Former Williams and Ferrari team manager Peter Windsor believes that Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll might be unhappy with how strongly Fernando Alonso has been performing already this season, with his son Lance Stroll having fallen behind the Spaniard.
Since switching to Aston Martin from Alpine, Alonso has been driving like he’s 25 years old again, with the Spaniard having started the 2023 F1 season with back-to-back third place finishes.
The last time Alonso claimed consecutive podiums was all the way back in 2013, during his penultimate season with Ferrari, highlighting just how long it’s been since the 41-year-old has been a regular podium contender.
The double world champion has certainly taken Aston Martin to new heights, with the Spaniard having been the only driver this season capable of competing with Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
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He’s comfortably been faster than Ferrari and Mercedes this year, with some having highlighted Alonso has a potential title contender.
As incredible as this is for Aston Martin, though, Windsor has questioned whether Stroll will be happy with what’s going on, given that Lance has very much become the team’s number two driver.
It should be noted that the Aston Martin driver is still recovering from his bicycle crash in Spain which ruled him out of pre-season testing, meaning the best of the Canadian is yet to be seen.
Lance has started 2023 with a sixth-place finish in Bahrain and a retirement in Saudi Arabia, following a reliability problem.
Should he continue to finish below Alonso then perhaps his father will consider a different strategy for the team, although, Windsor does admit that he’s “probably exaggerating”.
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“At the end [of the race], with all the Aston Martin mechanics in green in front of the podium and Fernando being Mr Charm, Mr Charisma with the fluorescent green Aston Martin cap and smile and just looking a hundred million dollars, you had to think, ‘not sure Stroll Sr will be that happy about the way things are going at the moment’,” Windsor said on his YouTube channel.
“This is Fernando almost becoming bigger than the team and [Stroll will be thinking] what’s happening with my son? Why’s he retired? What’s going on?
“I’m probably exaggerating there and probably it will not be that, but I’m just suggesting that is a sign that this is a very different sort of team.”