Anthony Davidson: Fernando Alonso ‘in it for himself’ with Aston Martin move
Alpine driver Fernando Alonso speaking during a press conference at the Silverstone circuit. Britain July 2022
Former F1 driver Anthony Davidson believes Fernando Alonso heading to Aston Martin is a move showing “he’s in it for himself” in his career.
Alonso was announced as Sebastian Vettel’s replacement at Aston Martin just days after the German confirmed his retirement from Formula 1, in negotiations that took a matter of a couple of days to complete.
The current Alpine driver said his initial plan had been to stay with the team into next season, but revealed that talks over a new deal had stalled for a “couple of months” before Aston Martin swooped for his signature.
Alonso himself feels it was a “win-win situation” for Alpine as it cleared space for reserve driver Oscar Piastri to take his seat, though the young Australian has denied he will be an Alpine driver next season in a situation which is yet to be resolved.
Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer admitted the first he had heard of Alonso’s contact with Aston Martin came when the move was officially announced, meaning the Spaniard had kept the team in the dark throughout negotiations.
Former Formula 1 driver Davidson said the kind of decisiveness shown by Alonso was “no issue for him” because he was acting in his own self-interest, given the uncertainty surrounding his future at that point.
The Sky F1 pundit has also backed the two-time World Champion to prove his worth and propel Aston Martin forward when he joins the team next year.
“Fernando has been at least performing as well as Esteban Ocon in the same car, if not better,” Davidson said on Sky Sports.
“So it’s a big blow for Alpine to lose Fernando, I feel, and although he is an ageing athlete, he’s still performing at a very high level.
👀 Fernando Alonso on Alpine: “I was happy but then for one reason or another, we were not moving forward from [a] couple of months [ago] already, and it seems that it was a logical move to me because Aston was very willing to have me and trust in my abilities."#BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/IsTUsu8kbF
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) August 25, 2022
“And I think [he] will go on to Aston Martin and deliver them some strong results and hopefully lift the team and bring them back to where they want to be.
“But it really is typical Fernando, you know, to not inform the team he was with the whole way through Alpine, leading them on, leading them on [then] at the last minute, sign somewhere else.
“This is just the man he is. He’s a hard man, I mean it’s no issue for him. He’s in it for himself. I don’t believe he was involved in the Piastri episode as well.
“Fernando does what Fernando wants to do, and let’s see how it unfolds this time.”
