The 2023 F1 season saw Aston Martin have their most successful season in the pinnacle of motorsport. This was helped in large part thanks to Fernando Alonso’s 8 podiums for the team in his first season with the Silverstone-based racing outfit. Team Principal Mike Krack has revealed to the media how Alonso was ‘not only driving us on but also driving himself on’.
Sebastian Vettel’s unexpected departure from Formula One meant a seat was available for the 2023 F1 season at Aston Martin. Alonso has a strong track record of having raced for different teams throughout his F1 career so seeing him choose to make the jump from Alpine to Aston Martin was not all that surprising. For a man who turns 43 this year, there were some who assumed that Alonso would be winding down his career but in reality, the trajectory is going in a very different direction as explained by Krack in his recent remarks to Australian publication Speedcafe.
“A lot of drivers go to smaller teams, and they try to take what they can through to the end of their career,” stated Krack “This is not what we have seen with Fernando. Actually, it’s completely the opposite.”
“We had a driver where you would have thought it was his first season. He was full of energy, not only driving us on but also driving himself on. He really led by example, being the first in the office. You arrive in the morning, and he is sitting there. He would [jokingly] say, ‘Good afternoon, guys.’
Krack went on to explain how Alonso leading by example was the perfect way to push the team. Most pleasing to Aston Martin fans will be his comment that “we have a much better team now than 12 months ago.” Of course, this is not down to one man as Krack makes clear in his remarks, but Alonso’s presence was no doubt the catalyst.
“Obviously, this is also credit to others, not only to Fernando, but this has made us improve much, much more than we would have if he was not here.” Mike Krack
Aston Martin’s Team Principal also explained that his praise for Alonso should not be interpreted as any criticism towards Vettel’s role in the team before he left. Krack instead highlights the different career stages that the two drivers were at.
“Sebastian was obviously at the end of his,” explained Krack. “He had made it his choice that he was going to stop. For Fernando, it was a different situation. He saw it as another challenge.”
Despite having started so strongly, Alonso was certainly met with a challenge when the direction of the car following upgrades resulted in a midseason downturn in form. However, undeterred, Alonso pushed on and sought to guide his colleagues through this period. As the team’s midseason slump continued, Alonso was able to draw on his vast experience to guide the team through it.
“When you have this high level of driving, and this high level of motivation and push, and when you see the record he had in Q3, always bringing the car there, you do not have these questions… ‘Can the car go faster?’
“It’s very good for the team, and it builds also a lot of trust from the team to the driver and vice versa, and the drivers feel that. Drivers are very, very sensitive sensors. They can feel the smallest vibrations in the team.”
For anyone seeking to identify the blueprint which has seen Alonso perform in this manner, Krack said that it is all about feeling comfortable in the team. Krack remarked that he feels Alonso feels this trust the team has in and ‘nobody’s ever doubting when he does something, and that works both ways.”
Fernando Alonso is on top of his game and finished P4 in the F1 Drivers’ Championship last year. He is no doubt raring to go and may very well have a car beneath him which can compete at the top end of the grid. Should that prove to be the case, then there is every chance that the man who came P4 in the 2023 F1 Drivers’ Championship will finally claim his elusive win number 33 just a year later. Of course, to do that, he would have to get the better of the man who used to drive car number 33 – a certain Max Verstappen.
Irrespective of who wins it will certainly be a feast for the eyes and is just another reason why many millions of fans are so eager for the 2024 F1 season to arrive.
Photo Credits: Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team
