Fernando Alonso has been described as “a big motivation ball” by Lawrence Stroll following the two-time F1 champion’s arrival at Aston Martin.
Alonso has been a revelation since joining Aston Martin from Alpine over the winter, scoring four third-place finishes in five grands prix and proving to be the nearest challenger to Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
It all comes after Alonso was pursued by Stroll last summer after Sebastian Vettel informed the Canadian billionaire he would be leaving at the end of the season, leading to negotiations that took just 48 hours to complete.
“It was never an ambition (to sign Alonso) until we decided to part ways with Sebastian, and then it was very apparent to me Fernando was the driver I wanted,” said Stroll, speaking to this writer in an interview for The New York Times.
“Actually, there wasn’t even a second choice. Should have been, I guess, in hindsight, but I was then quite determined to get Fernando, for several reasons.
“His talent – he is clearly one of the greatest drivers to ever be in Formula 1; his motivation, for whatever reason, has never been higher.
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“He and I did speak when I bought the team (then Force India), but it wasn’t the right time, and we had an agreement with Sergio (Perez) to continue.
“We stayed in contact. When I spoke to him, he said, ‘Listen, I can bring something to this team in my last few years I’m going to drive and hopefully have some sort of role within Aston Martin for many years to come after when I stop driving’.
“When he said that, I did not need a lot of convincing.”
Aston Martin ahead of expectations
Just two months shy of his 42nd birthday, Alonso has so far proven that in one of the most physically demanding sports, age is no barrier to success.
With Aston Martin surprising all in F1 with its AMR23 this year after finishing seventh in last year’s constructors’ championship, the Spanish driver has only added to the intrigue and expectation of what is possible.
Unsurprised by the calibre of performance Alonso has so far delivered, Stroll added: “These guys are gladiators.
“The conditioning he has kept himself in physically, mentally, and his motivation levels are higher than ever.
“He’s absolutely determined to win, whether it’s in the gym, the simulator, working with the engineers.
“The guy is just a big motivation ball. He’s picking everybody up, saying ‘Come on, we’re gonna win, we’re gonna win’, and we are going to and we’re doing it.
“We’re sitting second in the world championship today, and I didn’t think we’d be sitting second in the world championship.
“Our realistic goal this year was to comfortably be fourth, fighting occasionally to be the third-best team. This is ahead of our expectations.
“But I couldn’t be happier with how we’ve come out of the box.”
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