Didn’t Fernando Alonso tell the truth to Alpine ahead of signing for Aston Martin? Statements by team boss Otmar Szafnauer indicate this.
It has been clear since the beginning of the week that Fernando Alonso will drive for Aston Martin from the coming season. The racing team announced this on Monday. According to media reports, the Spaniard was also very far in poker with his current employer Alpine in negotiations about extending the contract. In the end, however, the veteran apparently changed his mind at short notice.
In any case, Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer only found out about the signature of the Spanish Formula 1 driver via the press release from Aston Martin, where Alonso was presented on Monday as the successor to Sebastian Vettel. Szafnauer was actually still confident of being able to keep Alonso until the very end.
“Of course, when you’re out in the paddock, there’s always some speculation. For example, I heard that Aston Martin is interested in him. And when you find out, you have to assume that negotiations are already underway,” he explained 57-year-old opposite the portal “The Race”.
He finally noticed various “signs” that Alonso spoke to the competing racing team. “They came out of the same motorhome at the same time and all that.” But that didn’t bother him.
“I was sure that we were close to an extension with him, even if there were negotiations with other teams, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Szafnauer continued.
“I was sure Fernando Alonso would continue with us”
After the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend, he asked Alonso what his future was like, and he replied: “No, no, I haven’t signed anything yet.”. He was all the more surprised, Szafnauer continued, that he had to find out about the confirmation of the 41-year-old’s signature from Aston Martin’s press release.
He was actually “very sure that Fernando would continue with us,” added the team boss, because they were “very close to finalizing the agreement”. Only small points would have been missing. Both sides classified the new working paper as “fair”. “But after that he must have decided he wanted to do something else,” Szafnauer concluded.
According to media reports, Alonso did not like that Alpine “only” offered him a one-year contract with a team-side option for another season, while Aston Martin lured him with what they said was a “multi-year” contract. That’s why the 41-year-old probably ended up signing with the British racing team.