Unafraid of Toto Wolff & Co.’s Progress, Lawrence Stroll Trusts His $240,000,000 Investment to Achieve Fernando Alonso’s Dream

Do you recall how Mercedes trusted Toto Wolff when he joined Mercedes at the end of 2012 and made the huge investment needed to make the team a title challenger? Well, Toto Wolff and Co. went on to win 8 consecutive constructor tiles and the rest is history. Lawrence Stroll seems to be doing the same as he makes a $240,000,000 investment. However, Mercedes has caught pace with the development, as they tend to run away from Aston Martin with a newfound pace. Nevertheless, the Aston Martin owner’s 1-word reply shows his trust to make Fernando Alonso’s dream come true. What is this dream and what did Lawrence Stroll say?

Mercedes brought new major upgrades to the Monaco GP. Despite the $135,000,000 cost cap ceiling, Toto Wolff and Co. brought almost a B-Spec car with a new philosophy behind it. Unfortunately, with Monaco being one of a kind circuit, the extent of the progression made could not be understood. However, coming to Spain, Mercedes shocked everyone with the blistering pace shown during the race as Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished P2 and P3. 

With Mercedes showing such great pace and further development of these upgrades still pending, one might think that Fernando Alonso’s dream of winning his 33rd GP has gone down the drain. However, the Aston Martin owner believes in the team. Lawrence Stroll invested around $240 million dollars in a new facility which includes a new factory and in-house state-of-the-art wind tunnel. The factory has just come online with the wind tunnel expected to arrive soon. 

A video was uploaded by @startonpole where the Aston Martin owner was asked whether he still believes in the 33rd, also known as Como 33. Como 33 is an online trend that suggests that Fernando Alonso’s 33rd win is coming soon. Lawrence Stroll, who brought the team up the ranks with his investment and hiring, said “yes,” as he walked away from the paddock. 

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However, none of this takes away from the job that Mercedes did to finally make the W14 somewhat competitive. However, all is not lost, as Fernando Alonso explained the struggles in Spain which might be track-specific. 

Fernando Alonso on the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, throwing a spanner regarding the setup 

Fernando Alonso finished P2 in the only representative practice session of the weekend, i.e. FP2. FP3 was hindered by changing weather and FP1 is all about finding rhythm. However, Alonso explained that the track threw a spanner at Aston Martin, as their predicted setup was nowhere near the actual setup that they ran. Hence, the team had to work a lot on the setup going back and forth to find a happy place.

According to Motorsport.com, Fernando Alonso said, “I think the track was a little bit not the best for us. From FP1, we were on a completely different set-up from what we predicted, so we had to work a lot during the weekend to be happy with the car, which was kind of new for us. We were always happy from FP1 [this year], while here we had to work a little bit more.”

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What do you think about Lawrence Stroll believing in his plan? Will Alonso win the 33rd race this season?