It’s the first morning of summer break and silly season has officially started… Aston Martin have moved swiftly to announce a replacement for Sebastian Vettel, swapping one world champ for another. Fernando Alonso joins the team in 2023 on a multi-year deal.
Alonso returned to Formula 1 in 2021 with Alpine after a two year sabbatical and has delivered a string of impressive drives alongside Esteban Ocon, especially helping his teammate get his first win last year in Hungary!
When Vettel announced he was retiring last Thursaday, Alonso emerged as the favourite to replace him given his wealth of F1 experience as well as the two World Championships he has.
The news comes less than 24 hours after Alpine F1 boss, Otmar Szafnauer expressed confidence that Alonso would stay with the team for 2023 and beyond, predicting talks would be “very straightforward”.
Alpine were trying to find a seat for reserve driver Piastri and looked set to loan him out to Williams next year, but with Alonso’s exit it looks like the Aussie will step up and join Esteban Ocon at the team from 2023.
This Aston Martin team is clearly applying the energy and commitment to win, and it is therefore one of the most exciting teams in Formula 1 today. I have known Lawrence and Lance [Stroll] for many years and it is very obvious that they have the ambition and passion to succeed in Formula 1. I have watched as the team has systematically attracted great people with winning pedigrees, and I have become aware of the huge commitment to new facilities and resources at Silverstone. No one in Formula 1 today is demonstrating a greater vision and absolute commitment to winning, and that makes it a really exciting opportunity for me. I still have the hunger and ambition to fight to be at the front, and I want to be part of an organisation that is committed to learn, develop and succeed. We all appreciate that there is much to be done to get to the front, and that we must apply all our energies in working together to find performance. The passion and desire to perform that I have witnessed convince me to maintain my enjoyment and commitment to the sport. I intend to win again in this sport and therefore I have to take the opportunities that feel right to me.
Alonso on his move to AM.
I have known and admired Fernando for many years and it has always been clear that he is a committed winner like me. I have set out to bring together the best people and develop the right resources and organisation to succeed in this highly competitive sport, and those plans are now taking shape at Silverstone. It seemed natural therefore to invite Fernando to be part of the development of a winning team, and we very quickly established in our recent conversations that we have the same ambitions and values, and it was logical and easy to confirm our desire to work together.
Lawrence Stroll on signing the 2 times world champ.
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