Johnny Herbert: At 41, Fernando has still ‘got it’ — that rare driver awareness

Fernando Alonso arriving at Aston Martin, at 41? You only have to look at his sprint race first laps last year to see he’s still ‘got it’: that driver awareness, a skill that is quite rare, is still present. He still knows where to place himself, where he needs to be, and his race pace has been very good. We didn’t see the full potential last year because of the reliability issues he suffered at Alpine, but without those he would have scored more heavily.

From my experience, racecraft doesn’t disappear with age. When I left F1 and did my sports car stuff, the racer skill was still there. As I grew older, there were specific issues with my old foot injuries, but beyond that the first thing I started to struggle with was qualifying. Then mistakes in a race situation started to creep in, not so much in F1 but in my subsequent sports car drives. We haven’t seen any sign of that from Alonso at this stage.

“It’s not fair to slag off your team. It’s never good for morale”

From what we’ve seen, he could go on for another few years yet. Crucially he’s got the hunger that drives you forward. Some people hang on, but the desire isn’t really there any more. That’s not the case with Alonso, and this is his last chance. McLaren and Alpine didn’t work out. This has the potential to work but it’s far from a given that it will.

He reminds me, in terms of mentality and drive, of Nigel Mansell. OK, those Williams cars were damn good back then, but Nigel absolutely drove the wheels off them. He never backed off and he was always hungry, even in a dominant car when he didn’t need to push that much. For Nigel, it was about winning a world title; with Fernando it’s trying to get a third – still. Some have thought, myself included, he’s not going to be able to achieve that because he’s not in the right car or team. Is there still time?

If so, there’s a lot of work to be done at Aston Martin. He’s very aware of that. There’s a lot of hunger within the company too to move it forward and Lawrence Stroll has always said it’s a five-year programme to get themselves in a position of winning races and a world title. Fernando will be a very important part of the next steps. Aston Martin needs to start winning races. But Alonso is aware, as we all are, that the team is not there yet. There’s a factory being built as we speak, but it will be a couple of years before the new wind tunnel comes online. Still, how much can be achieved this year and next?

Answering that is tough because it’s not just about what happens within Aston Martin. We should expect a rebound from Mercedes this year, we know Red Bull will be strong even though the team has lost some of its wind tunnel time and Ferrari will be in the mix. Aston Martin’s target has to be to get in a position to start worrying the top three. Then again, Alpine has taken a lot of people from Mercedes, so maybe they will move forward. And where will McLaren be? It’s never just about what you do, it’s about what the others do too. Fernando knows that. He also knows the mentality that works and he needs that to kick in.

In terms of Fernando and Lawrence Stroll, will there be fireworks? Expectations will be high from both sides. If a step up doesn’t happen there will be some unhappiness. But rather than fireworks between Lawrence and Fernando, they might well be directed at the team, as we saw towards the end of Alonso’s time at Alpine, after we knew he was leaving.

I don’t like those mind games when drivers put public pressure on teams. It’s not my cup of tea. I always think it’s not fair to slag off your team who are working as hard as they possibly can. Running them down is never good for morale, that’s for sure. But that’s the edginess you get with Alonso. It’s why he became a two-time world champion – but it’s also why he hasn’t got more than two. He’s alienated himself from other teams, because of that disruption he brings. That’s why Toto Wolff never wanted him at Mercedes.

Teams like harmony. Then again perhaps that attitude is what a team like Aston Martin needs, rather than “that’s OK, maybe it’ll be better next time or next year”. There are times you have to play hardball. The first six months of this season, perhaps less, will be telling about where they are. Overall, Alonso’s character will benefit Aston Martin – the positives should outweigh the negatives. I hope so, because I’d hate his career to end on a sour note.

Johnny Herbert was a Formula 1 driver from 1989-2000 and a Le Mans winner in 1991. He is a regular contributor to Sky Sports F1
Follow Johnny on Twitter @johnnyherbertf1