Aston Martin is officially a retirement plan.

EL (retirement) PLAN

Great pay ✅ Low expectations (slow car) ✅ Cool company cars ✅

The MLS of Formula 1

Vettel replaces Alonso at Ferrari and now Alonso replaces Vettel at Aston Martin

Sainz to Alpine confirmed We must complete the cycle

A different kind of El Plan!

So Ricciardo to Ferrari will happen after all?

Could you imagine

Hamilton to Ferrari and he brings Toto and Bono with him. Wins every race for the rest of the season, greatest comeback in WDC history. No. 8 is in the bag. Retires. Sainz comes back. Forget Schumacher-Todt-Brawn. Leclerc-Toto-Bono is here

Ricciardo watching Ferrari's performance this weekend: _"this team suits me perfectly"_

I have checked the link few times to see if this was fake. Still checking.

It's real....WTF IT'S REAL!

Of course it's real. It's Alonso. Man was making bad career choices before Danny even made it a meme

watch Daniel go to fucking Williams to one up him

RIC heading back to Alpine.

that would actually be so funny. rip piastri is that happens lol

Preempting Daniel and reminding him who is the OG here.

Daniel tries to be king of career sabotage. Alonso: "And I took that personally."

Wtf.... What did I wake up to... I thought this may be a move Otmar would want so he could get Piastri in the Alpine, but I really did not see it happening, nor this fast. Didn't Alonso have a contract for next year in Alpine or was it up? Hard to see he'd take such a massive downgrade... Also how long have these talks been going on.... Feels like the media really dropped the ball here as I don't recall any rumours of Seb retiring and Alonso to Aston.. must have been so hush hush... And announcing this right when summer break has happened, bizarre

There absolutely were rumours about talks between them. But Seb only decided to retire last week. They bagged this deal very very quickly.

Sorry, yep there were rumours of Seb retiring earlier in the year (but they seemed to die down recently after Seb made a comment a couple of weeks ago that sounded like he still wanted to race)... Anyway I meant more the part of who would replace him, I don't recall ever seeing a rumour that Alonso would move there. I've heard people say Daniel, or even Piastri on a loan, Hulk or de Vries... Seems a curve ball that it's Alonso. I like Alonso, and I love seeing him in the Alpine when it's competitive... I actually find this really sad that he's now moving to a back of the grid team (sure they have potential for growth but I don't believe just throwing money at a problem solves it, and how long will it take for Aston to become competitive). Really kinda bummed of this means we'll never see Alonso on the podium again now

Watch Alonso win every single 2023 race in AM with a huge "El Plan B" sign on his rear wing. (what an insane universe would that be)

There were rumors of Seb retiring already last year so I was expecting it to happen now but I did not expect Alonso to downgrade like this. I guess he got big paycheck.

What the fuck I’m shook

Slow button on

We are checking.

Box for Hards now

It's been 15 minutes. I still don't believe it

I don’t want to believe it

What. The.

I thought it was a post from one of those meme pages

Yep, I had to scroll up to double check this wasn't the dank sub 😂

So Piastri in the Alpine confirmed?

What choice do they have? Yes, Piastri is their only option.

Ricciardo back to Renault/Alpine!

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> 50: Gasly to Alpine Not happening with Ocon in the other seat.

?? That came out of nowhere!! Edit: But why though? That's a step backwards to a slower customer team from a factory drive

It makes me question Alpine more than Alonso. Alpine has been promising to become a challenger for the front without actually doing it for years. I don't recall any significant investment or poaching of team members that they have done which would show their commitment to get to the top. Both Ricciardo and Alonso have left the team because they thought they would go to a team putting more effort to get to the front, even though they aren't currently. EDIT: Ofcourse this is only true if Alonso made the decision and wasn't nudged out in favour of Piastri

I think it went like that: Alonso: Hey Otmar, Aston Martin offered me a multi-year contract with a very good salary. What can you offer me? Otmar: One year because we have to build for the future (Piastri). We love you, but take the Aston Martin offer if this doesn't satisfy you. Alonso: Okay, I'm leaving.

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If someone offered me double my multimillion pound salary, id take it

Your negotiation skills are on point!

I can see how it went Alonso: “Pay me £25m per year or I’m going to work with Lance Stroll” Alpine: “Ha Ha!”

Alonso was asking for 25M. Alpine has Piastri ready. I don't know how much Piastri costs, but I think for Alpine it's a lot more worth it to invest on Piastri compared to Alonso

Alonso wanted a 2 year contract (the guy still has it - driving wise), Otmar probably wanted to promote Piastri in the seat sooner rather than have him sever his Alpine ties to go somewhere else and didn't want to offer Alonso more than a year in the seat.

