Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin move shows brutal world of F1 driver contracts hasn't disappeared, claims commentator

Formula 1 commentator Mark Gallagher feels that Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin move and the entire process around it was a stark reminder of how brutal Formula 1 contracts can get.

Alonso's move to Aston Martin came as a surprise shortly after Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from the sport. The move caught everyone by surprise as the Spaniard had claimed all season that he wanted to stay with Alpine.

In a recent appearance on the GP Racing podcast, Mark Gallagher spoke about how ensuring the future of a driver is a key role for a team manager. He said:

“It’s about ensuring the longevity of drivers’ careers, it’s about maximising the income from that because you don’t know how long your career will last. And therefore, if you can put another 10, 15, 20 million in – that’s going to make a big difference in your life later on. And also for your kids."

He added:

“You are talking about drivers now earning the kind of money that secures not only their lives, but the generations that follow them if they’re lucky enough to have kids. So the reality is, there’s a lot on that business side that has got nothing to do with the niceties of the human relationships in teams. I think what’s happened this summer is we’ve had a stark reminder that that brutal world hasn’t disappeared."

Gallagher stated that even though there has been a slight softening of expectations recently, the situation is still quite cutthroat as Fernando Alonso showed. He said:

“I think there’s been a slight softening of expectations around the driver market in recent years, because it’s been relatively stable and the moves have been quite well-planned. There’s been a lot of long-term driver contracts put in place, if we think about Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. So, essentially, we’ve had a lot of stability – this summer has been a stark reminder that it’s still a cut-throat environment.”

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Fernando Alonso played a blinder with the Aston Martin move, believes Mark Gallagher

Fernando Alonso is a two-time Formula 1 world champion.

With Fernando Alonso finding himself in a situation where Alpine did not want to commit to him for the long term, Mark Gallagher felt that this was a blinder of a move for the Spaniard.

With the move to Aston Martin, Alonso not only has an impressive deal on his hands but also a multi-year contract. Gallagher said:

“Fernando Alonso, faced with the prospect of not having a long-term commitment, he’s now been in the team long enough to realise he’s very unlikely to score anything substantive there. So there’s a window of opportunity. He knows Lawrence Stroll likes having a big name and the team is good for the Aston Martin PR, good for the brand – it means whether they win, lose or draw, you’re going to be capturing lots of attention."

The Formula 1 commentator added:

“So, you know, Alonso has played a blinder. You have to remember you’ve got none other than Flavio Briatore behind him, one of the architects of the Schumacher/Benetton years. So there’s a lot, there’s a kind of a separate world of drivers and contracts and managers who look at things from a very different perspective, it’s purely about business.”