According to team manager Mike Krack, Fernando Alonso possesses the “speed, hunger, motivation, and experience” to help Aston Martin take the next step, but things might get challenging if they do not provide a fast enough vehicle for the former world champion.
In 2023, Alonso will move from Renault-owned Alpine to Aston Martin to replace four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, who is retiring at the conclusion of the current season.
“It will be challenging for us. Normally, drivers with this experience, they do not have this desire to win … especially if they have won already,” Krack told the BBC in an interview published on Tuesday.
“Fernando has this unique combination of speed, hunger, motivation and experience. For us, it makes the perfect candidate. The downside could be that if the car we deliver is just not good enough, then we know it gets difficult.
“We think having someone like Fernando is really, really important to make the next step as a team,” Krack added.
This season, Aston Martin has achieved eleven top-ten finishes, with Vettel’s sixth-place finish in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix being the team’s best performance. Six races remain on the schedule, and Aston is presently tenth of of ten teams in the constructors’ standings.
“You need to learn to manage champions, which we already did with Sebastian,” Krack added. “Because these drivers are very demanding, they are quite difficult to manage.
“I would not even say Sebastian is that difficult to manage if you are transparent, honest and straight. And I think the same goes for Fernando.
“He knows very well when he comes here that we will probably not win the first race together. But he can be assured we give it everything and we will listen to what he has to say…”