The two-time world champion’s bombshell move to Aston Martin - announced last summer - tooꦇk most of the paddock by surprise, including Alpine, who had been expecting Alonso to sign a new deal.

In terms of outright competitiveness, it appears to be a backward step, with Alonso leaving fourth-placed Alpine for a team that struggled to seventh in last year’s constructors’ champio🎉nship. 

But here’s four reasons why we expect Alonso to fare better at what will🎃 be his third different team in his last four seasons competing in F1. 

Driving at his best 

Alonso believes he ended his two years at Alpine having ﷽returned to the best form of his career following a brief stint racing in other categories in 2019✅ and 2020 amid a hiatus from F1. 

Following a breakthrough podium in Qatar at the end of 2021, Alonso carried his improved form into the second campaign of his comeback. Superb drives to fifth at Silverstone, Spa and♔ Sao Paulo were the standout results of a 2022 that was ultimately dogged by poor reliability. 

Despite being beaten by teammate168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: Esteban Ocon in the ch🐲ampionship over the course of the year, the 41-year-old felt he was driving at the same level as 2012, which he considers to be the finest seas♔on of his F1 career - superseding his two title-winning campaigns in 2005 and 2006. 

A teammate he should comfortably beat 

Ocon held his own against Alonso over their two seasons together as teammates, but the Spaniard should have a more enjoyable time against Aston Martin stablemate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lance Stroll. 

Stroll struggled to match the performances of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sebastian Vettel, whose reput🦂ation took a bit of a hammering in ♉the final years of an otherwise glittering F1 career. 

Alonso should prove to be an even more formidable test for Stroll, and it is a head-to꧋-head he should comfortಞably come out on top of. 

Providing Alonso is ahead of Stroll on track more often than not, as is the expectation, ther🌠e should be♐ no repeat of the sort of tension that began to bubble up with Ocon during 2022. 

A reliable engine (finally) 

A frustra♊ting 2022 season was compounded by recurring reliability problemꦗs. 

Alonso claimed his lost points due to Alpine’s gremlins would have put him 👍“close to the Mercedes” in the championship, as well as being the cause of his head-to-head defeat to Ocon. 

It is not the first time that Alonso has 🌠seen an F1 campaign hampered by a plethora of reliability issues, having endured McLaren’s disastrous partnership with an unreliable 🍌and uncompetitive Honda engine for three years. 

For the first time since his Ferrari days Alonso will go into a season hoping for better fortunes, and with good reason; he will finally get to try the Mercedes power unit that has largely dominated the V6 hybrid era. ꦦ;

While Mercedes’ V6 has seemingl♓y been overtaken by, ironically, Honda and Ferrari in recent times, the German manufacturer’s engine still packs a punch, and was the most reliable power unit in 2022, giving Alonso plenty of cause for optimism. 

Aston Martin’s big plans 

Alonso’s Aston Martﷺin arrival comes at a time the team are nearing the completion of a state-of-the-art factory at their Silverstone base, and follows a major recruitment drive, including new technical director Dan Fallows, who joined the team from Red Bull last year. 

The new factory should be completed by May this year, while a new wind tunnel is expected to be operational in the summer of 2024. It has been described as a “game changer” by team principal Mike Krack in the five-year 🔯plan set out by owner Lawrence Stroll for Aston Martin to be competing at the front of the grid. 

Alonso plans to stick around for at least “🐠two to three years” and there is reason to believe he would extend his career further if Aston Martin make ♑significant progress. He might yet be around to see the team’s bold ambitions come to fruition. 

This year will mark 10 years s🎶ince Alonso’s last grand prix victory but he is convinced Aston Martin are the team to give him t♔he car to change that.