Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer revealed Tuesday that he learned of Fernando Alonso’s move to Aston Martin from the official press release.
The news broke on Monday that the two-time world championship would fill the vacancy left by Sebastian Vettel, who announced last Thursday he will retire from Formula One at the end of the season. Alonso’s contract is a multiyear dear, and he is set to join Aston Martin in 2023.
“Obviously when we’re in the paddock, there’s all sorts of rumors, and I had heard rumors that Aston were interested [but] it was the first confirmation I had,” Szafnauer said to reporters on a Zoom call, per Sky Sports. “Once you hear that they’re interested, there’s probably discussions that took place. I was confident that, even with the discussions, and there’s nothing wrong with exploring, that we were very close [to a new deal].
