Almost a year ago the negotiations between Fernando Alonso and Alpine to renew the contract of the double world champion of Formula 1 with the brand that crowned him in 2005 and 2006 under the name of Renault.
However, and despite a notable performance by the Asturian with several fingers of the right hand brokenin Enstone they did not quite trust him and, under the now mythical phrase of ‘look at the passport’, They only offered him one more year of contract.
For Alonso it was not enough, and when the ‘silly season’ came to a boil in summer, spoke to Lawrence Stroll and decided to move to Silverstone to replace Sebastian Vettel with a multi-year contract that gave him what he did not want to give him Alpine.
Now, one year later, the reality is overwhelming: Fernando has four podiums in five races, which are 75 points in your locker, while you enter Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly barely accumulate 14.
The Oviedo experience has given Aston Martin that added value to make a spectacular jump last winter.
Tom McCulloughthe team’s director of performance, has highlighted the ‘sharp fang’ of the two-time champion at almost 42 years of age.
“Fernando is very hungry. He is working and training very hard”, he expressed in statements collected by ‘racingnews365’.
“When we met him at the end of last year, we obviously worked with him in Abu Dhabi and He is very self-critical and wants to push himself to another level.ly during the winter he has worked even more”, he added.
“I think maybe as you get older you need to work harder than a 20 year old? Maybe you do. But he’s so motivated, so up for the challengeand it seems to be fine at the moment”, has settled.
Differences with Alpine
These words of McCullough collide head-on with those of szafnauerhead of Alpine, once Fernando’s departure was known.
“Age affects your abilities, your eyes, your brain. Schumacher, 42 years old, was beaten by Rosberg. At 38 it wouldn’t have happened, and that’s something that happens to all of us. He wanted guarantees of more time, but we thought that with Alonso it was a year, plus a year, plus a year,” he said then.
In fact, even after Alonso’s podium in the first race of the season, the Romanian threw him again another ‘dart’ with age as a leading role. In the end, as with the years, time puts everyone in their place.
