Major Fernando Alonso update as Aston Martin reveal contract plans
Fernando Alonso on the podium has been a common sight in F1.
Aston Martin will look to extend Fernando Alonso’s contract following an excellent first year with the Silverstone team.
The two-time World Champion moved from Alpine to Aston at the start of this year and has scored the most podiums in a single campaign since his penultimate season with Ferrari in 2013.
Despite being 42 and having another year to run on his current contract, team principal Mike Krack has suggested they will look to extend Alonso’s deal.
Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin F1 stay set to continue
Alonso benefited from an incredible leap in performance made by Aston Martin over the winter break but even as the car has regressed down the field, the Spaniard has continued to impress.
Reflecting back on Alonso’s stint with the team, Krack said they were “blown away” from day one.
“I think as a team we were blown away from the first day until today,” he said. “To be honest with you I always thought it was a bit the honeymoon months in the beginning, but I’m quite happy that we have managed to extend the honeymoon a bit longer.
“I think we have received a remarkable team player, constructive at all times. Especially when it was difficult. When the car was more competitive, it’s obviously easier to be constructive. But the true qualities came out [later].”
Krack recalled the Mexican Grand Prix in which the team finished 17th and 18th and the team boss said that would have been an easy time to point fingers.
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“Let’s take Mexico,” he said. “For both drivers, it would have been easy to take the microphones and slam the team or go against the team and they would also have probably been deserved.
“But I think the true qualities of the team playing character of both drivers came out in that time and for me that is one of the highlights of the season as a team that we managed to stick together in that time.”
It was then put to Krack whether they would look to extend Alonso’s deal and he wondered if it even need answering.
“I think I don’t have to answer that question,” he said with a smile. “Absolutely.”
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