Alonso in the Aston Team?

[SturdyHSV]

Diderot said:

Killer2005 said:

marine boy said:

I'm thinking other than the money Alonso will receive this won't work out well for him and he probably would be better off staying with Alpine

With Alonsos history, Alpine will be challenging next season whilst he's back in the midfield.

Those were my first thoughts too.

This was my first thought as well, Alpine to be championship contenders next year then!

[130R]

TheDeuce said:

He's not in need of money or foolish, I expect that he's seeing some other reasons to make the move and has a reasonable expectation that the future for the team will be brighter than this season.

For all we know the design team have sat down with him and been able to explain exactly why their car is struggling this year and also why they can't fix it this year, but have a rock solid plan to solve the issues for next year.

If Alpine had offered him the exact same contract as AM I think he would have stayed with them. Alpine are already a decent team and likely to be again next year. Going to AM is a gamble in terms of their performance.

[TheDeuce]

130R said:

TheDeuce said:

He's not in need of money or foolish, I expect that he's seeing some other reasons to make the move and has a reasonable expectation that the future for the team will be brighter than this season.

For all we know the design team have sat down with him and been able to explain exactly why their car is struggling this year and also why they can't fix it this year, but have a rock solid plan to solve the issues for next year.

If Alpine had offered him the exact same contract as AM I think he would have stayed with them. Alpine are already a decent team and likely to be again next year. Going to AM is a gamble in terms of their performance.

You don't know that, nor do I. Neither of us know what he has seen and how concrete potential improvements could be.

I would argue that it's entirely possible that with the Merc PU and other bits, AM have the potential to exceed what Alpine can, and they know exactly why they did not this season and how to address that next season.

[mat205125]

angrymoby said:

Stroll Snr & Alonso in the same team? ...what could possibly go wrong?

Exactly.

What happens the second that Alonso starts to show up his son?

How can the team and all parties handle disagreements in the next direction for the team

[Graveworm]

Muzzer79 said:

I can only think that the key in this is "multi year deal"

Alonso wants at least 2 years - I suspect that Alpine were only offering 1 year, to enable them to bring Piastri in in 2024.

At most having signed Esteban - I imagine Jack Doohan will get the reserve chair - I can't see Olli Caldwell getting enough points or being good enough and I expect Christian Lundgaard to stay in Indy.

[MontyPythonX]

2 years in F1, then retire and head over to the Le Mans hypercars, especially if the F1 team hasn't progressed as hoped?

[aberdeeneuan]

There is an article on the race which mentions that the CEO of Alpine was offering a 1 year deal then moving Alonso to Sportscars so he can bring in Pastri then, but Alonso wanted to stay longer in F1. Alonso had no cards to play, Vettel opened up that window for him.

Can't see it ending well for either party though!

[Graveworm]

aberdeeneuan said:

There is an article on the race which mentions that the CEO of Alpine was offering a 1 year deal then moving Alonso to Sportscars so he can bring in Pastri then, but Alonso wanted to stay longer in F1. Alonso had no cards to play, Vettel opened up that window for him.

Can't see it ending well for either party though!

... If he thinks Esteban is an issue, how will he feel about Lance? Not that I expect he will see much of him on track.

[Z3MCJez]

The best thing about this is that Piastri gets a drive. I expected Ricciardo to go to AM with a pay off from McLaren to allow them to poach Piastri. All that out of the window with a move I really didn’t see coming.

[mat205125]

MontyPythonX said:

2 years in F1, then retire and head over to the Le Mans hypercars, especially if the F1 team hasn't progressed as hoped?

That was kinda my thinking for him maybe wanting to stay at Alpine, to do just that.

Always interesting to speculate on how long these negotiations have been going on, and who was in the loop on what details.

Did Seb know of Alonso's potential to replace him?

Did Alonso know that Seb might be on the way out?

Was Ocon aware that Alonso might be off?

Do team principles grab a coffee together in airport lounges to chat about this type of stuff??

