Fernando Alonso has been achieving extraordinary things at Aston Martin; however, the Spaniard admits he would’ve stayed at Alpine if they offered him a new contract.
Alonso left Alpine at the end of 2022 to join Aston Martin, following the retirement of four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel.
Since joining the Silverstone-based team, Alonso has claimed six podiums in eleven races, putting him third in the Drivers’ Championship.
Although, he admits that he would’ve stuck with his former team if they actually offered him a new contract, something they didn’t do.
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Alonso’ move to Aston Martin was announced after last season’s Hungarian Grand Prix, an event he admits was “stressful”.
“Last year was quite a stressful grand prix here [Hungary] in terms of emotions, with that offer from Lawrence [Stroll],” Alonso told French outlet Nextgen. “But yes, it was a good decision, a lucky decision and I’m glad I made it.
“In fact, it wasn’t a choice, because I didn’t receive any concrete offer from Alpine. Just words. If I’d had an offer from Alpine at the start of the year, I would have signed it, that’s for sure. But I only had one offer and I accepted it.”
Alpine have only claimed one podium this season compared to Aston Martin’s six, but Alonso insists the French team have a “very fast car”.
Alonso added: “I don’t think the Alpine is a slow car. It’s a very fast car, as you saw at Silverstone, where Pierre [Gasly] was glued to my rear wing for over 30 laps.
“Performance changes very quickly from track to track and I’ll be happy if I see Alpine going fast in the future. In the long term, I think Aston Martin is a good project and I’m happy with that, but I’m sure there will be many more battles against them.”
Aston Martin did start 2023 superbly, but their momentum has faltered recently.
The side have endured some lacklustre races as of late, damaging their chances of beating Mercedes to second in the standings.
Alonso is hopeful that things will improve for his team, with claiming second being the “goal”.
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“Trying to finish second is the goal but it’s going to be tough all the way to the end,” Alonso said.
“We’ll see how we finish this championship, but we can’t forget that there are several very fast teams and drivers behind us. Ferrari and McLaren are going to come up or have already started to.
“But we’re looking ahead, we’re looking at Mercedes, because that’s the right attitude to have to continue to protect our lead cushion in terms of points over our pursuers.”