Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack has praised Fernando Alonso’s passion towards Formula 1, citing that his constant enthusiasm is comparable to a rookie driver.
Except for a two-year sabbatical between 2019-20, Alonso has been competing in F1 since 2003 and will embark upon his 20th season when the 2024 campaign begins.
Alonso traded Alpine for Aston Martin the previous winter and capitalised on the Silverstone squad’s resurgence to register six podiums across the opening eight races.
Although the team’s competitiveness would dip, Alonso made two more rostrum appearances to finish fourth in the standings and labelled it his best season since 2012.
As Aston Martin continues building towards competing for titles, Krack recognises the contribution Alonso’s determination has made in driving the entire side forward.
“A lot of drivers go to smaller teams, and they try to take what they can through to the end of their career,” Krack told Speedcafe. “This is not what we have seen with Fernando. Actually, it’s completely the opposite.
“We had a driver where you would have thought it was his first season. He was full of energy, not only driving us on but also driving himself on.
“He really led by example, being the first in the office. You arrive in the morning, and he is sitting there. He would (jokingly) say, ‘Good afternoon guys’.
“This leading by example has affected the team, pushed the team, and we have a much better team now than 12 months ago.
“Obviously, this is also credit to others, not only to Fernando, but this has made us improve much, much more than we would have if he was not here.”
Krack believes it would be unfair to compare Alonso’s commitment and drive to Sebastian Vettel, who elected to retire at the end of 2022 after two seasons with Aston Martin.
“Sebastian was obviously at the end of his,” he added. “He had made it his choice that he was going to stop.
“For Fernando, it was a different situation. He saw it as another challenge.”
Having opened last season as Red Bull’s main contender, a series of “side effects” from upgrades derailed Aston Martin’s momentum and saw it drop down to fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Krack has highlighted how a driver of Alonso’s experience and expertise is a positive in such situations as it leaves a team in no doubt about its car’s capabilities.
“It is something we are aware of,” he said. “When you have this high level of driving, and this high level of motivation and push, and when you see the record he had in quali three, always bringing the car there, you do not have these questions – ‘Can the car go faster?’
“It’s very good for the team, and it builds also a lot of trust from the team to the driver and vice versa, and the drivers feel that.
“Drivers are very, very sensitive sensors. They can feel the smallest vibrations in the team.
“I think Fernando feels very comfortable in this team because he feels this trust we have, and nobody’s ever doubting when he does something, and that works both ways.”
While Alonso consistently maximised the potential of the AMR23, team-mate Lance Stroll struggled and trailed six places and 130 points behind the illustrious Spaniard.
But having applauded the pair’s “mature” dynamic, Krack contends Stroll “learned a huge amount from Fernando” regarding “how to manage difficult situations” during 2023.
“You always look at what your team-mate is doing, how he’s behaving, how he’s handling things,” Krack explained.
“But we have all learned a great deal – how we have to go on with things, to stick to what we know, and not trying to invent things, but sticking to our data, to the analysis, and moving on from there.
“And they are great team-mates. They talk a lot – how to improve here, how to improve there, how do you drive here, how do you drive there.
“This is complimentary to all the driving analysis that we also do, so I think they have really helped each other, and again, as a team, with our drivers, we are much much stronger now than we were 12 months ago.”
