Fernando Alonso was cock-a-hoop after his first outing in an Aston Martin car.
The Spaniard took to the track in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, during the post-season test. It was organised to give young drivers an opportunity and for tyre suppliers Pirelli to gain some valuable data - but with several drivers making moves this winter it is also a chance for them to drive in their new colours for the first time.
Alonso was one of them, and instead of the blue and pink Alpine, the Spaniard was behind the wheel of the strikingly green Aston Martin AMR22. And after a frustrating season filled with reliability woes, he spent much of his first day with his new team beaming.
"This year's car is not anywhere near of what we will run next year," admitted the 41-year-old, who had earlier said he was "happily surprised by everything" he experienced on the track during the test. "It was not really to get confident or anything like that, it's not that it's going to be a continuation of this car or anything like that.
"For sure, they had a very strong weekend here. Sebastian [Vettel] qualified in front of me, so I don't think there was much of a difference between Aston Martin and Alpine on the weekend. I felt basically the same as well, I felt a very competitive car. Both Aston Martins finished in the points, so it was a good car anyway.
"I'm much more optimistic now – when I signed for Aston Martin [the news was confirmed in July this year] I was already 90% happy. When they started improving and finished the season on a high, I was 100%. This morning, I was 100 and now I'm 100-plus."
Many of his reliability problems this season with Alpine have been caused by the Renault engines. So Alonso will naturally have been concerned on the eve of his first Aston Martin test that he would be sitting on a used Mercedes power unit.
But there were no issues whatsoever as he completed his programme without incident. He added: "When they told me the mileage of the engine, I was concerned, because I said that number is a little bit high on my standards. But we did 97 laps no problem, so it's outstanding for sure."
Alonso made several references throughout the 2022 season, in which he suggested he was the one getting all of the problems while team-mate Esteban Ocon suffered little in comparison. "Unfortunately on car 14, always these things happen," became something of a catchphrase for the F1 veteran.
Despite being vocal about his unhappiness in that regard, Alonso did take some steps to leave on good terms. He signed off: "I will always think of Alpine or Renault with good memories – we won the two championships [in 2005 and 2006] and I spent nine years of my life in Formula 1 with Renault or Alpine. I will be thankful always and wish them the best of luck next year."
