Aston Martin Explain What Will Make Alonso Unhappy
A few eyebrows were raised when Fernando Alonso willingly chose to leave Alpine, a team that finished fourth, to join Aston Martin, a team that finished seventh in the championship. Aston Martin Performance Director, Tom McCullough, has now spoken about what Alonso can realistically expect from them
Link to poll: • Post
0:00 - Are Aston Martin Already Wary Of Fernando Alonso’s Ambitions?
1:48 - Fast Feed
I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World:
Are Aston Martin Already Wary Of Fernando Alonso’s Ambitions?
McCullough started off by speaking about Alonso’s expectations
“He’s not going to be happy fighting in the midfield”
“He wants to be part of the step we’re wanting to take, which is to start challenging the top three teams”
He then explained why fighting for the championship is not on the cards any time soon
“I think fighting for World Championships next year – let’s be realistic – isn’t going to happen”
“We’re on a journey. We’re growing as a team. We’re getting stronger as a team”
He then suggested that Alonso is realistic
“I think Fernando is going to add significantly to that. He’s realistic, you know. He’s on the journey with us”
“If we can fight the top three teams next year, I’m sure we’ll be happy with that”
He signed off by laying out their plans for the future
“From there, [we’ll] just carry on the journey we’re on to try to catch the guys up at the front who are doing the best job at the moment”
Fast Feed
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton hopes that “Ferrari are strong in the following years” [F1]
“They've definitely had a difficult year but there's been some strong signs”
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri thinks that “Lando’s a very strong team mate to be able to learn from” [F1]
“I think it’ll be a good working relationship”
“We’re both quite similar in age, we’ve got a few friends in common. I’m confident that we’ll be able to work well together”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown stated that “Lando is one of the fastest drivers on the grid, and I expect he and Oscar to be close” [Racing News 365]
“I expect Oscar to have some opportunities to beat him and vice versa”
“That's obviously what you want – two drivers that are right next to each other and reversing the order”
Mercedes driver George Russell suggested that “[this job] absolutely challenges your mental health so much” [The High Performance Podcast]
"You've got to be so resilient to the negativity in this world. The biggest one, probably, for me, is that public perception and social media side”
“I think that's also relatable to people who aren't in the spotlight, because social media is a pretty ruthless platform”
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen revealed that he doesn’t “really lose a lot of muscle” [Viaplay]
“I never really have a lot of issues with driving a car, but I struggle more with just keeping my weight on the limit”
Panthera team principal and co-founder Benjamin Durand confirmed that they “are ready to resume [their bid to enter F1]” [Planet F1]
Will Fernando Alonso become frustrated at Aston Martin?