Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, next to the Aston Martin AMR23 /
World Cup 2023
The presentation of the new single-seater of the Asturian driver confirms the work behind it and the commitment of Stroll senior to finally achieve a winning project in the medium term
The slogan with which Aston Martin has prepared the new 2023 Formula 1 season perfectly sums up the desire and the challenge that lies ahead. After a few disappointing years, the AMR23 was presented this Monday as a break with the past. It is not by chance that “new energy” that they promised in the networks before showing the world a car that, regardless of whether it turns out good or not, is worked to the maximum.
Dan Fallows, the man who has fundamentally designed this car, was talking about a 95% change from the car of the previous year. He is right, and that only a first version was seen, which, how could it be otherwise, will change in the tests. A much more elongated and refined nose, narrow and aggressive side pontoons with certain reminiscences of concepts already seen in the 2022 Mercedes or even in the Red Bulls, a radically redesigned floor… and a mystery. That they did not show the rear of the car is quite a declaration of intent: there is ‘tomato’ there.
Lawrence Stroll promised that this project already has all the ingredients to win: people, enthusiasm, work and tools. The new headquarters in Silverstone is a new laboratory where everyone finds an energy that until now they had not seen. Team boss Mike Krack summed it up with a smile, in what will be his second year at the helm of the British squad. “We have great ambition, and although as Aston Martin is our third year, I see a lot of possibilities and I see it all together. Last year we saw a lot of progress, and we have improved in all areas. Everyone has worked hard this winter,” he noted.
That is perhaps the best hope. Because the team and the riders, with a smiling Fernando Alonso at the helm, are aware of where they are and where they are headed. The desire they may have cannot alleviate what other teams can show, such as a Red Bull that starts as a great favorite and the doubts of Ferrari or Mercedes that will be seen in the coming days. Although Alonso warns that this car should only be the base, the root of a winning car, they will not settle for little.
Will the 33rd victory come?
The new adventure that Alonso faces is as risky as it is daring. The team that is based on the foundations that Eddie Jordan formed decades ago, in a genealogy that has led up to now, has never aspired to be champion, and the few victories it has have been very sporadic and under very difficult conditions. specific. They don’t even have consistent podium finishes, which is also not the goal the team should be pursuing.
From the words that were dedicated during the long presentation of the AMR23, both Alonso, as Stroll (father/owner and son/pilot), as Mike Krack (boss) or Dan Fallows (technical manager), this year can be a breaking point . The car shown in the presentation is a first version of the one that will already be used in the Bahrain tests, which in turn will change for the first race of the year, in which Alonso will debut in his sixth team (fifth if we count Renault/Alpine as the same unit, which actually is).
So far, the driver with the most kilometers traveled and grand prix disputed in the history of Formula 1 has 32 victories, 22 pole positions, 23 fastest laps, 98 podiums, two World Championships and 75 dropouts, which is by no means little in all its aspects in the 19 seasons it has played in the competition. For the twentieth, in which he will also have Stroll as his 20th different partner, there is a buzz in the networks that has turned to this new wave of Alonso youngsters who were still crawling in the glory years of the Asturian: will the 33rd victory come ?
3 has become a magic number for cabalists, who are looking for a statistic to cling to in the face of an eventual difficult campaign. And it is that, in summary, beyond the surprise that Aston Martin can produce and the certainty that it is consolidated under well-armed foundations, with financial and personal muscle, Alonso’s story has shown that when the smoke of the fireworks of expectation will have to check to what extent we have to lower the illusions and conform.
Alonso: “Winning the third title is a possibility, but not this year”
Fernando Alonso is one of the new faces of Aston Martin, and all eyes are on him. The driver with the most races held in the history of Formula 1 is an “example for all”, as explained by Lawrence Stroll, who believes that they have all the ingredients to achieve the milestone they have been looking for for so long. After moving from a team of 350 to 800 workers, Aston Martin has a new energy. And that goes beyond the slogan, to the point that Alonso does not rule out that it is here where he finally achieves his third title. «It is a possibility… but not this year; I am honest. I have my feet on the ground. I would be lying if I said that we are going to fight for victories, but we want to have a good car to start with, and work and develop it throughout the season and, perhaps, in the second part of the year we can get closer to the top”, admitted the Spaniard. Best of all, there are changes. The car has been worked on and the feedback it has received is very positive. Because beyond going in the short term, this project that Alonso has joined is designed to become a benchmark later on. «It is the basis for future successes. We are not satisfied with being fourth, third or second, so this is the path we must take, “added the man from Oviedo.