[Nexus Icon]

Muzzer79 said:

I can only think that the key in this is "multi year deal"

Alonso wants at least 2 years - I suspect that Alpine were only offering 1 year, to enable them to bring Piastri in in 2024.

I think you're exactly right. All this nonsense about Alpine being "happy" to plod around in 4th/5th is just that, nonsense. I would guess that Alpine bosses wanted Alonso to take a 1 year deal so that his and Ocon's contracts came to an end at the same time giving them all the cards to play when they choose which Piastri gets to replace, with him placed at another team for next year, but Fernando wanted a multi-year deal.

[wpa1975]

Cannot see this ending well

[honda_exige]

Nexus Icon said:

Muzzer79 said:

I can only think that the key in this is "multi year deal"

Alonso wants at least 2 years - I suspect that Alpine were only offering 1 year, to enable them to bring Piastri in in 2024.

I think you're exactly right. All this nonsense about Alpine being "happy" to plod around in 4th/5th is just that, nonsense. I would guess that Alpine bosses wanted Alonso to take a 1 year deal so that his and Ocon's contracts came to an end at the same time giving them all the cards to play when they choose which Piastri gets to replace, with him placed at another team for next year, but Fernando wanted a multi-year deal.

Ocon is contracted through to the end of 2024.

[Jasandjules]

wpa1975 said:

Cannot see this ending well

I don't think anyone can, well, at least outside of Alonso and Aston....

I wonder however whether he can now mould the development of the 2023 car more in his favour and steer the team a little? Or has that ship sailed.

[A500leroy]

Maybe expect an Aussie at Alpine, and a free mcclaren seat..?

[Jasandjules]

A500leroy said:

Maybe expect an Aussie at Alpine, and a free mcclaren seat..?

I suspect it has to be Piastri to form up new blood in the team for the long term...

[Nexus Icon]

honda_exige said:

Nexus Icon said:

Muzzer79 said:

I can only think that the key in this is "multi year deal"

Alonso wants at least 2 years - I suspect that Alpine were only offering 1 year, to enable them to bring Piastri in in 2024.

I think you're exactly right. All this nonsense about Alpine being "happy" to plod around in 4th/5th is just that, nonsense. I would guess that Alpine bosses wanted Alonso to take a 1 year deal so that his and Ocon's contracts came to an end at the same time giving them all the cards to play when they choose which Piastri gets to replace, with him placed at another team for next year, but Fernando wanted a multi-year deal.

Ocon is contracted through to the end of 2024.

Of course, you're right. Forget that bit then. For some reason I thought his 3 year deal was 21/22/23 but it was signed in 21. Then it must have been as simple as only offering Fernando 1 year, otherwise it seems weird for him to jump out of a car he's called "mega" over the last few weeks into one that's generally been tooling around at the back. Their only decent year under Stroll was the "Pink Mercedes" year.

[noell35]

He finally got his Mercedes engine. What a shame it no longer appears to be an advantage

[NRS]

entropy said:

honda_exige said:

Don't forget that Aston have signed RBs chief aerodynamicist Dan Fallows as their Technical Director as well as signing Mercedes' chief aerodynamicist Eric Blandin to the same role, both of which start work this year.

That is very punchy and probably a bit more ambitious than Alpine who seem happy to plod around in 4th/5th consistently.

This was confirmed by a recent Adrian Newey interview in The-Race. He said he the frustrations RB had with Renault was that they were happy to be in F1 primarily for the exposure of the brand; Renault were frustrated they weren't getting enough credit for RBR's success.

Eh? That is the main reason for RB to be in F1 when it comes to it too. Of course Renault are in it for the good brand exposure. I suspect Renault were more pissed at being blamed for the poor performance of the team in the bad times, but basically no praise in the good times.

[Niponeoff]

I think AM know they need a highly experienced driver to develop the car and team, Alonso was an obvious choice for the teams evolution. They don't have the car for a young fast driver, willing to take risks and drive the wheels off it. They need a steady hand and a wise word.

Alonso gets a multi year deal and more time in F1, everyone's happy.