Will Aston Martin finish ahead Alpine in 2023?

Facts

Ulcerated by the repeated reliability concerns that struck Alpine this season, Fernando Alonso never stops proclaiming his budding love for Aston Martin. The Iberian went so far as to say that his new team will finish next year ahead of the one he is leaving without regret. Does the double world champion have reason to hope? Or is he heading for a new disappointment? Can Aston really beat Alpine in 2023?

YES, by Julien Billiotte

And if Fernando Alonso had, for once, been right in leaving Alpine for the green pastures of Aston Martin? The career choices of the double Spanish world champion certainly do not invite overwhelming optimism for Aston Martin fans, but it is clear that the Silverstone team has made a nice recovery in 2022.

A real tour de force when we see where the pale AMR22s were operating at the start of the season. Only the modest Williams were pointing behind the Astons of Sebastian Vettel et Lance stroll, who had all the difficulty in the world to get out of Q1. On the evening of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the day before the summer break, the Greens finished in an anonymous 9th and penultimate place in the Manufacturers' ranking. A good distance from its direct rivals.

And then, little by little, Mike Krack's men began to regularly enter Q3 and the points. The Singapore-Japan-USA sequence was particularly prolific. And it was a hair's breadth away from Aston snatching 6th place from a team Alfa Romeo out of breath at the end of the season. At the end of the suspense, the two teams finished with the same number of points (55) but 5th place in Valtteri Bottas in Imola (Italy) gives the advantage to the cloverleaf brand. In Budapest, Alfa had 51 units in its bag, Aston only 20. This shows the rise of the British manufacturer.

When relaunching Aston Martin in F1 Last year, his big boss Lawrence Stroll set a target of 5 years to win the world title. The halfway point will be reached next summer. Significant resources have been deployed to achieve this ambitious objective: qualitative and quantitative recruitment, purchase of new tools, construction of a new factory.

There is such inertia in F1 that it is not unrealistic to believe that these investments will pay off in the months and years to come. Alpine, for its part, also has a roadmap. That of the 100 GP established by its CEO Laurent Red last year.

A plan which takes over from that put together by Renault at the time of its return as a full-fledged manufacturer at the end of 2015. In other words, it has already been 7 years since the French manufacturer came up against a glass ceiling which still seems insurmountable for the Blues... 

Perhaps Aston will break its teeth on the same pitfall but until proven otherwise the Greens still have the benefit of the doubt.

NO, by Medhi Casaurang-Vergez

I could be accused of being a patriot by wishing to defend the interests ofAlpine in this debate. Damn, obviously we must be proud to have a French team at the top of the motorsport pyramid! A true flagship of the French automobile industry, the team with the A arrow has everything to keep Aston Martin in its rearview mirrors next year.

First of all, I don't believe a single word of what the owner of the Greens, Lawrence Stroll, has been promising for two years. The Canadian tycoon has never hidden his ambition to transform the formerly modest Racing Point into a winning machine, capable of competing and then beating the armadas Red Bull et Mercedes medium term.

But before progressing in the hierarchy, it would be important not to run out of steam! However, Aston Martin lost 22 points between the 2021 and 2022 campaigns (55 against 77, still 7th place among Manufacturers), while we were promised a hell of a 2022 season, thanks to a full year of preparation under the Saudi dollars from Aramco and the management put in place by Dad Stroll. But I can concede, Rome was not built in a day.

Perhaps Aston Martin will make progress in 2023... even if their future state-of-the-art factory is not expected to be operational until early 2023. The future car used by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will therefore not benefit from these infrastructures.

Then, how can we not believe in the deterioration of relations between Fernando Alonso and the Stroll family? The proud Spaniard never left good memories in his former teams and this will continue to be the case at Aston Martin. Money won't silence his impetuous character! Will Lance Stroll be protected by his father against this champion of the wheel but not of diplomacy? Good human relations could have serious consequences on results on the track.

Furthermore, the atmosphere could return to calm among Alpine. Described as incompatible by followers of squabbles, Pierre Gasly et Esteban Ocon have gained maturity; there is no doubt that the latter will use his experience from the previous two years to lead the development of the future car. As for the newcomer, his desire to put his pitiful end of period behind him Alpha Tauri will lead him to give 100% to his new French project.

Now all that remains is to hope thatAlpine resolves once and for all the reliability concerns that handicapped Fernando Alonso in 2022. By erasing this defect while preserving pure performance, Alpine should easily keep its margin over Aston Martin.