Fernando Alonso to Aston Martin: Ted Kravitz reacts to bombshell F1 move as Alpine lose world champion

Formula 1’s driver market unexpectedly burst into life on Monday with the news that Fernando Alonso is to leave Alpine at the end of the season and join Aston Martin, a move that caught the paddock completely off-guard and prompted debate about the reasoning and consequences.

Why is Alonso, at the age of 41, swapping leaving a team for one that is five places and 79 points worse off in the Championship? What’s in it for Aston Martin? And what are the ramifications for Alpine?

While F1 is now on its summer break, Ted Kravitz – the Sky Sports F1 reporter and paddock expert – has provided his insight on the move, what triggered it, who it suits and much more after Aston Martin found an immediate multi-world champion replacement for Sebastian Vettel…

Initial reaction to F1’s bombshell transfer

Ted Kravitz: “I don’t think there’s any shame in saying that this was a surprise to everybody!

“Obviously Fernando is out of contract and has been looking around the big teams.

Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz head to Asturias in northern Spain to find out what still drives Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and the legacy he wants to leave for Spanish motorsport.

“He admitted when I spoke to him before the Spanish Grand Prix that he would be happy to go to any big team and be a number two to Charles Leclerc or Max Verstappen, so his mind was clearly not with staying at Alpine. Or at best, staying at Alpine would be a second choice to joining a big team.

“So in those terms, maybe it’s not entirely unexpected that he was thinking of a move.”

Why has Alonso picked Aston Martin?

Ted: “For Alonso, if his mind is not to stay at Alpine, and with other avenues closed, he might be looking at what Aston Martin are building up.

“They’ve got a lot of people in from Red Bull, Dan Fallows, for example, has arrived as technical director and has started coming to races, and Alonso will know about him and others.

“He will also know there is money there and he thought this was the best option.

“But what does this say about Alpine?

2016 world champion Nico Rosberg says there should be no debate that Fernando Alonso deserves his seat in F1.

“Christian Horner, in one of his sometimes not so edifying quips about Renault during Red Bull’s engine deal, would say that Renault F1 are a team that wants first class, but are only prepared to pay economy. Maybe Fernando’s seen that as well?

“Maybe he’s seen that there isn’t a level of investment that he’s seen at Aston Martin, and Alpine are ready to just tick on by, aim for fourth in the constructors’? Does it serve Renault’s wishes just to keep the Alpine name there and compete at a certain level?

“I wonder if Fernando saw a lack of ambition that he hadn’t seen during his time as a Renault factory driver. That’s why he chose to look elsewhere.”

An Aston-triggered move or an Alpine-triggered move?

Ted: “Aston Martin, when they discovered that Sebastian Vettel wasn’t going to drive there, I think they felt they needed a big name.

“They’re a team that has very high ambitions, so I think their point of view was that we could get a Nyck de Vries, or an Oscar Piastri, but these are guys who don’t really have any experience.

“So they’ve gone big!

Fernando Alonso made his feelings quite clear to Yuki Tsunoda by wagging his finger at the AlphaTauri driver mid-race!

“There is also the prospect that Alpine didn’t want to continue with Alonso and wanted to promote Oscar Piastri.

“I haven’t seen any evidence of that – it’s not impossible – but I haven’t seen it. All the race team absolutely adore Fernando and he can do amazing things with the car.

“So I don’t really think it was Alpine’s choice to let him go. But then with Piastri lined up, it’s not really an issue for them.

“They’ve got the guy they’ve been wanting to promote, they thought they were going to place him somewhere else, and that’s not going to happen. So the drivers Piastri was going to potentially replace can breathe a sigh of relief.”

Is it a huge gamble for Alonso to drop down the grid?

Ted: “It’s fairly standard Fernando Alonso career behaviour that he is betting on a marked improvement in the next three years!

“That is, though, the other thing I find slightly perplexing about the whole thing, that at best it’s going to take three years for Aston Martin to be able to win races and challenge for Championships. By which point, Fernando will be 44.

Anthony Davidson takes a look at Fernando Alonso’s brilliant first lap at the French Grand Prix.

“He’s fit as a fiddle and he’s into F1 as he ever was, his break refreshed him, and he’s not running out of steam like Sebastian Vettel has. But, really? And is that to suggest Alpine were never going to get there?

“Or, is he just looking for one more team to see what he could do, a different challenge?

“It is all a bit odd.”

What’s the fit?

Ted: “I thought it was interesting in the press release that Lawrence Stroll said Fernando is a “committed winner like me”.

“I think those two alpha males, if they work together and constructively, then they can push the team forward.

“There will be concerns from Alonso fans that if things don’t go the way he wants then you’ve got two potentially fiery characters up against each other.

“But I don’t see any reason why they shouldn’t be productive, and they shouldn’t push the team on.”

Is Mercedes power a factor in the deal?

Ted: “What it also does do is reunite Fernando with the Mercedes engine family, which I think is an interesting angle. Fernando hasn’t been powered by Mercedes since he left McLaren the first time round under a bit of a cloud 15 years ago.

“So this would have needed a sign-off from Toto Wolff, which it obviously got.

“Is it ridiculous to think that Mercedes wanted Fernando back in their family just to see what he was like?

“Should Lewis decide he was to leave for whatever reason, and they need a world champion to put alongside George, would it not be the end of the world if Mercedes had a bit of visibility in what Fernando was like, even as a 41-year-old?

“You might have thought that was unlikely, but as this announcement proves – anything is possible in F1!”