28/07/2022
NEWS STORY
Though Sebastian Vettel's retirement opens up a door at Aston Martin, yet to agree a deal for 2023, Fernando Alonso insists that Alpine remains his priority.
No sooner had Vettel announced his retirement this morning than speculation over who might replace him began. Along with Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries, the likes of Daniel Ricciardo were linked with the vacant seat at Aston Martin.
However, in replacing Vettel Aston Martin needs a proven winner, a man who can give direction and help develop the team, and while Ricciardo might fit the bill, so too does Alonso.
Out of contract at season end, the Spaniard and the French team have both said that they want to continue next season, and as he heads into the summer break the two-time world champion admits that remaining with Alpine remains his priority.
"From the beginning of the summer break, it will be the point I need to sit down and conclude something," he told reporters at today's press conference.
"The summer break starts on Monday," he added. "All the teams are an option as long as they don't have two drivers signed.
"My priority is to be with Alpine," he admitted. "We've been working and developing this project together for two years now. We are more and more competitive.
"Probably my wish is to stay," he continued. "But we didn't sit down completely and move forward with things. So still everything is ongoing.
"I think I am fresh here, very motivated," he insisted. "I'm looking forward so much into next year, what the second year of these rules will bring. We race in Las Vegas, we race maybe in South Africa. All these things, they are very appealing.
"I feel very fast this year, last year was a struggle a little bit. But this year I feel at my 100 per cent."
Referring to Laurent Rossi's claim last week that in time Alpine is considering a move for the Spaniard into its LMDh programme, Alonso smiled: "Even thinking about Sportscars or IndyCar it's like ‘not now', my head is completely ‘remove this' and stay focused on F1."
Check out our Thursday gallery from the Hungaroring here.