Fernando Alonso’s third place at the Bahrain Grand Prix last week with Aston Martin, in his debut with the British team, has not left anyone indifferent. Podium 99th for the Asturian, who has surprised many, worried many others, and pleased the entire world. A two-time world champion, mistreated by his own bad decisions, who aims to rise from his ashes in the house where whoever was his great rival, Sebastian Vettelfinished his degree last year.
Fernando Alonso replaced the outgoing four-time world champion at Aston Martin, as the German, now retired, did in 2015 at Ferrari With the spanish. And so, by fate, he let a car pass, the AMR23, which he promises like never before in the hands of the great opponent of his race. However, that rivalry turned into admiration over time, as evidenced by the goodbyes that both gave each other when they respectively left the ‘Great Circus’, and who knows the possible dream duo that the world has missed with them.
Be that as it may, the last proof of that friendship that emerged from the battle was explained by Mikey Brown, Fernando Alonso’s current chief mechanic, in an interview with the specialized media ‘PitStop’. In it, one of the protagonists of Alonso’s dream debut with the AMR23, celebration included, revealed that the very Sebastian Vettel contacted his former team As soon as he achieved that podium thanks to the driver from Oviedo in the opening race of the 2023 F1 season.
“‘Seb’ got along well with everyone on the team, not just me. The thing is, I sent a message on sundayafter the race, and it was shown very happy for us. Getting this podium was not a product of luck in my modest opinion. It was a deserved podium. We were able to catch Mercedes and Ferrari and pass them on the track. It’s okay that Leclerc dropped out, but even so it was a solid podium”, highlighted the mechanic closest to Alonso at the moment.
Brown, who held the same position that he currently holds alongside Vettel last year, was enthusiastic about the words of his former teammate, and of course because of how competitive the AMR23 has been from the beginning: “It is noted that it is a well balanced car and it looks good. When that happens with a single-seater, it is normal for it to be fast. The times don’t lie. You never know what the other teams are doing, but we set good times in tests and carried that into the race.”
Alonso’s chief mechanic celebrates his birthday this year seventh season in the British team, and has gone through different phases of the same team in recent years; from Force India to the current Aston Martin, going through the ephemeral Racing Point. He accumulates a not inconsiderable baggage, but without a doubt his greatest pride and privilege has been having worked with two champions such as Vettel and Alonso.
This is how he recognizes it, in fact, in the interview: “It is incredible how they take advantage of each session and how they show their wisdom in each comment. They shine outside and inside the track. For example, what Fernando did in Bahrain with those overtaking the Mercedes is amazing “, he has broken down.
Regarding Alonso in particular, the Silverstone-based frame mechanic has also highlighted what he has contributed to the development of the AMR23. “We already had a lot of feedback from him in the Abu Dhabi 2022 testwhere he got into the Aston Martin for the first time”, he recalled, and it is that the Spanish driver has always specialized, among many other things, in knowing how to read the operation and needs of each single-seater like nobody else that he has driven
Lastly, regarding the possibility of Vettel returning to F1Brown did not want to rule out anything, relying in fact on Alonso himself, who returned to F1 after leaving it in 2018. In addition, Heppenheim’s will barely be 36 years old this 2023, and I could take as an example precisely Alonso who returned even more veteran, to become the most experienced and ‘oldest’ on the grid in an enviable state of form.
Fernando took a couple of sabbaticals (he competed in other disciplines) to later return to the ‘Great Circus’ at the hands of Alpine, and Vettel could do the same, for which Brown regrets not yet having the German driver, in what could have been a memorable duo: “I would love ‘Seb’ to come back. What has happened must have left a bittersweet aftertaste. You must have thought: “It could have been me.” But at the same time he is happy for everyone. Be that as it may, Vettel can return. You just have to see what Alonso has done. At 41 years old he has been able to get back on the drawer“.
