Fernando Alonso makes Lance Stroll prediction after he leaves Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
Fernando Alonso has predicted Lance Stroll will become the leader of Aston Martin after the Spaniard leaves the cockpit.
Stroll may be in his sixth season with the Silverstone team but Alonso has undoubtedly been the senior figure since arriving from Alpine in 2023. However, the Spaniard is 17 years older than the Canadian and Alonso believes Stroll will one day lead the team.
Fernando Alonso backs Lance Stroll for future Aston Martin ‘team leader’ role
Since being team-mates, Alonso has outscored Stroll 239 points to 85 but the future of the team is with Stroll, considering his age, but also his relationship with father/team owner Lawrence Stroll.
Alonso, who signed a new deal to stay until 2026 earlier this year, has backed Stroll to one day be the “team leader” within the Aston Martin organisation.
“When you arrive in Formula 1, you feel this competitiveness in the team, in the sport, that is brutal, but you’re a little bit shy because you are twenty-something and your team-mates are normally older, they have more experience,” Alonso told the Times.
“Now I feel the opposite, I’m the oldest, I’m the one with more experience and I feel that responsibility on my shoulders, of leading the team and trying to help not only the engineers, but also Lance. I will be part of the team for many years, even when I am not driving, and Lance will lead this team in the future. I will always support him.”
Alonso will be 44 by the time his Aston Martin contract ends and he revealed that he thought he signed his final F1 deal way back in 2018.
“That’s what I was thinking when I was at Max’s age,” Alonso said of Verstappen’s prediction that he will not be racing into his 40s.
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“I remember it was back in 2007, I signed a contract with McLaren for three years after being world champion with Renault and I was 200 per cent sure that it was my last contract.
“[Then] I thought that it was my last season in 2018 and I said ‘bye bye’ to F1, thinking that it was enough for my career. I found, even when I decided to stop, I couldn’t.
“It’s something strange because we are privileged people, only 20 in the world driving Formula 1 cars, so it’s logical that you think you will love to do this as long as you are fast and you are happy but, at the same time, it’s taking away everything in your life that makes you happy.
“Some adjustments will be done, with my family coming to more races and this type of thing, to try and have fewer downsides.”
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