Will the next great era of a team in Formula 1 be green? Aston Martin has slowly been brewing the cocktail of success, says former champion Fernando Alonso.
With their James Bond-style presentation at the big Formula 1 presentation in London on Tuesday, Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin made what was arguably the most stylish and perhaps best appearance of all the teams: if the Spaniard has his way, by 2026 at the latest, they will be competing not only off the track but also, and above all, on it.
With huge investments from team owner and billionaire Lawrence Stoll, Aston Martin finally wants to reach the top of Formula 1. With the new and ultra-modern team factory in Silverstone, and the signing of design guru Adrian Newey, quite a few experts believe the green team is capable of making the leap, because at least on paper, the team now has everything it needs for a successful era.
Alonso also thinks so, which is why he signed a long-term contract with Aston Martin last year: “If you want to dominate, everything has to come together, you need all the right ingredients in the right place,” Alonso knows after over 20 years in Formula 1: “But even if you have that opportunity, there are still no guarantees – nor any way of predicting what will happen in 2026.”
Alonso: “No guarantees – but all the tools are in place”
However, you have to make sure that you have “all the tools in place”: “You need the facilities, the right people, the dedication, the partners to share the vision and the goal of winning.”
With regard to his racing team, the 43-year-old says that the situation now looks positive: “We have Honda with us for 2026, we have Aramco, we have the factory and the people – including the new ones, as well as existing personnel in the team, who are very talented and committed to success.”
Aston Martin absolutely COOKED F175LIVE @AstonMartinF1 pic. twitter.com/aPq0JXDJe0
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Alonso believes: “It seems like we have added all the ingredients that may have been missing from the organization two, five or seven years ago. So yes, if you had asked me whether we would have a chance to dominate the sport without the facilities and the factory, I would have said that we have very little chance.” The same applies to the new wind tunnel and so on.
“But now we have more,” Alonso is pleased to report. ”Everything is an advantage and an aid. So yes, that’s the hope, that’s the goal,” he says, with a view to the big player – and big spender – Aston Martin achieving dominance. ‘We’re all very keen to put Aston Martin in a great position for the future,’ Alonso says. Stroll’s investment leaves him in absolutely no doubt on that score.
