Aston Martin’s 2023 campaign very much resembles a roller coaster. The team was pulled to the top at the start with the AMR23, but after a fast start, the speed eventually bled off and the progress came to a standstill. Nonetheless, Fernando Alonso was the focal point and pulled the team through and almost grabbed P4 off McLaren. Zak Brown, the McLaren CEO has now come out to applaud the Spaniard. Is it a redemption arc for Alonso? Let’s have a look. 

Alonso and McLaren’s relationship hasn’t been the smoothest and that’s putting it in milder words. The Spaniard moved ships after winning the titles with Renault. However, the McLaren move turned out to be a disaster as then-rookie Lewis Hamilton went toe to toe. In the mid-2010s, after Fernando Alonso failed to secure a championship with Ferrari, he again moved the ship to McLaren. With Hamilton no longer on the Papaya team, it looked like it’d be a piece of cake.

However, while Alonso didn’t have any competition teammate-wise, the cars produced by the British team were essentially back-markers. McLaren’s decision to partner with Honda backfired massively. The same era also marks Alonso’s infamous “GP2 engine” remark. Alonso eventually gave up and retired prematurely only to come back stronger. 2023 has arguably been the best of Fernando that we’ve seen in the last decade. 

Speaking with Marca, Zak Brown acknowledged Alonso’s fantastic form. He said, “Throughout the year, the battle between the other competitors has been intense, which captivated Formula 1 fans around the world. It was also fantastic to see our former driver and two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso, prove that at 42 years old, age is no barrier to success, scoring six podiums in the first eight races.”

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Praise of this degree coming from the CEO of the team that he didn’t particularly have a great relationship with sounds like a huge win for Fernando Alonso. Considering Alonso’s form, any team would love to have Alonso at the moment. Truest redemption according to us. And while the relationship with McLaren might be mended with this statement, the eternal rivalry with Lewis Hamilton continues.

Ron Dennis blamed for the friction between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton

The Salaries of F1 drivers these days are something that drivers from a decade ago could only dream about. $50 million a year is like a staple for any championship material driver. Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Charles Leclerc all fall under this category. Nonetheless, back in the 2000’s, to get away from paying what was considered a huge sum salary, Ron Dennis favored Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking with Pitdebrief.com, Chris Hessey, Alonso’s former No.1 mechanic said, “Ron Dennis was fed up paying huge salaries to get a good driver. So he wanted to create a driver on his own. He paid for his education, and his Junior Formula racing. He paid for it all the way to get into Formula One.”

Talking about Dennis favoring Hamilton, Hessey added, “When he [Hamilton] came into McLaren alongside Fernando, I think that’s when Fernando realized there are manipulative things going on behind the scenes. It was all manipulative to make Hamilton be better, because Ron Dennis had paid for all his Junior Formula, and he wanted to create his own driver. That’s where the friction came from”

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