F1 drivers coming out of retirement to rejoin the grid is no uncommon occurrence. However, doing that at 40 is fairly rare. And then to take the entire grid by storm with blistering performances at 42, that almost never happens. Fernando Alonso showed the world how to do it in 2023. Surprisingly, his achievement made David Coulthard endure Eddie Jordan’s mocking.
Before the start of the season, Jordan predicted that Alonso will rise to the podium places. The Irishman went as far as predicting a race win for the newly-appointed Aston Martin driver.
While Alonso could not do that, he registered a podium finish in the very first race in Bahrain. Reacting to the race result on his podcast, Formula For Success, Jordan sarcastically suggested Coulthard take a cue from the Spaniard and rejoin the grid.
The former F1 team boss said, “I think you should make a comeback, David. You could be a world champion with me!” Funnily enough, Jordan ruled the idea out almost immediately by making a reference to his own age. He remarked, “I’m past my time.”
Alonso, however, showed no signs of aging in 2023. After the podium in Bahrain, he went on to collect seven more podium finishes. As the season progressed, Aston Martin’s development took a slump. Despite that, Alonso continued to outperform his teammate, Lance Stroll, on almost every occasion.
Alonso proved that his second F1 stint was not meant to just fulfill his need to stay on the grid. He is a man on a mission with nothing but victory on his mind.
Hence, if the Silverstone-based team can provide him with a car that is capable of fighting for wins, he can almost certainly beat every driver on the grid. It is for the same reason he is currently heavily invested in their 2024 car’s production.
Fernando Alonso is dedicated to take Aston Martin to the top
In 2021, Aston Martin boss Lawrence Stroll revealed his ultimate goal with the team – to be able to win titles in “four or five years”. Adding Sebastian Vettel to the squad in 2022 was a step in that direction.
Unfortunately, the four-time champion decided to hang up his boots after just one season with the team. Despite that, Fernando Alonso took a leap of faith in 2023 and it turned out to be a risk worth taking. Lawrence Stroll not only managed to convince Alonso of his project but also convinced him to stay for long.
Before the start of the season, Alonso vowed to stay with the team for at least two to three years and fight for the titles with them. The good work done in tandem showed almost immediate results. A major chunk of the two-time champion’s podiums came during the first half of the season.
However, subsequent development packages seemed to make them slower by the day. To make matters worse, teams like McLaren and Mercedes made leaps of progress that pulled Aston Martin to P5 in the championship by the time the season ended.
Alonso, however, gave a positive review of the season and revealed how all the podium finishes exceeded his expectations. However, just podium finishes were never his aim. His aim is still to fight for titles and he believes it is possible in 2024.
Alonso has outlined the straight-line speeds and inconsistency to be two aspects that Aston Martin needs to work on for the 2024 car. Team Principal Mike Krack, without revealing too much, has let the media know about their underlying weaknesses and how his side are attempting to rectify them.
