The month of August begins and a piece of news bursts into Spanish sport: Fernando Alonso announces that he will leave Alpine in 2023 and will sign for Aston-Martin.
The ‘silly season’ starts, the seat dances skyrocket and the rumors do not stop growing… but the key Alonso, the concern is to pass from the fourth car to the ninth.
Two months later, the paradigm has changed considerably. Aston-Martin is currently seventh in the Builders World Cup just one point from the sixth, Alfa Romeo.
This change has been due to the enormous second part of the season that the British are taking shape, who have added 26 of his 51 in the last three races.
In Suzuka we witnessed a beautiful face to face between Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel that denoted the hidden power of the old Racing Point, but in Austin It was clear that they have taken a big step forward.
In qualifying, the great burden of the team in 2022, both Vettel and Stroll agreed to Q3something unprecedented to date.
Already in the race, were it not for the crash with Alonso, P8 seemed very possible for the Canadian driver, while the Heppenheimer could have opted for fifth place if Aston Martin had executed a correct pit stop.
After the race, the four-time world champion in Formula 1 was surprised to have outpaced Alpine Y McLarentheir rivals in 2023 in the fight for the middle zone.
“No, not really. We take good care of the tyres, but I don’t think it’s the main factor. It was a surprise to be faster than McLaren and Alpine in Austin“, he pointed.
“I enjoy it a lot, even if I’m not fighting for the top-3. We don’t have the pace on the straights to overtake comfortably, so i have to try it in a bit unusual places“, he added.
If two months ago Fernando Alonso’s bet with Aston Martin seemed very risky, today there are many hopes pinned on the British, who have in their ‘Mission’ Red Bull and Mercedes ‘gurus’ that they are helping to improve this year… but above all they are preparing what is coming in 2023.
