Fernando Alonso is convinced that the Aston Martin team he joined this year will be a Formula 1 winner in the future.
Their 2023 car was launched on Monday in a new factory set to be completed in the summer, with hopes of a big improvement this season.
Alonso said he “thought there was an opportunity” to eventually win races and win a third title with the team.
“I don’t think so this year – I’m being honest,” Alonso said.
“I cannot tell anyone that this year we will fight for victories.
“But I want to have a good car to start and maybe in the second half of the year we can get close if there is an opportunity, the changing conditions, that when the opportunity comes we don’t lose it.
“We have more opportunities to fight for wins and podiums next year if we have a good baseline this year.”
The two-time champion, who is 41 and entering his 20th F1 season, added: “This project is very ambitious and has a lot to prove. I know that my driving time is not limited, but I will try to make this process as short as possible and help the team as much as I can.”
Aston Martin is in the midst of a restructuring process initiated by owner Lawrence Stroll when he bought the team in 2020, which the Canadian billionaire businessman wants to make a champion.
Since then, Stroll has doubled its workforce to nearly 800 employees, spent millions on a new factory that includes a new wind tunnel, and hired big-name engineers from front-line teams, including new technical director Dan Fellows from Red Bull. and his deputy Eric Blandin of Mercedes.
Aston Martin started last season with the second slowest car, but by the end of the year had lost sixth place in the constructors’ championship.
Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll, Lawrence’s son, said of the goals for this season: “The goal is to consistently fight for good points every weekend, fight for the podium every now and then. It’s a good goal.”
Alonso said: “I am very motivated and happy with what I see. This team is not satisfied with fourth place, it is not satisfied with third, it is not satisfied with second. That’s what I get from everyone here.
“At the same time, they do not give unrealistic expectations. They know where we are. We know that last year only three teams were on the same lap as the leader; Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes were all one lap behind.
“We know that such gaps in Formula 1 are very difficult to overcome in two or three months. But let’s see if we can have a good season, enjoy and have good reliability and make sure the team grows.
“I’m expecting a few difficult races at first until we figure out where the car is, what the set-up window is, what we have to work with.
“The first five or six races at Alpine it was very difficult for me to feel the front end, the different power steering, the settings, all these things, this year we only have a day and a half of testing in Bahrain.
“So I know I won’t be 100% in Bahrain or Jeddah; maybe not in Australia. It’s a little unfair. It’s the only sport where you practice for a day and a half and then play in the World Cup.”
Alonso left Alpine at the end of last year because he was convinced by Aston Martin’s potential, and the Spaniard said he “trusts the project” and believes Stroll will achieve his goals.
“I’m very demanding in everything I do,” Alonso said. “I expect a lot from the people I work with. I give 100% and I expect the same from the people I work with.
“From the first day at Aston Martin, I felt the same values of the people around me.
“We have the leadership of Lawrence, who has been successful in many different projects, and I have no doubt that Formula 1 will not change anything. Sooner or later he will succeed.
“New people, Dan Fellows and Eric [Бландін], the best people at each of their competitors, Aston Martin went and convinced them to join. So there’s something special going on with this team.”
Despite turning 42 in July, Alonso looks slimmer than last season and said he is “healthier than ever” as his winter hasn’t been disrupted, unlike the last two.
He broke his jaw in a bike crash before returning to F1 in 2021 after a two-year absence “and couldn’t move for three weeks” and “last winter I had to have plates and stuff off my face. So, this is the first winter I could properly prepare (after his return).”
Fellowes said the team tried to be “bold and aggressive” with the new car, which features heavily cut side pods and a redesigned nose and front wing.
“We wanted to make sure it would create a really good platform for growth,” he said.
