“His validity, roots with the fans and his experience”: Why Fernando Alonso chose to stay at Aston Martin despite the interest of Red Bull and Mercedes | ANALYSIS

Before Schumacher, the record holder in the category was Juan Manuel Fangio. The “chueco de Balcarce” won five world titles (1951 and 1954-1957), competed in 51 races where he obtained 24 victories and 35 podiums. After winning everything and having no competition, he retired at 47 years old. The average retirement age for a driver in F1 since the seventies is 38 years old. It is notable that the last years of these drivers tend to be in teams without prominence, where the team values ​​the feedback that an experienced driver can provide in terms of strategies, adjustments, configuration and development of the cars.

At an age where many drivers are already retired, this season we have one who is taking an unusual role in the transfer rumors with a view to 2025.

His validity on the track, his roots with the fans (with the consequent impact on marketing that this means) and his experience developing vehicles make Fernando’s age, instead of being a disadvantage, one of his main virtues. Tired, perhaps, of the main drivers with divot attitudes, Fernando represents the guarantee of good results without dramas or outbursts. Furthermore, his numbers speak for themselves: He has participated in 380 races, defending the colors of six teams, with 32 victories, 106 podiums, 22 pole positions and 24 fastest laps.. As if that were not enough, he has shown, driving a docile Aston Martin last season, that he can achieve good results even with a less competitive team.

Aston Martin knows that the only way to retain Alonso is to provide him with a competitive car. When Fernando is happy, everything goes well, but when he has a biased team and does not perform, he can even become a difficult figure to handle. Aware of this, and with the tolerance of a pilot over forty years old, he could turn his retirement from the category into a tortuous path.

While everyone was talking about Fernando’s future, the Asturian closed with his team. He has prioritized peace. “Staying has been an easy decision to make. Things haven’t changed much since what I said at the car’s presentation last February. I had to be sure if I wanted to continue in F1 or not and know what my commitment was. And my love for Formula 1 and Aston Martin was very clear to me, that did not change. I wanted to talk to myself, because to be one hundred percent in this category, you have to give up everything. And once I made the decision to continue, after the Australian Grand Prix or so, it was clear that Aston Martin was going to be my priority, as I said in February. I didn’t doubt if I should continue with the team but in the category. Today I am clear that I want to stay”. There is nothing like peace of mind during retirement.