You have to go back a long, long time to see a Fernando Alonso so happy. In fact, this season hand in hand with Alpine many more leftovers than lights have been seen, but in his debut with Aston Martin everything has changed.
In the Abu Dhabi test at the Yas Marina circuitthe double world champion of Formula 1 He has been the driver who has completed the most laps, 97, marking the third fastest time in the morning.
After getting out of a single-seater without advertising and dressed in a completely black jumpsuit due to image commitments, the Spaniard has not been able to hide his happiness with a car that still has a lot to change.
“I am happily surprised with everything. But this year’s car It is not close to what we will take next year eitherit’s not to gain confidence because it’s going to be a continuation next year”, he pointed out in statements to ‘Ace’.
In fact, he pointed out that the pace is similar to that of the Alpine: “They had a good weekend here, Sebastian (Vettel) qualified ahead of me so I don’t think the Aston Martin was much different from the Alpine in the grand prize. And here I felt the same, a very competitive car. Both Aston Martins finished in the points on Sunday so it’s a good car in any case.”
Such has been his effusiveness that he has stated that he is optimistic “above 100%”: “Now I am much more optimistic. When I signed for Aston Martin I was 90% happy. When they began to improve and finished the season well, I was happy to 100%. Now, after the test, I am above 100%“.
“I have the same enthusiasm as always, or perhaps more, because I know that it is a new project, maybe the last of my career, and that has a very large investment. It is a historical brand, and It’s like when I entered the Ferrari project, you know that it is an iconic brand in the motor world, and now it is Aston Martin. So all these projects have an added bonus, the day went well and I’m very happy”, he explained.
“I’m very happy, I can’t get too confident because everything will change in next year’s carbut the sensations today in the garage with the people, the potential of the team, the talent that I see in the engineering room… it’s impressive. I’m very, very happy right now“, has added.
“Nothing particularly surprised me, the car behaves well. We had concerns about steering feel and power steering, in Alpine I had to do a lot of adjustments but it’s a good surprise that I’m comfortable with the Aston Martin system.”