Fernando Alonso shocked the F1 world by announcing his move to Aston Martin on the first day of the summer break in early August.
Many wondered if the Asturian was the ideal driver for a team that has an ambitious plan but is far from fulfilling it, and if the British team was the best place to go for a two-time champion who continues to aspire to everything at 41 years old.
Alonso already explained that he saw in Aston Martin an interesting project, great support and vital confidence that he felt that Alpine no longer had in him by offering him only a one-year contract. Now, Mike Krack, director of his future team, defended the arrival of the Spaniard.
“He can push us harder than a driver who doesn’t have his caliber,” he explained to the BBC . And on how hungry Fernando Alonso will be, he continued: “It could be much more difficult than it is now. We discussed it and asked ourselves, ‘what are the pros and what are the cons?’ And we came to the conclusion that it was the right decision.”
When asked about the character of #14, Krack preferred to praise other characteristics and virtues of the driver who will complete his twentieth season in Formula 1 in 2023, although he admitted that if things go wrong, there will be more pressure.
“His speed is the key,” he said. “But it’s going to be a challenge for us. Usually drivers with that level of experience don’t have that desire to win anymore. Generally that desire disappears at that age, especially when they’ve already won.”
“Fernando has that unique combination of speed, hunger, motivation and experience. For us, he is the perfect candidate. The downside could be that we know it will be difficult if the car we give him is not good enough. But it will be difficult with any driver. if the car is not fast enough.
“We think it’s very, very important to have someone like Fernando to take the next step as a team.”
The key, says Krack, will be for Aston Martin not to have unrealistic expectations or exaggerate what it wants to achieve in its pitch.
“You have to learn to deal with the champions, which we have already done with Sebastian [Vettel]. And since those drivers are very demanding, it is quite difficult to manage. But Sebastian is not very difficult to manage if you are transparent, sincere and direct. And I think the same thing happens with Fernando.”
After ‘El Plan’ (failed) by Alonso and Alpine, at Aston Martin they prefer to have their feet on the ground: “Everything becomes difficult when expectations do not match the results or when you are not sincere.”
“He knows very well that we probably won’t win the first race together.”
“But you can be sure that we’re going to give it our all and listen to what you have to say. And if we can’t give you something, we have to say openly and transparently, ‘Look, we can’t do that. This is what we can do. I think that if we have that kind of dialogue, it won’t be a problem.
