Fernando Alonso did an outstanding job with Aston Martin as he scored 206 of the team’s 280 points in the 2023 season. As a result of the Spaniard’s fantastic efforts, the team finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship. While the 42-year-old undoubtedly made most of the contributions, Lance Stroll also deserves some credit. Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack recently praised Stroll for his contributions in a recent interview.
While speaking to as.com, the Krack said, “They have made us a better team. They have been constructive in difficult races. Lance [Stroll] is in a great place. He is relaxed and self-confident. What Fernando [Alonso] has given us is simply extraordinary. He drives us and makes us better”.
Alonso did indeed drive the team as he finished a fantastic fourth in the Drivers’ Championship. On the other hand, Stroll finished tenth in the championship and only managed to score 74 points. As a result of the Canadian’s struggles, several F1 experts also questioned his place in the team.
As for the Aston Martin team as a whole, they had a mixed 2023 campaign. The season began with massive optimism after Alonso secured five podiums after just the first six races. However, the optimism soon faded away as the season progressed.
The team brought in some upgrades that resulted in the AMR23 losing some performance. As a result, both Alonso and Stroll struggled for most of the second half of the 2023 season.
In stark contrast to the first half of the campaign, the Spaniard managed to secure just one podium in his last nine races of the season. However, despite Aston Martin’s fall from grace, Alonso is keen to remain patient with his team.
Fernando Alonso has full faith in Aston Martin
Although Fernando Alonso is not known to be a patient man, his composure at Aston Martin will seem surprising to most. While the two-time champion has had his moments where he has expressed his frustrations on the team radio even this year, he has often not carried the same to his interviews and press conferences.
In such moments, the 42-year-old has often praised his team for their efforts. Alonso now understands more than anyone that Aston Martin made a huge step forward in 2023, and as a result, the positives more than outweigh the negatives. It is for this reason that he also believes that the 2023 campaign was a huge success.
Alonso now hopes that Aston Martin can carry forward this momentum into the 2024 season. The team from Silverstone hopes to bring in enough upgrades to their car to pose a challenge to the top four teams (Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren) next season.
