Motor racing: Alonso and Aston Martin look a strong package

LONDON – Fernando Alonso has made some wrong moves in a Formula One career that should have delivered more than two titles but joining Aston Martin is looking like a good one.

The 41-year-old Spaniard moved from Alpine at the end of last season after signing a multi-year deal as a replacement for the retiring Sebastian Vettel, but there were doubts he was heading to a better seat than the one he had vacated.

The impression from pre-season testing in Bahrain, however, was that Aston Martin are on the rise.

It is early days, but the team who finished seventh last season compared to Alpine’s fourth could be best of the rest behind the big three.

“I think they’ve made a big step,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, whose former aerodynamics chief engineer Dan Fallows joined Aston Martin as technical director last April.

“It looks like their concept of car has moved them forward and they look like they’re not too far away. Fernando in particular looks very competitive.”

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen agreed, saying: “I think Aston Martin look fast.

“They seem to constantly be doing good long runs and when they try to put in a fast time, they seem to do it as well.”

For Alonso fans, they will be hoping that the driver can add to his tally of 32 career victories a decade on from his last with Ferrari in 2013.

Alonso, whose resume includes two tough stints at McLaren in 2007 and 2015-18 as well as five often frustrating years at Ferrari, is not ruling that out and nor are those who know him well.

Pat Symonds, the former technical director who was at Renault when Alonso won his championships in 2005 and 2006, said Aston Martin had put together an impressive group.

Eric Blandin joined from then-champions Mercedes in 2022 as aero head and Luca Furbatto from Sauber/Alfa Romeo as engineering director.

The team are also moving into a new factory and have a state-of-art wind tunnel due to come on stream in 2024.

“When Fernando said ‘I’m going to Aston Martin’, he was looking at the future,” Symonds told Sky Sports.

“I think Dan Fallows is a very, very competent guy. I think we’re going to start seeing them moving up a bit.”

Fallows worked at Red Bull with Adrian Newey, winner of multiple championships with three different teams and an inspirational arch-boffin regarded as the greatest of modern designers.

The 2022 updated Aston Martin was seen by some as a “Green Red Bull” and the same design philosophy is clear in the 2023 version.

Alonso was second fastest to Red Bull’s double world champion Max Verstappen on day one of testing and third fastest, with 130 laps on the board, on day two.

The Spaniard said it was so far so good but warned it was only testing.

“There are still many questions to answer,” he added. REUTERS