A little over a year ago, news broke that Fernando Alonso would be leaving Alpine to fill the void left by Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin. The reason? The French team was refusing to offer a multi-year deal to the two-time World Champion. As soon as Otmar Szafnauer spoke up, Lawrence Stroll’s team saw an opportunity to get the 41-year-old, and he was on his way to the Silverstone-based team.
Alonso has performed outstandingly well in the AMR23 and in doing so, has both won the confidence of the Mike Krack-led team and, on the other hand, has most likely made the Enstone-based outfit regret their decision. He’s a whopping 123 points clear of teammate Lance Stroll ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The Spaniard’s contract expires in 2024 and with that, his future is a mystery to all. However, Krack spoke out on the matter and cleared up some of the doubts, while also praising the two-time world champion:
“Well, you know, obviously that’s not a decision I’m making on my own. We’ve got Lawrence [Stroll], we’ve got Martin [Whitmarsh], and we discuss those things, but I can only say, you know, at the level he’s working at, I think [age] is just a number.”
Photo credit: Aston Martin F1 Team
It is very common to think that an athlete will perform better if he is younger, but experience is a key factor and that is something that has been seen in different sports, to which the Luxembourger made reference mentioning that both discipline and motivation are key factors in such a case.
On Sunday, Novak Djokovic won his 24th Grand Slam at the age of 36, with Scott Dixon also winning at Laguna Seca in the final round of the IndyCar season. The Kiwi is 43.
“I think, with the right discipline and the right motivation, he will perform without problems. You see Valentino Rossi, for example, or you see tennis players, [like Roger] Federer, he had a very long career.
“When you see the desire… I’ve worked with drivers who weren’t even 30 years old and they said ‘I’ve achieved everything’, you know, even though they haven’t really achieved much. And then you have an example like him, with a great mentality and huge determination.”
Having seen what the Spanish native has achieved this season, the 51-year-old suggested that perhaps the mentality around age should be changed, and suggested that in his opinion, it is overrated.
“So I think maybe we need to change our mentality a little bit as well, that thinking today I think is hugely overrated.”
To make things even clearer, the Aston Martin boss added that the team doesn’t think about it, that it’s the external people who think about it.
“[Internally] we’re not even talking about it [his age]. It’s you guys. You know, we have two drivers who are very focused and we don’t really think about that.”
Heading into the Singapore GP and with 14 races so far this season, the driver of car number 14 has scored seven podiums, which has placed him third in the drivers’ championship and in turn, has put the team’s name on a high by placing them fourth in the constructors’ championship table, albeit dropping a spot after Monza because of a strong weekend by Ferrari.
With the right car, Fernando Alonso could continue his good run and Krack has been very clear about this: “I think it was lucky for us that his previous team [Alpine] made a big story out of that, didn’t they? And that’s what made it easier for us.”
