"I saw a lot of talent": Fernando Alonso on why he joined Aston Martin 

Fernando Alonso has spoken about what drove him to join Aston Martin and believe in its project.

Back in 2022, when Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement, the British team wasted no time convincing Alonso to join the team for 2023. This was a shocking move for many, even for the Spaniard's former team, Alpine.

In an exclusive interview with GQ, Fernando Alonso explained how he met with Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll and talked about the team's vision. Stroll sold his project to his team well, which partially convinced Alonso.

“I spoke with Lawrence [Stroll, owner of Aston Martin] about the possibility of joining the team after Sebastian Vettel's [retirement] announcement, and he was very convincing in selling the project and all the new people that were joining,” Alonso said.

Furthermore, Fernando Alonso also saw the design office of the team and how new and talented personnel were joining the team.

Aston Martin was also planning to build a brand new factory where it would have its own wind tunnel. All these aspects convinced the Spaniard to join the British team.

“In the design office, there were big names coming from different teams. I saw a lot of talent. There was also a new factory being built and coming into place this year, so there was a big project behind this team, and it was happening; it wasn’t just talk. Facts were supporting Lawrence’s words. I thought it was a logical move for me, if I wanted to aim for something higher than my previous team. It didn’t take long for us to join forces,” Alonso added.

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Fernando Alonso reveals how he defended against Sergio Perez at the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP

One of the highlights of the Brazilian GP, if not the entire season, was the intense wheel-to-wheel battle between Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez. The latter was catching the former for most of the race distance and was close enough to overtake in the very last laps.

In the last lap of the race, Perez was ahead, but Alonso overtook him in turn four. After that, Alonso claimed that he cleverly took different racing lines to break the tow for Perez and disturb his front nose with turbulent air.

He told the media after the race:

“In the lines, we were just changing lines sometimes. I didn’t want to be always on the same line, if possible, like this. If he goes on the inside, I was from time to time on the inside. And from time to time on the outside.”

“So it was not a clear direction for him to change the racing line and take the opportunity for some clean air. So I was just trying to get some turbulence to his front nose,” he added.

This allowed Fernando Alonso to secure third place in the Brazilian GP by only 0.053 seconds.