Mid-table F1 team found one of their drivers ‘incredibly demanding’ during pre-season testing

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Fernando Alonso arrived at Aston Martin last winter from Alpine with one thing on his mind and during pre-season testing, he was demanding perfection from his crew.

There were a few surprised fans within Formula 1 when it was announced that Fernando Alonso replaced fellow former world champion Sebastian Vettel last year.

A report from The Athletic has shared more details about the Spaniard’s arrival at the Silverstone-based team.

You don’t win a Formula 1 world championship unless you and your team are at the top of your game.

Alonso and Renault in sync in 2005 and 2006 when he secured his titles and it seems unbelievable that he hasn’t won a championship since.

Bad timing meant he joined F1 powerhouses like Ferrari and McLaren at inopportune moments.

Alonso has been stuck on 32 race wins for over a decade now and it’s no surprise he was so demanding in testing to try and finally add to that tally.

The work he did behind the scenes clearly paid off with Alonso securing six podiums in the first eight races.

Unfortunately, the team couldn’t sustain that level of performance against their rivals but all the signs are there that the team know what they’re doing to develop a very quick car.

Alonso was incredibly demanding during pre-season testing

The report from The Athletic suggests that Alonso wasted no time trying to get to grips with the car.

Between leaving Alpine and joining Aston Martin, he was first on track during pre-season testing to assess his new car.

As pre-season testing continued, Alonso was ‘incredibly demanding’ of his team to make sure they were in the best place possible heading into the 2023 season.

Aston Martin’s performance director Tom McCullough described him as an ‘extra, very experienced, good engineer’, which shows just how much he’s learned about developing a car during his time in Formula 1.

They also said that although Vettel was an incredible driver, the German ‘lacked the same all-out drive’ as Alonso when he arrived.

Such is Alonso’s reputation within the sport, even legends like Adrian Newey have admitted their regret at not working with him.

Alonso’s race engineers were blown away as soon as he joined the team and he’ll need to inspire another winter of improvement like that this year if he wants to try and secure that elusive race win.