“So from that point of view, I think we are very transparent, him towards us, and us towards him. And so there is no bad feelings.”
Vettel told Stroll of his final decision only last Wednesday, and the deal was thus obviously concluded over the race weekend.
It’s been announced as multi-year, and thus it’s at least one more than Alpine proposed, and I think we can assume that it’s for mega money, and more than he could have expected from the French manufacturer.
Whether or not Aston or Alpine is more competitive over the next two years remains to be seen – but it’s fair to say that Alonso knows that neither are going to win him a third world championship.
He was an obvious choice for Stroll. With due respect to the other candidates, the likes of Hülkenberg, Albon and De Vries were not going to help sell many Aston Martins or bring sponsors charging, other than the odd personal connection.
Schumacher was a bit more interesting on that front, but is he good enough? And how would such a high-profile youngster mix with Lance Stroll?
Alonso brings huge attention to Aston Martin and will be a brilliant ambassador, and like Vettel he can serve as a big brother of sorts to Stroll. Having said that we all know that Fernando Alonso’s priority is Fernando Alonso – that’s how you get to where he is, of course – and it remains to be seen how the relationship with the son of his boss unfolds.
You might think this all plays into the hands of Alpine as they can now slot Piastri in, without the PR damage associated with in effect dropping Fernando and being seen to end his career. In addition Piastri will be massively cheaper.
However, things may not be so clear cut. It’s been evident for a while that Piastri’s manager Mark Webber has been looking further afield.
The initial plan as agreed with Alpine was to slot him into Williams for 2023, and then bring him back to Enstone in 2024.
However multiple sources say that Webber is instead steering Piastri towards McLaren, potentially as a replacement for his old buddy Daniel Ricciardo.
As he has made clear, Ricciardo does have an ongoing contract. Exactly how that arrangement pans out, and if McLaren has to pay him off to walk away, is another question.