As Formula 1’s most experienced ever driver, Fernando Alonso prepares to embark on the 20th campaign of his F1 career in 2023.
This year, he will race in British Racing Green for the first time with Aston Martin – a team with lofty ambitions for its future and in the middle of building a major, state-of-the-art new team headquarters at its Silverstone base.
At the launch of the team’s new AMR23, Alonso spoke to media including RaceFans about his ambitions for the new season, how Aston Martin compare to previous teams he’s joined and on working alongside the sons or daughters of team personnel he worked with early in his career…
Q: What is the mood like in Aston Martin ahead of the start of the new season?
FA: Obviously it’s a new, fresh approach for many things. New people have joined the team. A lot of talent in the design office, the technical department. Obviously the new factory is nearly ready – only a few months left until the team moves there – a new driver, so everything feels like new energy.
I see people very motivated. A lot of work has been done on this car and finally, we will see today and I can’t wait for Bahrain and everyone is very excited about this project.
Q: How confident are you that the team can take a step forward in performance in the short term?
FA: This team has been always outstanding in terms of delivering results for the possibilities that they had and the facilities that were maybe not of a top team. Right now, this is just the opposite project. We are just witnesses to the growth of the team. They’ve nearly doubled the personnel in the last 24 months.
This is year three of Aston Martin and I think there is a lot of things going on right now with these new people that joined the team and new ideas. On the new factory, new wind tunnel, for sure it will take time – this is more a long term benefit that you will see. But in the short term, you will see also with the new car that there are a lot of things that are already visible on how the team can can grow up quickly. So let’s see.
There are a lot of things right in Formula 1. There are no shortcuts. You need the investment. You need the talent in the factory. This project is very ambitious at the moment and has a lot of things to prove, but a lot of things to go through in the next few years. I know that my time is not unlimited behind the wheel, but I will try to make it as short as possible, this…
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