Fernando Alonso’s swift reaction to the resignation of Sebastian Vettel right before the 2022 summer break was no surprise to F1 observers. Alpine had declared prior to Alonso’s arrival their five year plan to be winning races and pushing for titles, yet the failure to progress on an upward trend clearly frustrated the Spaniard and he was out the door as soon as the opportunity arose.
Aston Martin started Alonso’s first year as best of the rest behind Red Bull racing with Fernando claiming six podiums in the first eight race weekends of the 2023 season.
Following the Canadian Grand Prix Fernando sat third in the drivers championship behind just the Red Bull duo. He had racked up 117 points, 15 more than Lewis Hamilton and a whopping 49 ahead of Carlos Sainz in fifth.
Yet this was as good as it got for the Silverstone based team as upgrades appeared to not work and rumours the FIA had behind closed doors banned the team’s flexible front wing saw Alonso tumble down the table over the final two third of the year.
Alonso did have hist best finish to a year since his time at Ferrari, but he scrapped home in fourth place just six points ahead of Sainz in sixth.
This year the British Racing Green liveried cars have not been at the races and Fernando’s best result was P5 in Saudi Arabia back in the second weekend of the schedule. Lance Stroll has been his usual wing man to the Spaniard but both lie way down the table in P10 and P9 respectively.
Following the recent Italian Grand Prix Alonso expressed his discontent stating to assembled media, “I think as a team, we could accept not being in the top four battle. They are top teams and they are well in front of us. But at the same time, I think as a team, we could accept not being in the top four battle. They are top teams and they are well in front of us.”
The Spaniard was asked whether upgrades are coming this year to which he replied: “I don’t think so, I don’t think there’s a lot planned, it’s more up to us to understand the weak points of the car, the parts where we need to improve. Mind you, I think all that work will be done by 2025, I don’t expect any big leaps in 2024.”
Lawrence Stroll who owns the team has invested around $200m in brand new facilities for the Silverstone team which includes a new wind tunnel and state of the art simulation tools. They are yet to bear fruit and the team’s reserve driver, Stoffel Vandoorne, has further bad news with which Alonso will be not amused.
Speaking to Formule1 Vandoorne now reveals: “I’ve been here since the beginning of last year but there are a lot of changes going on within the team. Not only in terms of infrastructure but also within the team with a lot of new staff.
“We are also almost finished with the new wind tunnel that should be operational this year, everything is being prepared for a bright future. We all know that Formula 1 doesn’t change from one year to the next and sometimes you have to go through a difficult period before you see the result somewhere. I think we are in that phase now.”
However Alonso’s hopes this will translate into a significant improvement in performance will be dashed as Vandoorne reveals it could be 2026 before the Aston Martin F1 cars are competitive again at the front of the field.
Of course this week insiders have been reporting that Adrina Newey is set to join team when he’s finished his work with the Red Bull RB17 hypercar, which will be no later than the end of quarter one next year as a statement from Red Bull revealed.
Newey is reportedly being paid the salary of a top driver estimated to be in the region of $40m a year. This is four time his current deal with Red Bull Racing which includes the F1 design guru only working some 180 days a year and spending time at his second home in South Africa.
An update from Aston Martin this week revealed building one was c completed in the early summer of last year and now buildings two and three are close to being in commission.
“Building Two accommodates a new driver simulator, a restaurant, a gym, and a vast event space. Whereas Building Three will house our new wind tunnel and our model shops, providing an area for our engineers and designers to continue developing our cars,” says the post on their website.
Adrian Newey is set to achieve an unfulfilled ambition as he revealed last season before the news of him leaving Red Bull broke.
”I have been fortunate enough to have worked with several great drivers,” he said, “and while their personalities can be significantly different in how they conduct themselves – their approach to little things like debriefs after each session – the thing they all have in common is the ability to drive the car with a lot of mental reserves left.’’
”In terms of drivers, Fernando Alonso is one I have always wanted to work with. That’s a regret that that never happened because I have a tremendous respect for Fernando.”
Alonso has dropped on to the disappointment of Lewis Hamilton who has repeatedly admitted his admiration for Adrian Newey and on the announcement of him leaving Red Bull Racing the seven times world champion was hopeful this would now come to pass.
“I think he would be an amazing addition [to Ferrari]. I think they’ve already got a great team, they’re already making huge progress and strides forward — their car is quicker this year — but yeah it would be a privilege to work with him,” said Hamilton.
Lewis refused to be drawn on whether he has talked to Ferrari chairman John Elkan about signing Newey, but left little doubt it is something he wanted to see in the future.
“It’s very much private conversation stuff,” he said. “If I was to do a list of people I would like to work with he would absolutely be at the top of it. But I don’t know. We’ll see.”
With Newey only joining Aston Martin in April next year, their 2025 car is unlikely to bear his mark. Yet with the huge rule changes coming in 2026, cold it be Fernando Alonso’s last chance to claim that coveted third world championship. But for that he’ll require an extension to his current contract which runs only to the end of 2025.
The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
