Fernando Alonso has often been termed as one of the unluckiest drivers on the grid, owing to his career decisions. His moves to Ferrari and McLaren have been etched into the history books as complete train wrecks. However, in a recent feature for GQ, the Spaniard revealed how Aston Martin succeeded when the likes of the mighty Scuderia and McLaren failed.
The Oviedo native started by charting his disastrous stints after his glorious championship-winning years with Renault. “When I was at Renault, signing for Ferrari was the logical decision, although, in retrospect, it seems that you made a mistake. Then, when I went to McLaren-Honda, it turned out much worse than we expected.”
🎥: Fernando Alonso reveals his Ferrari F1 regret, reflecting on missed championship opportunities in 2010 and 2012. In a candid interview, he expresses a desire to savor his F1 career more and create lasting memories.#F1
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) August 18, 2023
However, Alonso highlighted the complete disregard for reality in the F1 paddock, which is prevalent even today. “But I remember that all the comments that year said that Honda had a great advantage because it was new and had all the information about hybrid engines. The nonsense that has always been said and the total ignorance that everyone has when they think about Formula 1,” he added.
His move to Aston Martin and the subsequent success acts as a testament to this, according to Alonso. “Last year, no one would have come to Aston Martin, but conditions sometimes happen one way or another, and no one has a crystal ball. After the fact, it is very easy to talk, but you have to be very lucky in the decisions you make. This time, it went well; other times, it went wrong.”
Despite a problem-riddled Aston Martin run, Fernando Alonso feels nothing but love at Silverstone
After a sensational start to the season, the Silverstone-based team has fallen off of their pedestal. Ever since the ‘flexi-wing‘ ban by the FIA, the team has surprisingly lost any advantage they had over their rivals. Consequently, they’ve fallen back into the midfield of the grid.
Reports suggest that Aston Martin’s significant performance drop off had in fact not as much to do with the new floor increasing downforce and reducing balance as with being found out to have used a flexi wing. Interesting if true, and surprisingly very under the radar. #F1 #FIA pic.twitter.com/OinIepOat9
— Simon Dau (@there_is_no_if) August 16, 2023
As gut-wrenching as it would be for Alonso, who has lost any hopes of bagging his 33rd win this year, he doesn’t fell put off by the project. He explained, “At Aston Martin, it is true that from the first day, being a new project in which everything is just beginning, they welcomed me as if I were a bit of a leader of the project on the track and I feel very loved.”
With two more races to go before the 2023 season comes to an end, can Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin end it on a high?
