Fernando Alonso revealed over the course of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix that he intends to stay in Formula 1 for several years, and Aston Martin boss Mike Krack is happy to keep him in the team.
Fernando Alonso is enjoying his best season in F1 since his return from his sabbatical with Alpine in 2021, and has been on the podium in five of the first seven races, taking the fight to the mighty Red Bulls so far this year, that is if we don’t count his subpar weekend in Spain, where Mercedes were the second best team.
Nevertheless, Alonso, who will turn 42 in July, is still operating at a high level and hinted that he plans to remain in F1 for several years.
Aston Martin boss Mike Krack was asked about Alonso’s future within the team in light of the Spaniard’s recent statements; he said: “It’s nice to hear that, that he has said that several years, we would be happy with that.
“I think the main thing, and this is one of the big qualities, is the desire to be at the front, the motivation. And I think this is fully on with Fernando,” the Aston Martin boss added, speaking to F1’s Official Website.
“We don’t think so much about that, to be honest, as you guys know. We take it race by race, and we try to do well every race. It’s nice to hear that but we didn’t think too much about it yet. Let’s make it happen,” he added.
No predictions when Aston Martin will win a race
Alonso has won 32 grands prix over the course of his career that started in 2001, and peaked in 2005 and 2006 with two consecutive Drivers’ Titles, but he is now looking to achieve his 33rd win, a serious prospect given the position he finds himself in with Aston Martin and the handy AMR23 they are putting at his disposal.
An Aston Martin win is also demand from team Chairman Lawrence Stroll, whose son Lance is the other driver in the team alongside Alonso, and has been struggling to match his older teammate’s performance which means that the team’s first win will most probably be at the hands of Alonso.
Asked about that first Aston Martin win, Krack said: “I think that is very difficult to say.
“It’s such a relative competition that you are depending on the pace of others, you are depending on yourself, so I think it would be bold to say we will win this one, or that we are close to winning.
“We have to see,” he went on. “We have to be there at each opportunity that is coming and, if it comes, we have to be ready, and until then we have to work hard to keep ourselves in the position to be there.
“I will not make any predictions of when we’re going to win a race,” Krack concluded.