Fernando Alonso's "blinder" move to Aston Martin praised by Mark Gallagher 

Fernando Alonso shocked the world of Formula 1 when he signed with Aston Martin for the 2023 season just days after Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from the sport. Now, experienced broadcaster and F1 author Mark Gallagher has praised Fernando Alonso for pulling off the "blinder."

Alonso, the two-time world champion, had been expected to continue with Alpine, having come out of retirement to join the side in 2021. But Alpine, who seemed willing to offer Alonso a contract extension, took a little too much time as Alonso signed for Aston Martin.

Pondering over Alonso's switch to Aston Martin, Mark Gallagher shared some insights when he appeared on GP Racing podcast. Talking about the Alpine and Alonso situation, Gallagher labelled Alpine's handling of Alonso as naivety:

“We’ve had the Alonso thing happen, and carelessness? I’m not sure. Perhaps naivety. I think you can get wrapped up in believing what everyone says is the truth. If a driver is constantly sitting in press conferences, saying ‘I love driving for this team’, you can start to believe the driver is really committed to you, irrespective of what the contract says.”

Gallagher compared Alonso's situation to that of Michael Schumacher in 1991, when Schumacher made his F1 debut with the small Irish outfit. Then, Schumacher abruptly switched to Benetton for the very next race.

"I mean, the reality is when Michael drove for Jordan at Spa in 91, we had a great weekend. He enjoyed himself, we loved having him. From a purely human perspective, you would have thought that we were going to continue together. The reality is there are other forces in play. And, in the case of the Vettel retirement announcement, that was always going to trigger a big move."

He continued:

"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."

He 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."

Fernando Alonso will be pulling on Aston Martin's overalls in the 2023 season, where he will team up with Lance Stroll in hopes of helping the team climb up the table. Aston Martin finished P7 last term.

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"Maybe not next year..." - Fernando Alonso simmers his F1 title hopes after move to Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso believes he can make some significant progress with Aston Martin in the upcoming season. He believes that the Silverstone-based team has the tools required to perform at the highest level of Formula 1.

Explaining some of his ambitions with Aston Martin to the BBC, Fernando Alonso said:

"Ultimately, winning the championship is what motivates me every day, so [I am] still thinking the third [championship] will be possible one day. Maybe not next year, but who knows, in the future. And now, with this project of Aston Martin, there are other things appealing to me."

He continued:

"To try to build the team - not from scratch - but after this year, they are hoping [to become] much better in the next few seasons. They have a lot of new people in the team, great talent, new facilities."

Fernando Alonso is one of F1's greats, and the 41-year-old has proven on various occasions that age is not always a limiting factor. He has the knowledge, the experience, and the pace to still conquer great things in the sport. It will be interesting to see what 2023 has in store for him.