A year ago, Lawrence Stroll, team owner of Aston Martin, was far from achieving his aspirations.
Twelve months later, Fernando Alonso outlined the difference in performance between last year’s team and this year’s.
“It has been a historical season for Aston Martin, and for myself, eight finishes on the podium, more than 200 points, nearly 300 for the team,” Alonso, a two-time Formula 1 drivers’ championship winner, said. “Twelve months ago, this was unthinkable. An incredible year to remember.”
“For me, 2012 and this season are the best in my career,” he said, referring to his third season with Ferrari, when he missed out on a third title by 4 points. This year resulted in “a position I couldn’t have imagined at the beginning of the year with the car performance we had,” he said.
In 2021, Stroll said his aim was for the team to win the world title in “four, five, six years.” In 2022, Aston Martin finished seventh out of 10 teams in the constructors’ championship. This year it was fifth.
Aston Martin’s rise may appear unremarkable, but Alonso’s number of appearances on the podium, three times as a runner-up, was more than the team had in the previous six years combined.