'Fernando Alonso’s decision will have shocked Alpine, as it did everyone. The team expected him to stay': Johnny Herbert

On Monday morning after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Martin Brundle’s message on WhatsApp simply read “wow”. Fernando Alonso had signed for Aston Martin for 2023. In a media session over the weekend drivers had been asked about the future and Alonso was among those to say “happy where we are”. His decision will have shocked Alpine, as it did everyone, because the team expected him to stay.

Since his Formula 1 comeback we have seen the very best of Fernando Alonso. He was an angry, frustrated man in the latter part of his time at McLaren, as we heard on occasion in his radio messages. He had that sabbatical, winning Le Mans twice for Toyota, and came back with a lovely smile on his face. I’m sure he’s still very demanding within a team, as he always has been and as you need to be, but he’s enjoying F1 again. That’s an important point about why Aston Martin has looked at him and thought, he’s 41 years old – just 41 – and he’s still driving as well as anyone. The wet practice at Hungary was proof of that. Everyone was complaining they couldn’t get heat in their tyres, but he knew how to generate that temperature.

His racecraft has not diminished one iota. He’s still brilliant on the first lap, and I have to say the one thing I know from my own experience is qualifying pace is the first thing I felt I lost. But with Fernando I don’t see he’s lost it as much as I would have expected him to by now. He’s still motivated, and Aston Martin needs someone who is fully up for it. They also need experience, and someone who will race brilliantly – all the things you need in a young champion, and he still has them as an older champion. His drive will push on Aston Martin in a very positive way.

Drivers love to be loved. That’s an important part for everyone. In the past, Fernando’s relationship with Flavio Briatore during his title years with Renault was very similar to Flavio’s with Michael Schumacher at Benetton. It’s that belief, that the focus was almost solely on Fernando. You need to be wanted, but the timing is such an important part of it too. After all, he was wanted at Ferrari, at least initially, and at McLaren the second time around, but he never had the team structure around him to achieve what he should have at his peak.

At Aston Martin, the timing could be right. They need someone who has the right ingredients to push them on to winning ways, but they have still got to give him the right personnel and supply a good car, the upgrades, the strategy and everything else that goes with it. There are so many ingredients required to move Aston on to the next levels. There are signs it could happen.

“Does the deal suggest of lack of faith in what he saw at Alpine?”

I’ve known Lawrence Stroll for a long time, since Tommy Hilfiger sponsored Lotus when I was there in the early 1990s. He knows what he wants and how to get it. He’ll know it’s not just about picking individuals, it’s about creating the right ingredients that will work together to move the team forward. Now he’s hired another world champion who is probably driving better than Sebastian Vettel. In Hungary Ted Kravitz asked Sebastian when did he decide to stop and he admitted he’s been thinking about it for the past couple of years – which means you’ve already lost your edge, even if you haven’t accepted it.

Fernando is going to push Lawrence too. He won’t hold back if he thinks Lawrence or the team isn’t doing the right thing. Fernando needs the team to develop quickly, but at the same time he might well race until he is 45. Age might not be a problem if he’s motivated enough. You can never underestimate the power of motivation, as we saw with Ayrton Senna. Fernando is similar in that regard.

Does the deal also suggest a lack of faith in what he saw at Alpine? You’d have to argue yes. It reminds me of Lewis Hamilton when he was at McLaren, then Ross Brawn showed him the plans for Mercedes and it swung him. Aston Martin might be a similar scenario, given how it is building. Maybe that’s what Alpine weren’t able to show Fernando, that he couldn’t see how they are going to jump the next couple of levels to join the big teams. There are no guarantees. But a team needs to show top drivers they have a plan, to get the best from them. I don’t think Fernando saw enough in Alpine. At Aston Martin, it will be fascinating to see how it develops with Alonso at the heart of the team.

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Johnny Herbert was a Formula 1 driver from 1989-2000 and a Le Mans winner in 1991. He is a regular contributor to Sky Sports F1
Follow Johnny on Twitter @johnnyherbertf1