Fernando Alonso says he wants to help Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll grow into becoming a team leader in Formula 1.
Stroll is currently competing in his seventh F1 campaign, while Alonso is the most seasoned driver in the sport’s history, with 367 starts and counting to his name.
The duo paired up this year at Aston Martin following Alonso’s decision to depart Alpine at the end of 2022.
Alonso has enjoyed a dream start to life at the Silverstone-based squad, scoring a flurry of podiums in the opening rounds of the 2023 campaign.
The Spaniard has largely outperformed Stroll during the first half of the season, and currently sits 102 points ahead in the Drivers’ Championship.
Stroll’s seat is seen as safe at Aston Martin, as his father Lawrence took over ownership of the team midway through 2018, several months before Lance was signed to the squad.
Alonso, 42, admits that he doesn’t have long left in F1 – but says he hopes to fashion Stroll into a team leader before he departs the grid.
“I know what my role is,” Alonso told BBC Sport. “Try to help the team to grow in all these areas, try to help Lance as well in anything that I can bring to the team.
“Because I will race for a few more years but I don’t know how many – not so long. And he will race for many more years, and he has to lead the team into the future. So I am happy to help.”
Alonso denies that he has a tensioned-filled relationship with Stroll, but admitted that things would be different if the car was in a championship-winning position.
“I don’t think there is much more mystery on this,” Alonso added. “We have a good relationship now.
“We are not fighting for the championship. If we were fighting for the championship, maybe there would be less communication or a little bit more tension, between the team or drivers.
“But right now we have very clear goals and we work together in that direction.”
