Fernando Alonso claimed six podiums in his first eight races with Aston Martin as the team made a stunning jump into contention at the front of the grid; the 2023 F1 season resumes at Dutch GP from August 25, live on Sky Sports F1
Thursday 17 August 2023 12:28, UK
Fernando Alonso says his decision to join Aston Martin was arguably the "best" of his career, but insists he has "no regrets" over any of his previous team changes.
Alonso took the paddock by surprise when he opted to leave 2022 midfield front-runners Alpine for a then-struggling Aston Martin in August last year.
However, the two-time world champion has been made to look mystic by Aston Martin's remarkable jump forward, which enabled him to claim six podiums in the first eight races of 2023.
Alonso, who is the oldest driver on the grid at 42, has driven for five different F1 teams (counting Renault and Alpine as the same entity), and has in the past been criticised for making poor decisions over where to take his considerable talents.
"I would not change anything," Alonso said before F1's summer break. "I don't regret anything.
"No one has a crystal ball to know what is the performance of the teams [will be] in the following year."
Alonso became F1's youngest world champion when he won the first of two back-to-back titles with Renault in 2005, but has failed to add to that tally.
His first move to McLaren in 2007 made sense in theory as he got into what was probably the fastest car on the grid, but the unforeseen immediate competitiveness of his rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton led to major fallings out.
While after that, at Ferrari from 2010-2014, he was narrowly beaten to the title on multiple occasions by Sebastian Vettel.
He explained: "When I left Renault, which was the first decision, I joined McLaren, and that season, we fought for the world championships. So, in terms of how competitive we were, it was a good thing and a good move.
"Then I joined Ferrari, I don't think any of the drivers will reject an offer from Ferrari and join that team. And we fought for three championships of the five years that I was there."
The move that Alonso has received the most flack for was re-joining McLaren in 2015, with the team languishing towards the back of the grid during his three seasons with them due to a poor Honda engine.
His disillusionment was such that he took a spell out of F1 to compete in other categories, before returning with Alpine after two seasons away.
"Then I joined McLaren-Honda, which was a project that we all thought that it could be interesting and powerful," Alonso reflects. "It didn't work - ok, that thing can happen in this sport.
"And then I stopped Formula 1 because I had too many things in my head and too many challenges that I wanted to try.
"And it was a wonderful time in my career to try the endurance racing and that car, and Indy, with quite good success as well. So happy for that.
"And then I came back to Formula 1 with what I always considered my family in Alpine, in Renault."
Most recently came Alonso's decision to depart Alpine for Aston Martin, as the French outfit's recently sacked team principal Otmar Szafnauer stalled over giving the Spaniard a multi-year contract extension.
While Aston Martin's remarkable early-season form tailed off in the weeks before the summer break, Alonso's third place in the standings after 12 races is a remarkable triumph for both driver and team.
"And now the last decision which for everyone's opinion was the worst one, to go for Aston Martin," Alonso said.
"It was the best one, arguably of my career. So that just shows the difficulty of choosing teams, and lack of knowledge that everyone has at home."
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch GP and all sessions will be live on Sky Sports F1 on August 25-27. Stream Sky Sports F1 and more with NOW
