Fernando Alonso excited to hit the ground running at Aston Martin

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is excited to begin his stint with Aston Martin. The Spaniard joined the Silverstone-based team at the start of the year, replacing Sebastian Vettel, who retired from the sport.

Alonso will star alongside Lance Stroll at Aston Martin and claims he is looking forward to making his mark with the team. The 41-year-old has already claimed that he moved to Aston Martin due to the 'hunger' everyone in the squad has.

The British team recently unveiled their 2023 challenger, the AM23, and is hoping to make it to the top of the sport in the coming years. Despite being the oldest driver on the grid by a mile, Alonso put in some thrilling performances with his former team Alpine in 2022.

In an exclusive interview with Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso said:

"I have always said that I could see the ambition that shines bright at AMF1. And, as we launch the car in this brand-new factory, I think everyone can now see the scale of the ambition and determination at the heart of this organisation. Just as important is the car – and the AMR23 looks incredibly neatly packaged and highly efficient. I was pleasantly surprised when I sampled last year's car for the very first time, and I think there is plenty of performance we can unlock together."

He concluded:

"I can't wait to get started."

Fernando Alonso claimed Max Verstappen will only get better with time

Fernando Alonso claimed in September 2022 that Max Verstappen will only get better with Red Bull in the coming years. The Dutchman won two consecutive titles in 2021 and 2022.

Verstappen joined Fernando Alonso in becoming a two-time world champion at the 2022 Japanese GP, wrapping up the season with four races remaining. Alonso acknowledged the reigning world champion's driving prowess, claiming the Dutchman is already one of the all-time greats of the sport. He wished Max Verstappen good luck for the rest of his career, saying:

“He’s 24 or 25, no? So there’s still a lot in front of him, but I wish him more luck than me because I was also 26 with those stats and still have the same stats at 40. But I’m sure with Red Bull and how things look for the future, he will only get better."

Given Red Bull's reprimands for the new season, it will be interesting to see if Max Verstappen remains at the top in the coming times.