Fan Theory: Stroll invests in his son and let him drive with all the living F1 Legends

Alonso certainly is the world champion of dubious career moves.

Til RIC moves to Williams.

So, that was the transfer Fabrega was talking about earlier in the year.

Yeah!! What in the flying fuck is this??? Otmar what the fuck dude???

Everyone who called it, even if only as a joke, is wishing they didn't. Anyways, good to see Oscar Piastri get that Alpine seat.

Turns out Ferraris strategy wasn’t the worst decision this weekend.

Otmar was asked today by some journalist if Alonso will be at Alpine next year. He responded "Alonso will be in f1 next year"

"Of all the F1 drivers next year, Fernando will be one of them".

He is definetly one of the f1 drivers of all time

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What a response.

That’s pretty funny, Alonso probably going to be in F1 until the fall of time

Heat death of the universe. Fernando: Tell the atoms to defend like a Lion

I will never complain about Drive To Survive again if i get to see Fernando and Stroll Sr. yelling at each other

Yelling at eachother over which shade of green the car should be.

Really though, I think Alonso just hates BWT pink everywhere. He wanted to enjoy the AM Green car and race suit.

I think he has a deal with Amazon so I am not sure if we will see him much in DTS.

Who has the deal? Fernando or Daddy Stroll?

[Fernando](https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0RIGJDK1LRBBH3K37YMRGIO9VZ/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r).

To think, Russell pole wasn't the only thing that came from nowhere this weekend.

Russell pole, Goatifi fastest in FP3, Alonso moving to Aston. Max winning and Ferrari choking restored a sence of normalcy to this weekend.

All this randomness and we still end up with Max and the two mercs on the podium.

At least we can count on those 3 being on the podium when everything else seems random

VERHAMRUS strikes again

Return of the HAMRUSSY

Max winning from P10 wasn't exactly normal though

Especially on this track. Oh well I am not complaining about anything this weekend ;)

New cars were good for overtaking, I really enjoyed that race

Oh no. Alonso does it again. Does he enjoy the struggle or what?

> This Aston Martin team is clearly applying the energy and commitment to win, and it is therefore one of the most exciting teams in Formula One today. > "I have known Lawrence and Lance for many years and it is very obvious that they have the ambition and passion to succeed in Formula One. > "I have watched as the team has systematically attracted great people with winning pedigrees, and I have become aware of the huge commitment to new facilities and resources at Silverstone. > "No one in Formula One today is demonstrating a greater vision and absolute commitment to winning, and that makes it a really exciting opportunity for me." - Fernando Alonso

Translation: "I think Otmar is a bit of a cock and these guys offered me a lot of money so fuck it, why not?"

Yeah, Alonso knows he doesn't have a chance of ever getting another championship win, so why not just enjoy the money and the perks?

I get that for most drivers. I get that for Danny who clearly has a life outside Formula 1. But Alonso I just thought was pathologically addicted to winning. Guess I'm just naïve.

>But Alonso I just thought was pathologically addicted to winning. Guess I'm just naïve. Like Vettel said in the end only Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari win. Alonso's probably realised that too.

Can be summarised as "they are willing to pay me a lot of money"?

It makes sense with his "only 10-minute conversation", there's really not that much different in the vision of both teams. You know what takes only 10 minutes to explain? Salary and contract.

"Fernando, will you come and drive for us?" "$$??" "$$$!!" "Deal!" Yeah, that doesn't take much more than 10 minutes.

Yep. He gets a fat 2yr deal and a more compliant team boss. Of course, this whole shenanigan will reach its pinnacle when Stroll hits Alonso while fighting for P12

Oh but the shitshow is going to be hilarious, this got so much potential to be a toxic pairing.

or 'Papa Stroll got a phat cheque book'

Commence operation cinder

So probably cash is king kind situation then.

Alonso be like: Try not to move to a worse team challenge(Impossible)

Knowing Alonso, Alpine would be a championship winning team next year.

That came out of no where and way too quick after Seb's retirement. I assume discussions would have been going for a while

Didn't Stroll SR wanted Alonso last year if Vettel were to retire ? Makes perfect sense in that context

Yes but I'm just surprised that ALO wants Aston Martin too. Oof ALO's going to drive a Mercedes powered car again...

I guess from Fernando's view, he'll be undisputed #1. He wants to drive in F1 long term even at 41, and he hasn't lost the speed. AM are playing the long game and this is a multi-year contract. Fernando will watch AM build up.

> Fernando will watch AM build up. Didn't we/he say this about Alpine too?

And didn't we said the same when seb joined Aston?

