Alonso to Aston Martin

[Greig]

Never seen that coming!

https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/announcement/fernando-alonso-to-join-aston-martin-f1-in-2023

[Rishu]

Bad career moves, yet another one

[DJTaurus]

Merc teams will be more competitive next year.

[Lesky]

Bad career moves, yet another one

Clinging on to F1 for multiple more years can hardly be a bad move at that age!!!??

[samboozik]

This guy just wants to try every team on the grid :rotfl

[nani_s23]

This guy just wants to try every team on the grid :rotfl

But still he is highly rated & one of successful drivers on the grid.

[Ferrarichamp]

But still he is highly rated & one of successful drivers on the grid.

Ocon is beating him.

[Redfive]

A backwards step.. how strange!

[MSC Fan]

Ocon is beating him.

Alonso had a lot of bad luck though.

[MSC Fan]

Never seen that coming!

https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/announcement/fernando-alonso-to-join-aston-martin-f1-in-2023

I definitely imagined him leaving Alpine. Otmar was far too outspoken against him. Aston invested for the long term, building a massive factory/wind tunnel and all, so can't say I am surprised. But since this is Alonso, I think Aston will sink due to him being extremely bad at making career choices.

[Portago]

Ocon is beating him.

Ocon has benefitted from every single strike of luck this year and yet I bet with you that Alonso will end with more points than him.

Last year Alonso beat the hell out of Ocon

And Ocon is the worst possible teammate I have ever seen. Yesterday he was busy running wide in a corner to block Alonso and leaving the door open to Ricciardo to overtake the pair of them.... Shameful.

I think Alonso:

- Is fed up of being offered just one year contract after driving the hell out of that Alpine, just to warm the seat for the yet unproven Piastri.
- Is fed up of Ocon's antics

But to me is clearly a bad move.... as usual.

[Portago]

On a different note, *** is Alpine thinking? Piastri and Ocon are going to be any better?

[Tony]

I have a lot of respect for Alonso as a driver, but man, this guy makes the absolute worst career decisions :(

[Ferrarichamp]

Ocon has benefitted from every single strike of luck this year and yet I bet with you that Alonso will end with more points than him.

Last year Alonso beat the hell out of Ocon

And Ocon is the worst possible teammate I have ever seen. Yesterday he was busy running wide in a corner to block Alonso and leaving the door open to Ricciardo to overtake the pair of them.... Shameful.

I think Alonso:

- Is fed up of being offered just one year contract after driving the hell out of that Alpine, just to warm the seat for the yet unproven Piastri.
- Is fed up of Ocon's antics

But to me is clearly a bad move.... as usual.

yes you could be right. I would actually like to see Fernando win a race this year, especially now that Ferrari are not fighting for the title, but it probably won't happen.

[Portago]

yes you could be right. I would actually like to see Fernando win a race this year, especially now that Ferrari are not fighting for the title, but it probably won't happen.

Unfortunately. If there is a guy to be there at the top at least once, that's him

[impactX]

I definitely imagined him leaving Alpine. Otmar was far too outspoken against him. Aston invested for the long term, building a massive factory/wind tunnel and all, so can't say I am surprised. But since this is Alonso, I think Aston will sink due to him being extremely bad at making career choices.

How many WDC and WCC did Ferrari win after he left?

[Brembo]

I have a lot of respect for Alonso as a driver, but man, this guy makes the absolute worst career decisions :(

Not when it comes to salary!! :rotfl

[SS454]

I have a lot of respect for Alonso as a driver, but man, this guy makes the absolute worst career decisions :(

100% Alonso has to be the greatest driver to make the worst decisions that killed his career's success.

[MSC Fan]

How many WDC and WCC did Ferrari win after he left?

How many wins and podiums did Alonso achieve after leaving Ferrari? 0 wins and 1 podium in 8 years. If he stayed back, maybe he could've been a better contender than Vettel for 2017 and 2018.

