Aston Martin’s meteoric rise up the Formula One grid this season is a reality check through the sport, forcing rival teams and the entire Formula One community to face a harsh reality, according to the analysis of Alpine boss Laurent Rossi.
Once languishing in the seventh place last year, the Silverstone-based team, owned by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, has undergone a remarkable transformation, currently sitting in a formidable third position after a stint at second, behind the dominant Red Bull and Mercedes, the former champions.
Notably, the seasoned 41-year-old driver Fernando Alonso, who made the daring switch from Renault-owned Alpine to Aston Martin at the end of last year, has displayed remarkable prowess, stepping onto the podium an impressive six times in just eight races, securing two well-deserved second-place finishes.
Alonso leads the charge in the “best of the rest” category, positioned behind the unstoppable force of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez in the drivers’ standings.
Meanwhile, Alpine, who finished a respectable fourth overall last year and had high hopes of bridging the gap to the top three, currently finds themselves in the fifth place, with their talented French duo Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly securing the ninth and tenth spots, respectively.
Speaking candidly to reporters at Alpine’s Enstone factory following a strategy presentation, Rossi highlighted the profound impact of Aston Martin’s unexpected ascent, stating, “I think it was a reality check for Mercedes, Ferrari, us. For everyone. For the whole sport. We were comfortable thinking we were on the rise, and everyone else was, and suddenly a guy is leapfrogging all of us.”
The seismic shift in Aston Martin’s fortunes can be attributed not only to their acquisition of key technical personnel from Red Bull, notably technical director Dan Fallows, and their collaboration with engine providers Mercedes, but also to their bold departure from established norms and conventions. Rossi alluded to the stagnant nature of an industry that has long adhered to a set trajectory, asserting, “It’s an industry that has been doing more or less the same thing for so long that it’s become a norm that it takes that much time to get there. It’s true for everything, for road cars. They (Aston) have changed a couple of things, faster, differently, they took a bit more risk and it paid off.”
Drawing inspiration from Aston Martin’s success, Rossi acknowledged the need for Alpine to follow suit, urging them to expedite their processes for implementing upgraded parts, take calculated risks, and leverage their status as a works team. The previous year, Alpine embarked on an ambitious 100-race plan, equivalent to four or five years, with the ultimate aim of contending for titles.
Reassessing their approach, Rossi explained, “People start scratching their heads a bit more thinking that maybe we’re being a bit too conservative here, maybe we’re engaging in too many validations, maybe we can shorten the process here and there. You realize that over time you’ve built so many extra cautious steps because you address the problem one day and say to yourself, ‘Okay, next time, we do this all the time.’ Now you look at it and with hindsight, perhaps this is unnecessary. So, we are revisiting a lot of things.”
