Alpine team manager Otmar Szafnauer is confident the team will maintain a good relationship with Fernando Alonso for the rest of the season, despite the fact that the Spanish classic has already announced that he will continue his career at Aston Martin.
For a long time it seemed that Fernando Alonso would extend his contract with Alpine – which is why the news came as a thunderbolt out of the blue, that the Spaniard would be a driver for Aston Martin in 2023. With this, he surprised his current team as well, because they expected that they would continue negotiations about the possibility of continuing together during the holiday summer.
How much they did not expect to replace Alonso is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the team manager, Otmar Szafnauer, admitted shortly after the Spaniard announced that he had learned from the press that his driver had signed a contract with one of his rivals.
All this may indicate that there will be some tension between the stable and the driver over the remaining nine weekends. At least according to the most pessimistic scenarios, the team manager does not believe that the relationship between the two parties will deteriorate. “I’m not worried about the remaining races at allSzafnauer stated firmly.
“Our goals are quite clear. We want to finish at least 4th in the constructors’ championship. I think 3rd place would be a very big step. Fernando is also aware of that goal and is a professional rider” It is to explain.
“Everyone can see that once he puts on his helmet, he wants to do his best, even if it’s not about winning. Sitting in the race car, the only thing on his mind is to finish in the best possible position in the race, in the championship. No. He still has that drive, he’s here to do it, and that’s why I’m here”— highlighted.
For the second half of the season, the team manager is hoping for better results, as their car can become more competitive. “I want to get the most out of this team, and this year our improvements will come especially quickly. We have another package coming up at the spa, and we’ll be developing the car until the end of the year. Fernando understands that too. He and Esteban (Ocon) will work hard to maximize the team’s performance. .I do not doubt it.” – Tell.
Finally, he was also asked how he felt about Alonso’s performance at Aston Martin. Safinour responded to this question diplomatically, stressing that it would be premature to “predict” this. “He’s a great, great competitor. He’s among the best people I’ve ever worked with. He’s still competing at a high level. Still fast and good in tough conditions that brings out his racing skills. We’ve seen this year as well. If this continues for another three years, I’ll be back.” It would be great for him and Aston Martin. I don’t know when the momentum will let me down. I can’t predict it because there are so many factors to take into account to predict it. We’ll see.” The answer came.
Fernando Alonso (Photo: XPB)
