30 May 2024 , 14:31
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Fernando Alonso has warned his former Alpine team that signing David Sanchez as technical director will not be enough to reverse their declining fortunes.
Sanchez was at the centre of one of the more surprising team swaps so far this season. He joined McLaren in January, having left Ferrari last year, but in April it was announced that the Spaniard would be leaving after just three months in the job.
"The role, responsibilities, and ambitions associated with David's position did not align with our original expectations," said McLaren team boss Andrea Stella at the time. Having left by mutual consent, Sanchez was free to join another team and, earlier this month, was announced by Alpine.
Alonso, a former driver for both teams involved, watched the movement with interest like the rest of us. And when asked if he believes bringing in Sanchez is a good move for Alpine, he replied: "It is."
But the Aston Martin driver went on to warn his former employer: "I mean, all the technical directors or senior people, designers, in Formula 1, they have an incredible knowledge about the cars and they are all very professional and a very good addition to any team.
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"So Alpine will for sure benefit of that, but we saw many times that one person cannot change completely the team. It's a group, it's a momentum that you need to build in a team and let's see in the future. But I hope Alpine can make a good step now."
In reality, Alonso has more to be concerned about with his current employer. Aston Martin were the surprise package of the 2023 season with a competitive car, particularly in the first half of the campaign, which allowed the Spaniard to score eight podiums.
But this season has been more of a struggle so far and the 42-year-old has had to be content to fight for minor points. Performance hasn't improved despite upgrades over the last two race weekends, which is a particular concern to Alonso after the team lost out in the development race last term too.
He said of Aston Martin's current situation: "These two weekends have been crucial to understand our weaknesses, to understand the car, to improve. In the difficulties you always draw more conclusions than in the victories, so we are learning a lot I think for the rest of the year, 2025 and 2026. These two races have been a big wake-up call and it will be very good for us.
"[We had] some doubts after Imola and in Monaco that we didn't manage to go fast, and we have to try to change this trend. It will take us a few races until we introduce a significant improvement in the car, but until then we have to give everything and we have to improve on the track to get the results. There will be better days, worse days and we have to be united."