[FerrariF60]

How many wins and podiums did Alonso achieve after leaving Ferrari? 0 wins and 1 podium in 8 years. If he stayed back, maybe he could've been a better contender than Vettel for 2017 and 2018.

i don't have the slightest doubt that Alonso would have been teh better contender in 17 and 18 for teh WDC....2012 was an example of how WELL his drive was where he put that DONKEY OF FERRARI in places that it did NOT deserve and he almost won in that year

so yeah, HANDS DOWN Alonso would have been 1000% better than Vettel

[impactX]

How many wins and podiums did Alonso achieve after leaving Ferrari? 0 wins and 1 podium in 8 years. If he stayed back, maybe he could've been a better contender than Vettel for 2017 and 2018.

No driver can endure the dismal performance made possible by incompetent people every week.

[Riccardog]

I never liked Alonso, especially in light of the Mc debacle on stealing Ferrari IP... but he has won 2 championships, and in my opinion he is doing what he Loves doing, and for those who say bad choices, I say...
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the Spaniard currently sits on $260 million (£214 million) – so he has not done too badly.

[jgonzalesm6]

Welcome to F1's Daddys DayCare Center!!!!

Another bad decision in his resume. He went from Alpine (aka Renault) down to the 3rd worst team on the grid.

At least he'll enjoy driving an F1 car and "nursing" junior.

[Greig]

Welcome to F1's Daddys DayCare Center!!!!

Another bad decision in his resume. He went from Alpine (aka Renault) down to the 3rd worst team on the grid.

At least he'll enjoy driving an F1 car and "nursing" junior.

The new Aston Martin factory/wind tunnel they are building might well improve them....plus they are poaching a lot of staff from others.

[SS454]

I never liked Alonso, especially in light of the Mc debacle on stealing Ferrari IP... but he has won 2 championships, and in my opinion he is doing what he Loves doing, and for those who say bad choices, I say...
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the Spaniard currently sits on $260 million (£214 million) – so he has not done too badly.

Alonso was always going to get paid. But his success has been greatly reduced by his own terrible decisions. He probably should be a 5 time champ, though the 3 titles he didn't win were not necessarily his fault, it's just an example of his success record is well below his talent level. Nobody will ever talk about him being one of the greats because of how much money he has.

[Riccardog]

Alonso was always going to get paid. But his success has been greatly reduced by his own terrible decisions. He probably should be a 5 time champ, though the 3 titles he didn't win were not necessarily his fault, it's just an example of his success record is well below his talent level. Nobody will ever talk about him being one of the greats because of how much money he has.

I hear what you saying, but that is your and other fans opinions, I saw Rosberg win one title and say bye bye F1 I have what I want.... it is not the fans opinion that counts here, but what the driver is happy with.... and in my opinion, he is doing exactly what he wants because it makes him happy... yes titles were lost, but again we all know it was NEVER through his incompetence....

[SS454]

I hear what you saying, but that is your and other fans opinions, I saw Rosberg win one title and say bye bye F1 I have what I want.... it is not the fans opinion that counts here, but what the driver is happy with.... and in my opinion, he is doing exactly what he wants because it makes him happy... yes titles were lost, but again we all know it was NEVER through his incompetence....

It sounded like from your original post that Alonso made pretty good decisions based on his Net Worth. I respect his passion to race, and his skills are undeniable. But I think everyone is saying he has ruined the potential of his F1 career because of poor decisions. It's hard to argue that.

[aroutis]

I have a lot of respect for Alonso as a driver, but man, this guy makes the absolute worst career decisions :(

That. I respect he loves racing and all that... but Aston Martin, THIS Aston Martin?
Oh man...

[aroutis]

How many WDC and WCC did Ferrari win after he left?

How many WDC and WCC did he win WITH Ferrari?
Quite honestly this is a moot argument.

[MSC Fan]

The new Aston Martin factory/wind tunnel they are building might well improve them....plus they are poaching a lot of staff from others.

Can we gift them our strategy folk?

[Riccardog]

Can we gift them our strategy folk?

and let's throw in CL's race engineer for good measure. sweeten the pot!

