Alonso surprised the F1 world by announcing in August, on the first day of vacation, his signing for Aston Martin for the 2023 season as a replacement for Sebastian Vettel, who will leave the category at the end of the year.
The Asturian explained that he saw the Aston Martin project as attractive, and that he also felt valued after Alpine did not want to offer him a two-year contract, but only one season.
After a disappointing 2022 season for Aston Martin, hopes are pinned on 2023, with the first single-seater designed under the direction of Dan Fallows , the renowned former Red Bull aerodynamics engineer.
It is evident that privately there are continuous contacts between the team and the one who will be its star driver from next year, but Mike Krack , the team manager, had declared over and over again that they had to respect the two-time champion’s contract with his current squad and therefore would not begin work, “probably until January 1”.
However, on this first and rainy day of the 2022 F1 Japanese GP, Alonso has been seen in the Aston Martin hospitality, as our photographers have been able to capture at the Suzuka circuit (photo that opens this article).
Wrapped up on the frigid day and accompanied by ‘Galle’, his faithful friend and companion Alberto Fernández , Fernando Alonso spent some time chatting with Matt Bishop , the veteran journalist who has been the director of communication for the Silverstone team since 2021.
Alonso has five races left with Alpine, and will try to help the French outfit to fourth place in the constructors’ championship recently snatched from them by McLaren F1. Then, Aston Martin would like to field the Spaniard in the post-season tests in Abu Dhabi to be held in the last week of November, and which would aim to start acclimating to the team’s way of working.
However, it is up to Alpine to give Alonso permission to end their relationship early and start wearing the colors of Aston Martin without having completed his contract, something that, with the controversy that his departure left, seems unlikely.
So, to see Alonso in green you probably have to wait until January when, yes, he is an official Aston Martin driver as Lance Stroll’s partner. In the meantime, we imagine him…
(MONTAGE) Fernando Alonso, in Aston Martin 2023
