Possibly because of his arc, ending the dominance of F1’s hero Michael Schumacher, whenever someone said bad guy of the sport, Fernando Alonso came to everyone’s mind. Called ruthless and aggressive by everyone in the sport, the Spaniard is now on a mission to prove everyone wrong. And damn, he is doing a good job—better than anyone would have expected, as we saw during the Azerbaijan GP.

Moreover, known for having a blast relationship with his teammates, Fernando is doing a great job this time. Showing his immense maturity that has come with a plethora of experience, the two-time world champion first tipped Lance Stroll as a future F1 champion, promising to help him realize his potential. While in Baku, Alonso took a moment to suggest to the team that they advise Stroll to replicate a brake bias adjustment that he had made in his own car. This recommendation came after Stroll had attempted to communicate with Alonso through the team earlier in the race. He indicated that he would not attempt to overtake the Spaniard in order to optimize their respective performances. 

Reflecting on this, Alonso explains his decision to do so. As per the Race, the senior Aston Martin driver said, “If we feel something in the car during the race that we didn’t speak about and there’s something new that can help the other car, normally we communicate to the team.”

“Yeah, it has been like this. I know that I will be in the sport for a few more years but not many, and he will lead the team for the next 10 or 15 years, so I hope I can help Lance in the next few years.”

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Alonso is proving his money’s worth to his bosses. Certainly, the bet on him taking up that senior driver position in the team has worked out better than anyone would’ve expected. Furthermore, it has brought out a side of him that has now shut out his haters and improved his legacy by a lot.

Aston Martin is happy with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll

The pairing of Alonso and Stroll was on nobody’s bingo card last year. And to have it work out as well as this again wasn’t on anybody’s card either. Yet here we are as the team continues to grow with a fine balance of experience and youthfulness.

Looking at the cooperation and understanding between the drivers, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack appeared to be the happiest man. Terming the chemistry as “fantastic to see”, he said, “It shows the maturity of Lance and Fernando, the way they work together, the way they also act with each other,” while lauding them for not going up fighting against each other.

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With 87 points to their name after four rounds, Aston Martin is off to a start that they couldn’t have imagined. With more upgrades and challenges coming in, the true abilities of the drivers will be tested. And the spotlight will again be on Alonso as to how he steers the team through it.