03 January 2023 , 21:24
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Fernando Alonso remains bullish about his chances of success in his twilight Formula 1 years after joining Aston Martin.
The Spaniard has taken something of a risk by starting anew in 2023. Alpine were happy to renew his contract, but were only offering a one-year extension – Alonso, still young at heart, was after more security and that was duly offered by Aston Martin.
Clearly, when deciding who would replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel, the Silverstone-based outfit wanted to replace the German's experience. Alonso offers buckets of that, but has also shown on many occasions over the last two years that he is still very quick if his car is performing.
He will be hoping that is the case in 2023 and, in any case, seems reinvigorated ahead of his new F1 adventure. "Happy to finish this chapter [at Alpine] and start with new motivation," he told reporters after the final race of last season.
"Of course. I'm very grateful and I will always think of Alpine and Renault with good memories. We won the two championships, I spent nine years of my life in Formula 1 with Renault or Alpine, so I will be thankful always, and wishing them the best of luck next year [2023].
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"With Aston [Martin], their project is amazing what they are doing in terms of recruiting people, facilities, investment. So yeah, I think good times are coming."
Alonso tested a "green car" for the first time after the final race of the season (Getty Images)As part of their ambitious project, Aston Martin are building new facilities at their Silverstone base. Those infrastructural improvements are to match their aggressive recent recruitment drive, having hired several top engineers from teams across the grid.
As for when those new facilities might begin to have a major impact, technical director Dan Fallows warned Alonso that he must be patient. "I think the target for the wind tunnel is to be online in the middle of 2024," said the former Red Bull employee.
"We are hoping that that will have at least some contribution for the 2025 car and, depending on how the commissioning of that goes, that will probably be the first car to have a significant impact. The factory itself is coming online in various stages, so obviously the cars will feel the benefit of that as well."