Since the start of the season, Fernando Alonso has been putting in strong performances for Aston Martin, but his teammate Lance Stroll, in comparison, hasn’t been able to match up. Despite this deficit in performance, Alonso has been immensely supportive of his teammate, which has somewhat surprised the F1 community. Many believed that it was because he did so to keep his place at Aston Martin. However, Alonso recently replied to the speculations about him putting up with Stroll to protect his $22,000,000 contract.
Fernando Alonso on Lance Stroll racing with injuries
“he is my hero, if you see his hand feet you will think that he can not race he is doing a phenomenal effort and show to all of us in the team that there is fire for to see determination and motivation from Lance…” #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/ryoJj4CDiq
— ahmed baokbah 🇸🇦🏎✈️ (@ahmed_baokbah) March 6, 2023
Alonso has been full of praise about Stroll ever since he moved to Aston Martin at the start of the 2023 season. He called Stroll a ‘future world champion’ and even hailed him as his hero in the weeks to come.
The bromance has spilled over onto the track as well, with Alonso often trying to help his teammate by giving him advice regarding the setup of the car or appreciating a move made by him that Alonso saw on the big screen while racing.
Fernando Alonso giving Lance Stroll braking advice, before Stroll almost loses the car under braking 😅 pic.twitter.com/DQWkv1nOe6
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) April 30, 2023
The F1 world is convinced that all of this is due to the fact that Stroll happens to be the of of team owner Lawrence. He wants to keep the Stroll family happy in order to secure his Aston Martin future. Alonso, however, firmly denies these speculations.
Fernando Alonso wants to future-proof Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso recently appeared in a special episode of the BBC podcast: Chequered Flag where he was asked about the aforementioned issue by host Andrew Benson. Alonso explained that as an experienced driver, his role is to help the team improve and Stroll also happens to be part of the team, which is why he wants Stroll to improve as well.
Alonso said, “I will race for few more years, I don’t know how many, but not so long. And he will race for many more years, and he has to lead the team into the future, so I’m happy to help.”
However, he also mentioned that if they were fighting for the championship, things might have been a bit different and they would have had less communication between them. Since they aren’t fighting for the title, they have a good relationship between them with the main goal being the improvement of the team.
Aston Martin has to improve a lot
Aston Martin had an amazing start to the 2023 season, with Alonso becoming a regular face on the podium. However, their performance has dropped ever since and as of now, the Silverstone outfit is fighting to be in the points. Therefore, realistically, Alonso does not really have a chance of being able to fight for the championship before he retires from the sport.
🟢🚨| Aston Martin’s reason for the drop in performance may have been identified, they will bring updates to solve the issues and get back on the podium:
👉Aston Martin’s upgrades from Canada generated *too much* downforce, which put the AMR23 out of its operating window.
👉It… pic.twitter.com/qrenLBe3Cl
— Aston Martin Formula 1 News (@AMF1News) August 2, 2023
Thus, now in the twilight of his career, Alonso wants to use his experience to help Aston Martin as much as he can. He explained that the Silverstone-based outfit does have a fast car, but the team still needs to improve in various departments, and he wants to help in the process. His only aim right now is to help transform the team into a title contender, much like what team owner Lawrence Stroll wants, even if he himself can’t fight for the title.
