Fernando Alonso has had a dream start to the 2023 Formula 1 season. The Spaniard has already claimed four podium places in the five races that have taken place so far. However, Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya does not believe that this success is due to Fernando Alonso driving much better than he used to. Rather, he has a much better car now than he had in the last few seasons.
Alonso joined Aston Martin from Alpine ahead of the 2023 season and since then, life in F1 has been smooth for the 41-year-old. He has four P3 finishes to his name, and is gunning for a win before the season ends. In the one race where he didn’t finish on the podium, he took P4, which shows his level of consistency.
Montoya, however, believes that Alonso has always been performing at a top level, but he did not have a car that could match his performance. At Aston Martin, he does have a car that is up to his standard and it has made all the difference.
Fernando Alonso finally has a car that can support him
Juan Pablo Montoya said in an interview with Motorsport Netherlands, “Fernando is funny, everyone talks about it these days. But I think he’s still driving exactly the same as in previous years. Now, of course, he just has a much better car. That’s all the difference. What he does really good is knowing how to get the whole team to support him. Even now at Aston Martin”
Fernando Alonso himself said that the Aston Martin is the fastest car he ever driven. That is quite a statement coming from a driver who has won two world championship titles with a different team.
Alonso did not have the best of times at Alpine after making his F1 return in 2021. He had made his comeback with the rebranded version of Renault, with whom he had won both of his world titles. However, the journey with Alpine wasn’t as smooth for Alonso. He managed to achieve only one podium finish in his two years at the Enstone-based team.
Alpine Team Principal has claimed credit for Alonso’s recent success.
Alpine team principal, Otmar Szafnauer has claimed that he is responsible for the current surge in form that is being seen by Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin. Otmar used to be the team principal of Aston Martin till the start of 2022 when he made the switch to Alpine.
At the French team however, he didn’t really have the best of relationships with Alonso at Alpine. It even contributed to Alonso jumping ship to Aston Martin the moment a seat became available.
However, the Romanian-American boss has claimed that he had signed up a lot of engineering talent who are responsible for making the Aston Martin as fast as it is now. Therefore he thinks he should be given due credit for Alonso’s success.
Alonso is currently third in the F1 standings, with 75 points to his name.
