Watching Fernando Alonso almost bouncing on the spot, an irrepressible grin plastered over his face, was an enormously endearing moment with which to open the 2023 Formula One season. He and his Aston Martin team had pulled off a brilliant coup at the season opener in Bahrain; Alonso was on the podium and Aston had taken the most improbable seat at F1’s top table.
Having finished seventh in 2022, impotent at the back of the field, Aston Martin’s form at the Sakhir circuit was revelatory. Alonso was third behind the two dominant Red Bulls, but he had comfortably beaten both Mercedes and Ferrari. Nor was it a flash in the pan. Where Ferrari and Mercedes had stuttered to a start, Aston had hit the ground running. Alonso went on to take six podiums from the opening eight races.
