Sky F1 broadcaster Ted Kravitz finds it “slightly perplexing” that Fernando Alonso has taken a gamble on joining Aston Martin at this late stage of his career.
The context for Kravitz’s opinion is that Aston Martin need to deliver swiftly on their big potential if they are to give Alonso what he craves – more F1 wins and possibly even a third World Championship.
Four days after Sebastian Vettel announced he was leaving Aston Martin at the end of this season to retire from the sport came the news that Alonso would be his replacement, the Spaniard having broken off contract renewal talks with Alpine to make the switch.
Alonso was quoted in the official announcement as saying: “This Aston Martin team is clearly applying the energy and commitment to win.
“It is very obvious they have the ambition and passion to succeed in Formula 1. Nobody in Formula 1 today is demonstrating a greater vision and absolute commitment to winning.
“I intend to win again in this sport and therefore I have to take the opportunities that feel right to me.”
However, despite that ambition, at present Aston Martin are a long way from winning as they sit ninth of 10 in the Constructors’ Championship standings – and Kravitz fears Alonso, rather like Vettel, may run out of sand in the hourglass of his career before the team start to achieve their targets.
Your 2023 @AstonMartinF1 lineup. 💚 pic.twitter.com/8dslUhLZrn
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) August 1, 2022
“It’s fairly standard Fernando Alonso career behaviour that he is betting on a marked improvement in the next three years,” Kravitz told Sky Sports.
“That’s something I find slightly perplexing about the whole thing, that at best it will take three years for Aston Martin to be able to win races and challenge for championships. By which point, Fernando will be 44.
“He’s fit as a fiddle and he’s into F1 as he ever was, his break [in 2019 and 2020] refreshed him and he’s not running out of steam like Sebastian Vettel has.
“But really? And is that to suggest Alpine were never going to get there? Or is he just looking for one more team to see what he could do, a different challenge? It’s all a bit odd.”
Kravitz also played down concerns about a clash of personalities between Alonso and team chairman Lawrence Stroll, with both having made it clear in the official announcement that they had known and admired each other for a long time.
“I thought it was…
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