Aston Martin: 'Relentless' Alonso flipped fears after arrival

Aston Martin's Tom McCullough has detailed how Fernando Alonso allayed fears of being tricky to work with after joining the team.

Alonso replaced the retiring Sebastian Vettel for 2023 after leaving Alpine, and banked eight podiums in the season, including six in the first eight races.

Aston was not able to maintain the development pace throughout the season, with the team conceding it is now playing in a different level after breaking clear of the midfield with the AMR23.

The two-tme World Champion secured his best result in the standings with fourth since finishing runner-up to Vettel in 2013, and has been key in driving the team forward.

However, Alonso also has a reputation for fractured relationships with teams, with McCullough explaining how Alonso flipped that fear.

Alonso's impact on Aston Martin

"He's been a really positive force, every single day from the minute he turned up to the [Abu Dhabi 2022] test," Performance Director McCullough explained to media including RacingNews365 of Alonso.

"He came in fresh and excited and gave real good feedback and saw a lot of things that he liked, he pointed us to areas that he thought we needed to improve the car in.

"This year, he's been relentless and not really knowing him [before], you sort of had a picture of what he's going to be like, but he's been very impressive with how hard he's pushed, but also how efficient he is with his feedback.

"With how knowledgable and constructive he is inside the team, it's been really impressive."