Fernando Alonso is willing to help Lance Stroll as much as possible to lead Aston Martin for the “next 10-15 years”.
The double world champion has been very much the lead driver since replacing Sebastian Vettel at the Silverstone-based team at the start of this year.
However, during his short time at Aston Martin, Alonso has often showered praise on Stroll, including this claim when he first joined…
“In Lance, the team has a driver who is super young, super talented and has the possibility to be world champion,” he said.
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“To see him achieve that and have played a part in that, whether that’s behind the wheel or not, will be special for me.”
Fernando continued to hail the Canadian when the season began, calling Stroll his “hero” after Lance battled back from a pre-season cycling crash to compete and finish sixth in Bahrain.
And in Azerbaijan, their cooperation continued when Alonso suggested Stroll use his brake balance setting as he tried to challenge Carlos Sainz early on.
“I mean, we talk a lot during the weekend over what we will do and what will be the plan for each of the cars and things like that,” he explained post-race.
“So if we feel something in the car during the race that we spoke about, and there is something new that can help the other car normally we communicate with the team.
“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 as much as I can in the next few years.”
Alonso’s friendly relationship with Stroll has caught the eye because it appears almost out of character compared to the fiery Spaniard who has buried many of his past teammates.
But the 41-year-old insists it is not new… “I had in the past – but only some of my radio was broadcast,” he said via Crash.net. “For whatever reason now F1 [broadcasting] is kind to me.”
Alonso did note, however, that while Stroll is the long-term future at Aston Martin, he still has his own goals before retirement.
“I want to be two to three years at this level,” he was quoted by the Daily Mail. “That is the team’s aim too.
“We are not at a stage to win a championship, but we want time to reach the target, that is why I came back to Formula 1 in 2021 after a couple of years out.
“I thought the new regulations coming in last season would mix it up, which they have.
“Yes, Red Bull are dominating but you don’t see big gaps – all the field is covered by 1.2/1.3 seconds – so maybe in a few years we’ll be right up there.”