Ex-Alpine boss says Fernando Alonso left to become ‘world champion’ but now he’s 18th

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Fernando Alonso made his intentions clear when he left Alpine for Aston Martin in 2023, but things have not gone to plan at all.

The two-time champion shocked everyone when he decided to leave Alpine at the end of 2022 and move to Aston Martin. Initially, it looked like a stroke of genius, as Alonso had his best season in a decade, finishing fourth with eight podiums.

But since then, Aston Martin have fallen back in development, with points finishes in 2024 and 2025 being irregular. Things have got even worse in 2026, as Adrian Newey’s design and Honda’s unreliable engine have left them glued to the back of the grid.

Fernando Alonso left Alpine to become ‘world champion’ with Aston Martin – he’s now 18th

The Spaniard has scored the team’s only point of the season, coming at the Monaco GP. Alonso and Lance Stroll have been as much as five seconds off the pace at some races – at Spa, the Aston Martin was even slower than a 1990s F1 car.

Alonso was seen ‘going crazy’ after the race, unleashing his fury over the situation with the team. He will be having deja vu from his McLaren-Honda days as he struggles to finish races, let alone score points.

His tenure at Aston Martin is not fulfilling his declaration to Alpine after he left the team. Ironically, Alonso has been linked with a return to Alpine, as Flavio Briatore is reportedly interested in bringing him back to Enstone.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2

Former Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer recalled on the High Performance Racing podcast that Alonso told him that he wanted to be world champion again after leaving the team – he is now 18th with Aston Martin.

“I remember when he left Alpine, we were celebrating finishing fourth at Alpine, right?” said Szafnauer. “Big celebration, and then when he left, he said, ‘I don’t want to drive for a team that celebrates finishing fourth.’

“That’s the competitor that he is. ‘I don’t want to drive for a team that is happy to be fourth, I want to be world champion.’

Was Fernando Alonso’s 2021 comeback worthwhile, or has it ultimately been a waste of time?

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“So now the question becomes: if the upgrade isn’t big enough, and what he said, he really meant, I can see him leaving.

“I can if that’s the case. Now the question is, does he go somewhere else? I mean, he can still pedal a car, even though it’s hard to tell because there’s only one person that you can compare him to because they’re so far off.

“But let’s see what happens in Hungary and then see what the rumours are, because there were rumours that Flavio wanted him at Alpine.”

Former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley then pointed out: “That’s still a very strong rumour, by the way, that Flavio, the Alpine door is open.”