to diagnose problems with the car, which makes things much easier for us engineers”, he assesses.

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