[FerrariF60]

I never liked Alonso, especially in light of the Mc debacle on stealing Ferrari IP... but he has won 2 championships, and in my opinion he is doing what he Loves doing, and for those who say bad choices, I say...
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the Spaniard currently sits on $260 million (£214 million) – so he has not done too badly.

what teh people on this forum mean by bad choices, is moving to teams at the wrong time in search for that 3rd WDC taht he so desperately wants....if he woudn't have left ferrari at the end of 2014, i can almost gurarntee that he wuould have won either of those years, 17 or 18 when Seb never managed to do so

[Greig]

Oscar Piastri confirmed at Alpine, seems they are not too happy with Alonso lol

https://twitter.com/AlpineF1Team/status/1554500248432680960

[SS454]

Leaving Renault in 07 was a good move, and if Alonso didn't wreck his relationship with McLaren midway through 2007, he probably goes on to win the championship that year as well as 2008. Assuming McLaren didn't favor Lewis no matter what.

If he stays with McLaren, he probably wins the WDC in 2010, and maybe 2012. Say he makes the move to Ferrari in 2014, he has a shot in 2017 and 2018, maybe even 2019. With a good relationship, Alonso stays at Ferrari and drives with Leclerc 2020 to 2021 and would likely even be there in 2022. Would he still be fast enough to beat Leclerc? Who knows. I am almost certain he would make less mistakes. He could be in the hunt for another title in 2022.

So he could potentially have had up to 6 or 7 titles, even if the last 4 or 5 would would be challenges without the best car. Technically he's never had the outright best car. In 05 McLaren was quite a lot faster, and in 06 Ferrari were marginally faster. Even without winning another title, a long stint with McLaren from 2007 onward would have netted him the most wins, poles, and podiums.

To be fair, Alpine likely chose to drop Alonso since they needed the seat for Piastri, as he is hyped up as a big future talent. French connection means Ocon stays as the other driver. Also Alonso has a history of not being easy to work with in the team, and so maybe it was easy for the team to choose Ocon over Alonso. Ferrari kind of pushed out Schumacher for Raikkonen in 07, so we've seen great drivers leave for the future of the team before.

[MSC Fan]

Leaving Renault in 07 was a good move, and if Alonso didn't wreck his relationship with McLaren midway through 2007, he probably goes on to win the championship that year as well as 2008. Assuming McLaren didn't favor Lewis no matter what.

If he stays with McLaren, he probably wins the WDC in 2010, and maybe 2012. Say he makes the move to Ferrari in 2014, he has a shot in 2017 and 2018, maybe even 2019. With a good relationship, Alonso stays at Ferrari and drives with Leclerc 2020 to 2021 and would likely even be there in 2022. Would he still be fast enough to beat Leclerc? Who knows. I am almost certain he would make less mistakes. He could be in the hunt for another title in 2022.

So he could potentially have had up to 6 or 7 titles, even if the last 4 or 5 would would be challenges without the best car. Technically he's never had the outright best car. In 05 McLaren was quite a lot faster, and in 06 Ferrari were marginally faster. Even without winning another title, a long stint with McLaren from 2007 onward would have netted him the most wins, poles, and podiums.

To be fair, Alpine likely chose to drop Alonso since they needed the seat for Piastri, as he is hyped up as a big future talent. French connection means Ocon stays as the other driver. Also Alonso has a history of not being easy to work with in the team, and so maybe it was easy for the team to choose Ocon over Alonso. Ferrari kind of pushed out Schumacher for Raikkonen in 07, so we've seen great drivers leave for the future of the team before.

Alpine actually had no idea that Alonso was seriously negotiating with Aston Martin. They fully expected him to continue racing with them.

[aroutis]

Leaving Renault in 07 was a good move, and if Alonso didn't wreck his relationship with McLaren midway through 2007, he probably goes on to win the championship that year as well as 2008. Assuming McLaren didn't favor Lewis no matter what.

If he stays with McLaren, he probably wins the WDC in 2010, and maybe 2012. Say he makes the move to Ferrari in 2014, he has a shot in 2017 and 2018, maybe even 2019. With a good relationship, Alonso stays at Ferrari and drives with Leclerc 2020 to 2021 and would likely even be there in 2022. Would he still be fast enough to beat Leclerc? Who knows. I am almost certain he would make less mistakes. He could be in the hunt for another title in 2022.