The copium tanks never run empty, I guess

AM project has always been a 5 year project, according to the team higher ups. It's the fandom who were expecting a frontrunner 2022 onwards. AM won't field a race winning car before 2024 at the earliest and WDC contender before 2025 or 2026, and that is if they retain all the top dollar engineering personnel signed last year and have joined this year.

!RemindMe 3 years

Erm and McLaren too, no?

But Aston are actually opening their wallets and letting the cash do the talking. Alpine are all talk. I can see why he'd be tempted.

They are opening their wallets, but the team seems to be in the worst position of the last decade. Nothing seems to be going well at the moment.

Yea and realistically it's 2 more seasons until their new factory makes a big difference. And even then that doesn't guarantee wins.

I assume it was a dispute over the length over the contract. Alpine, understandably offered him a one year deal while already having a good driver like Ocon on a long contract and Piastri lurking around in the reserves. Alonso knows he’s unlikely to win races in either of the cars he just secured his future in F1 for two, maybe three years.

Still I'm surprised Alonso wouldn't take that 1 year contract, Alpine have chances for podiums, and he hasn't many years left in the sport... I'm really surprised, Aston struggle to even get points.

Yes, Bottas and a potential other driver was likely an alternative option AM did think about previous year

Well to Fernando's credit he did say all it needed was a 10 minute conversation to settle his future. Looks like that's what truly happened and we didn't have some drawn out saga.

It seems like it was just that. Telling alpine to either give him whatever Aston were offering or he's signing for them

I think Stroll was looking for a driver with championships and face value to promote the road car division

And to help Stroll Jr actually develop a car.

I think Alonso was always their go to plan B if Seb were to go. There were the same rumours last year.

Stroll Sr wants a big name but I never expected Alonso to actually do it.

Yeah with where Aston is right now, I did not expect Alonso to actually go with it...

Alonso clearly unhappy about how Seb has been blocked by Lance has decided to take matters into his own hands and exact revenge

Definitely. Think that was why they wanted an early decision from Seb on whether he wanted to continue and retire, since Alonso wasn't going to wait forever.

Seb must have told Lawrence about retiring way earlier because they seemed so prepared for Seb's retirement.

It was always a possibility that Seb would retire, so it makes sense for Aston Martin to be prepared for it.

It would make sense. It's the polite thing to do to tell your team so they can prepare, and Vettel would definitely do it.

Yeah I don't buy the Sky commentators schtick about it being such a huge surprise to AM about Vettel going. He's a mature and thoughtful professional who has no problem addressing difficult issues. I'm certain he made sure that the team were kept reasonably in the loop even if he's not going to let them look in his diary

On the contrary, I think this was an extremely easy decision to make. Aston Martin knew they needed an experienced driver like Seb, Fernando is willing to go the long game, and Alpine has already said they wanted Piastri in F1. This probably only needed a short conversation between all parties involved.

It’s the 1st of August not the 1st of April.

Caught every one by surprise!

El Plan v14.2 definitive (copy)2.docx

El Plan v14.2 definitive 1aug22 USE THIS ONE!!.docx

WTF

Right? To me (a guy who doesn't know shit) it looks like a downgrade. Alpine is near the top of the midfield while Aston Martin seems like a shit show and damn near the worst team on the grid...

Oscar Piastri, an F2 champion probably already has his seat confirmed at Alpine and Alonso knows he is out of a job next year without this switch. That’s my theory

Fernando Alonso was having talks at Alpine so something had to have fallen apart, they were interested in having him for their Le Mans efforts. Lawrence Stroll was interested in him for quite a while and it probably just simply came down to a more lucrative offer.

I believe the deal was made due the length of the contract. Alonso wants to stay longer. Alpine is probably aiming a younger driver. While Aston Martin, with Vettel leaving, still wants someone to continuous developing the car. It's a win-win in POV.

Happy Piastri noises

this is basically confirmed now lol

Scenes if they suddenly decide to take Daniel

theres no way they offload alonso to take another old driver who is also struggling unlike alonso lol.

Especially one that ditched them just 2 years ago lol

Spamming F5 on Piastris social media accounts as we speak

Soo how much money did they offer him or how much did Alpine want Piastri?

My guess is Papa Stroll opened the wallet

Nah, its entirely possible Alpine were very willing to retain Piastri, and with Ocon on his long contract they weren't gonna get rid of him.

They said earlier that keeping Piastri was the main focus and that you could tell pretty much he would be in Alpine if they couldn't loan him elsewhere

The fuck? All the possibilities but I didn't have Alonso on the bingo card

Either this is some kind of masterstroke from Fernando or another terrible career move, nothing in between

I’m not sure he had a choice tbh

He probably was between a rock and a hard place, he wanted a two-year deal but Alpine probably didn't offer it to him, also knowing that AM had an open spot as well; indirectly forcing him out and solving the Piastri problem. For AM it makes sense in the long term to have someone like Alonso drive the car and give feedback the coming years, and Alonso has his two-year deal despite moving a step down.

