The Aston Martin ‘calling card’ to get ‘who they want’ to replace Lance Stroll

Aston Martin will have their pick of drivers in the pitlane, once Fernando Alonso achieves the team’s first win under their new identity.

While the Silverstone-based squad have won a race under their previous guise as Racing Point, the Aston Martin team are yet to win a race since Lawrence Stroll rebranded the outfit ahead of the 2021 Formula 1 season.

With Fernando Alonso at the wheel of one of their cars this year, the two-time World Champion is enjoying a late-career resurgence as he’s scored five podiums from the first seven races and is helping keep Aston Martin in the fight over the runner-up position in this year’s Constructors’ Championship.

But, despite their significant step forward over the winter, a World Championship will likely evade the Spaniard between now and the arrival of Honda as the team’s new engine partner in 2026 – Aston Martin recently confirmed they’ll break away from Mercedes power for the first time since 2009 with the arrival of the Japanese manufacturer in three years time.

“No, not on that timescale,” said former F1 racer and Le Mans LMP2 winner David Kennedy in a recent exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com, when asked whether a World Championship might be on the cards for Alonso.

The Irishman was full of praise for the Spaniard as he outlined the various qualities the 41-year-old brings to the team, labelling him a “warrior”, but suggested that Alonso is no longer quite as quick as he was in previous years, citing a simple biological slowdown as Alonso is now the eldest driver on the grid.

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But Kennedy believes Alonso is capable of pulling off his elusive 33rd victory this year, even if that opportunity went begging at last month’s Monaco Grand Prix, and that doing so will make Aston Martin a very attractive proposition for the future, should they wish to replace Lance Stroll with another World Champion-calibre racer.

“This season. They’ve got the car for it,” he said, when asked when victory might be on the cards.

“He just knows all the tricks. I think when he puts it on pole and wins a race, then they have the calling card to go down the pit lane, or up the pit lane, to get who they want to join him.

“He’s got a tremendous contribution to the team in where they are. If it could be a regular winner, they will need someone to make that difference like [Max Verstappen did] in Monaco.”

According to Kennedy, there’s no better driver to solidify Aston Martin’s position as an increasingly attractive proposition, knowing that his combination of race pace and experience will usually maximise the full potential of the car under him.

“He’s probably the right man at the right time for the team, the team owner, and for his teammate, to be able to bring so much to the table,” he said.

“He’s older and wiser now, been through the mill with many machinations with F1 teams and managers.”