So he could potentially have had up to 6 or 7 titles, even if the last 4 or 5 would would be challenges without the best car. Technically he's never had the outright best car. In 05 McLaren was quite a lot faster, and in 06 Ferrari were marginally faster. Even without winning another title, a long stint with McLaren from 2007 onward would have netted him the most wins, poles, and podiums.

To be fair, Alpine likely chose to drop Alonso since they needed the seat for Piastri, as he is hyped up as a big future talent. French connection means Ocon stays as the other driver. Also Alonso has a history of not being easy to work with in the team, and so maybe it was easy for the team to choose Ocon over Alonso. Ferrari kind of pushed out Schumacher for Raikkonen in 07, so we've seen great drivers leave for the future of the team before.

Mclaren of 2007 - RD Mclaren, was clearly a Lewis shop, because of RD.
There was NO erfin way that Alonso would get a championship from the moment Lewis showed up, signed and delivered.

And from that point on, there was no way he could stay, because Alonso simply put could not stand the kind of behavior from that team.

[Rishu]

Can we gift them our strategy folk?

Think Alpine PR team has already hired them :lol

[Senna4Ever]

Oscar Piastri confirmed at Alpine, seems they are not too happy with Alonso lol

https://twitter.com/AlpineF1Team/status/1554500248432680960

Announcment was only by AlpineF1 ... in the ultimate need and hurry.
and Piastri immediately disagreed that he will not be driving for Alpine for 2023 ... which would be strange for a driver from the academy ... the posting on social media cant be interpreted the wrong way.
from all about what is knows so far Alpine did not made any decission until they where now between the seats ... which seems lost both.

in fact Alpine were not able to come to an agreement with both of their drivers til 31.7. - even it was known that Piastri so far the hottest iron on the market watched by others.

however I can't still understand the move to AM from a Fan perspective a post from Magnus Ericsson made it clear for me to probably see it from Alonso perspective: AM gave him long-term contract where as (according to Szafnauer) Alpine a 1+1 option with the words (according to Szafnauer) "if you drive as good next year as you do now, the option will not a problem".

maybe also the comments from Prost makes now more sense at all ...

in fact: by this Alpine cleverness the media is all about this issue ... so hopefully we can work out what went wrong in our garage the last 3 months in all quietness that needs it.

[SS454]

Mclaren of 2007 - RD Mclaren, was clearly a Lewis shop, because of RD.
There was NO erfin way that Alonso would get a championship from the moment Lewis showed up, signed and delivered.

And from that point on, there was no way he could stay, because Alonso simply put could not stand the kind of behavior from that team.

It was pretty much 50/50 to begin with, which Alonso surely was ****** that a rookie gets the same treatment as a 2x champ. Mid way through the year, especially after Hungary, McLaren put all their eggs into the Hamilton basket. Had this rift not happened, Alonso would have easily won the WDC that season. I agree that McLaren was likely always going to favor their beloved Lewis though.

[Redfive]

I really like Alonso a lot, I loved seeing him in a top car, racing at Lemans and the indy500 but I can't help but feel this is a mistake and a backwards step.
I would be very happy for him if it came good and they shot up the grid (just as long as they are behind Ferrari).

[aroutis]

It was pretty much 50/50 to begin with, which Alonso surely was ****** that a rookie gets the same treatment as a 2x champ. Mid way through the year, especially after Hungary, McLaren put all their eggs into the Hamilton basket. Had this rift not happened, Alonso would have easily won the WDC that season. I agree that McLaren was likely always going to favor their beloved Lewis though.
My point exactly, so the hypothetical has no merit quite honestly; McLaren started a 50/50 just to adjust Lewis in an F1 team, then of course it would be all Lewis.
ALO was doomed from the moment he joined them.

[Brembo]

[QUOTE=aroutis;1069211]My point exactly, so the hypothetical has no merit quite honestly; McLaren started a 50/50 just to adjust Lewis in an F1 team, then of course it would be all Lewis.

It remained all Lewis until Masi stopped him from getting #8.

[jgonzalesm6]

It remained all Lewis until Masi stopped him from getting #8.

Masi let 5 cars unlap themselves (the cars between Lewis and Max) on lap 57. Had Masi let ALL cars unlap themselves on lap 56, the end result would have been the same.....Max wins. Max made the change to soft tires after the Latifi crash and Mercedes left Lewis out on 39 lap old tires whom had a chance to change tires earlier (not the Latifi crash) in the race.

