Fernando Alonso is certainly the man of the moment in Formula 1, with the Spaniard having rolled back the years at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, by claiming a remarkable podium on his debut for Aston Martin.
The Spaniard has settled into the Silverstone-based team brilliantly, with the double world champion having kept Red Bull on their toes for the entirety of the Bahrain GP.
With Aston Martin reportedly set to bring several upgrades to the next few races, the likelihood is that Alonso will be seen towards the front much more often, after spending several years in the midfield.
He’s likely delighted that he accepted Aston Martin’s multi-year offer to ditch Alpine, with it initially having looked like a real gamble by the Spaniard, given that the British side finished seventh last season.
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Alonso looks set to be a threat to Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes until at least the end of next season, with his girlfriend Andrea Schlager having revealed that his multi-year deal, is actually two years long.
“Fernando now has a two-year contract and it will most likely be the last contract,” the Servus TV reporter said.
Should this season and 2024 be his last, then at least he’s got a sensational car to enjoy them in, with many having likened Aston Martin’s AMR23 to Red Bull’s design.
AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost isn’t surprised by this, given that the Silverstone-based team poached Red Bull’s former head of aerodynamics Dan Fallows.
“Aston Martin looks like a Red Bull because Aston Martin took half of Red Bull’s aerodynamic employees,” Tost said, as per Diario Sport.
“So of course they built the same car and painted it green.”
Tost is convinced this will have cost Aston Martin a lot of money, something owner Lawrence Stroll has plenty of.
“It’s a question of money,” Tost said, “because those people were surely not cheap.”
There were several jokes made by Red Bull during the Bahrain GP that Aston Martin had copied them, with Sergio Pérez having even said during the post-race press conference that it was “nice to see three Red Bulls on the podium”.
Alonso took the joke well, with Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko having stated that there was no seriousness in the comments made towards the side, with it simply being a “humorous” comment.
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“No, not at all,” the top Red Bull official told formel1.de.
“It’s not meant to be an accusation either.
“They are only humorous comments, because if you look at the grid, the Aston Martin is the car that is most similar to us.”