Fernando Alonso is one of the biggest names in F1 history and certainly one of the best drivers of all time. He is 41 years old but is showing no signs of slowing down, insisting that he is hungrier than ever to get race wins and challenge for Championships.
After taking a small two-year hiatus from F1 at the end of the 2018 season, Alonso returned in 2021 with Alpine. Alonso ending his career with the outfit with whom he won two World Titles was seen as a perfect fit, but that wasn’t meant to be. His relationship with new team principal Otmar Szafnauer deteriorated and he jumped ship to Aston Martin at the end o 2022.
The story in the Aston Martin camp was different altogether in 2022. Sebastian Vettel announced that he would retire from the sport, and team owner Lawrence Stroll didn’t put a lot of effort into changing his mind. When he learned that Alonso could potentially be available, he went all out in his pursuit.
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Lawrence Stroll did not know how much Fernando Alonso earned at Alpine
Alonso’s manager in F1 is Flavio Briatore, and a lot of people think that he was the brains behind his client’s move to Silverstone. Alonso of course has denied this, but according to Business F1, the Italian lied to Stroll to make sure that Alonso got a fat paycheck in what could be his last-ever F1 contract.
While discussing Alonso’s salary, Briatore told Stroll that his client earned a ‘huge sum’ at Alpine, which meant that Aston Martin had to up their price. In the end, they settled on $11 million for three seasons which was a result of manipulations from Alonso’s side of the camp.
Alonso will earn $11 million over the course of three seasons, with the last year being an option depending on his performance in the first two.
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Aston Martin CEO thought hiring Alonso was crazy; stalled the deal until the last moment
When Stroll and Briatore agreed on $11 million for three seasons, the former left it to CEO Martin Whitmarsh to complete the formalities. Whitmarsh, however, thought hiring Alonso did not make any sense for them, but was afraid of speaking out against Stroll.
Whitmarsh did not want to give Alonso much leverage which is why he tried stalling the deal until the very end. Briatore and Whitmarsh tried negotiating for over a month, but couldn’t conclude. Finally, Lawrence Stroll removed Whitmarsh from this responsibility and completed it himself.
Alonso will team with Stroll’s son Lance, at Aston Martin in the upcoming 2023 F1 season.