Max went into Abu Dhabi with 9 wins vs Lewis's 8 wins in the season.

Max lost points in Baku, Silverstone and Hungary. Had it not been for those "irregularities", Max would have won the 2021 WDC title several races ago.

[jgonzalesm6]

Mark Webber is a Porsche brand ambassador.

Porsche apparently bought 50% of Red Bull Technology.

Piastri to Alpha Tauri for 2023.

Red Bull Porsche drive in 2026.

That's my 2 cents.

[Brembo]

Masi let 5 cars unlap themselves (the cars between Lewis and Max) on lap 57. Had Masi let ALL cars unlap themselves on lap 56, the end result would have been the same.....Max wins. Max made the change to soft tires after the Latifi crash and Mercedes left Lewis out on 39 lap old tires whom had a chance to change tires earlier (not the Latifi crash) in the race.

Max went into Abu Dhabi with 9 wins vs Lewis's 8 wins in the season.

Max lost points in Baku, Silverstone and Hungary. Had it not been for those "irregularities", Max would have won the 2021 WDC title several races ago.

Had it not been for Masi's maneuvers Luis would have won the race. That was the #8 WDC. Max was and is the WDC winner. And.. Lewis' Merc had quite a few irregularities also. Again I say Max won!

[SS454]

My point exactly, so the hypothetical has no merit quite honestly; McLaren started a 50/50 just to adjust Lewis in an F1 team, then of course it would be all Lewis.
ALO was doomed from the moment he joined them.

The point I was making is had Alonso stayed at McLaren through 2013, he likely would have had a lot more success. Quite a few things would have had to be different for him to stay at McLaren, which I also touched on. But since there is a lot of talk about Alonso making bad career decisions, we can guess and discuss what other options he could have made.

[tifosi1993]

Ferrari's management is incompetent but it looks pale in comparison to Alpine's management.
First they give someone like Ocon a 3 year deal from which they can't back out. Then they try to play games with someone like Fernando, the faster and the better driver, while trying to keep Piastri under the wing and not let him get signed up another team.
But I guess they simply didn't realize with whom they're playing the game with. So at the end of the day, Fernando gives them a middle finger and signs up with Aston while Piastri simply refusing to drive for them.

But I guess that's a fair comeuppance for disrespecting a legend like Fernando. I have zero doubt that they were and are still doing whatever it is necessary to keep Ocon ahead of Fernando in the WDC table. And this is a payback from Fernando.

[jgonzalesm6]

Oscar Piastri confirmed for Mclaren 2023. Bye-Bye Ricciardo.

[aroutis]

Masi let 5 cars unlap themselves (the cars between Lewis and Max) on lap 57. Had Masi let ALL cars unlap themselves on lap 56, the end result would have been the same.....Max wins. Max made the change to soft tires after the Latifi crash and Mercedes left Lewis out on 39 lap old tires whom had a chance to change tires earlier (not the Latifi crash) in the race.

Max went into Abu Dhabi with 9 wins vs Lewis's 8 wins in the season.

Max lost points in Baku, Silverstone and Hungary. Had it not been for those "irregularities", Max would have won the 2021 WDC title several races ago.
Some people just cant' understand that AD 2021, Merc lost a race that was theirs to lose. All they had to do is pit. They had the faster car, they'd get out second but no.
So , as the sore losers that we all know them to do, they blamed everyone else, just like if someone else is faster they just have to cheat.

The sad thing is, we witness certain trolls that support Merc's point of view. Just sad.

[aroutis]

The point I was making is had Alonso stayed at McLaren through 2013, he likely would have had a lot more success. Quite a few things would have had to be different for him to stay at McLaren, which I also touched on. But since there is a lot of talk about Alonso making bad career decisions, we can guess and discuss what other options he could have made.

But he would not, unless he'd be in a multiverse (!) where RD would not support his boy and he'd actually give AT LEAST a fair chance to Alonso.
But in a Merc behind Lewis? No.
Alonso would not stand being a #2. So I don't see how he'd have more support. He'd be a psychopath or , more likely just walk.