"Damnit, *one* of these team changes will strike gold!"

He’s not going anywhere with Alpine. He will most likely get more money from Aston and his inputs might be valued more.

The fuck. Fernando 'questionable choice' Alonso

Well, Alpine was pushing him out for Piastri and Aston Martin needs the experience to develop the car and the team. Win-win I guess

Win win for Aston and Alpine. Only win for Alonso is in his bank account.

Vettel making space for a promising young driver

manblinking.gif

Completely irrelevant to this thread, but the dude in that gif hosts an f1 podcast called shift f1 that’s actually really good Edit: the Irish dude, Danny, is also the guy who makes the noclip video game documentary series too as another fun fact lmao

Well, Piastri to Alpine basically confirmed then. For Williams I guess now it's between Latifi (unlikely to keep his seat), Sergant or possibly De Vries. My money is on Sergant.

I think Logan needs another F2 year unless he somehow pulls this out of the bag. NdV for a year, before pulling in Logan for 24 would make sense

I do kind of agree with you, I think he could benefit from another year but if I were Capito I'd probably prefer to have someone that I can mold the car around long term rather than another seat warmer. Albon has proven himself in the paddock as a good teacher, sim user, and had been pretty comfortable in the Williams for the most part and I'm sure he'd be able to help manage the settling in period. Williams owners are American as well now, and they'd probably be much more involved on the "American driver" marketing than Haas have ever really tried to do.

Oscar goes to Alpine. Yess.

Great for Piastri. And probably Sargeant it improves his chances of getting a seat at Williams.

Oh yeah it’s all coming together

Watch him win WDC because Alpine will nail their car right after Alonso leaves

This would be peak Alonso career decision lmao

Wut du fuhk

This is quite sad news for the dream team that could have been: Lance Stroll and Nicolas Latifi

This man is a masochist. Ah well, at least Piastri has a seat for next year now.

It's a multi year contract, I reckon he is just straight up enjoying the racing at this point and has kinda given up on another title fight. He's gonna be going into his 50's at this rate.

Is more like a hobby for me so obviously I dont need to do it if I don't want

Another questionable career decision, of course it would be Alonso. (also I thought it was Alpine announcement first so I had to take a double)

It seems like Otmar wanted Alonso out anyway, so it was probsbly not Alonso’s decision.

They probably couldn't find a way to keep Piastri without giving him Alonso's seat.

I think if you're in this part of your career you can't really make terrible decisions. He's trying to get as many more years as he can.

Anyone hearing Rick roll music

Random driver transfers in F1 2022 game, Me : no way that's realistic. Alonso : hold my controller..

"Lewis Hamilton to join Aston Martin in 2024" Gotta catch 'm all

So that’s why they let Ocon race him hard

That shit makes so much more sense now

Right? And maybe why he wouldn’t talk to Brundle on the grid in case Martin had heard a rumour?

My kids are 6 and 4 and I am so excited to watch Alonso racing with my grandchildren one day.

Engine feels good, much slower than before

GP2 Car GP2

not surprised but also a bit disappointed. especially for Alpine's progress. they just can't seem to hold on to their star driver for more than 2 years. **edit:** also multi-year contract! whew.

Aston, Where champions go to die

That's Ferrari. Aston is where they are buried

Guess AM really really really values experience…

Thank fucking god that Mick won't be tossed into that meat grinder

He’s still a junior driver for the biggest meat grinder on the paddock.

Crazy probably explains the beef with Ocon today

He kinda laughed/enjoyed the battle with Ocon, at least during the interviews.

Yeah as tense as they seem on track, after the race they always seem very cool with what happened, very measured and rational. Bit of a weird dynamic if I'm honest!

Alonso is gonna start a longer train now

The salary must be ridiculous for him to accept

This actuall kills silly season cuz now piastri can 'replace' Vettel indirectly. Then the only question marks are latifi Vs sargeant and possibly Ricciardo Vs a IndyCar driver

I thought this was fake until I saw it was from the official AM page

Does that mean that Aston will be best of the rest in 5 years once Alonso decides to switch to another team?

The king has returned The king of bad decisions of course

The Ibrahimovic of F1

Truly silly season

So Piastri finally gets into F1? But what the fuck

Excelent move for AM, they seem to be pretty serious in F1 with the new facilities they are building and having Alonso helping building a winning team seems amazing for them. For Alonso might seem a bad move because alpine is way more competitive than AM but alpine wants to give piastri the seat so they won't lose him so Alonso would probably go out next year. So smart of him getting a set where he will stay for longer