03/07/2023 On at 12:50 CET
In Bahrain, at the end of the day, with great passion, Ferdinand Alonso embraced Laurent Stroll, who became the new patron of the Asturian pilot. Last summer, the Canadian cashier, Aston Martin, the largest shareholder, found out that Sebastian Vettel had decided to leave the ship. In F1, he investigated the market situation, as it deals with large investments in other companies and saw Alonso desperately seeking an exit from Alpina. The French have only offered him a one-year contract and plan to replace him in 2024 with youngster Oscar Piastri. It is difficult not to have time to convince Alonso. “They believe in me and they don’t look at my passport,” said Fernando, 41, when he announced his surprise deal with the Silver team.
With an email, Stroll built his own team after the Williamses refused to sell him theirs. He was not content to give his son Lance a structure so that he could compete in the former class. He wanted to be the owner of the football team. He began buying Force India, later named Racing Point and finally Aston Martin. His dream began to take shape in ‘green’ in 2021. Next Sunday, with Alonso on the podium, chasing the two drivers of the Red Bull, Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez, Lawrence acknowledged that a few bets would be “perverse”: “And this is only the beginning”, he warned .
Alonso is also sure that the development of the AMR23 “with many improvements in the last few races” can give continuity to the success in Bahrain: “there is room for improvement, especially in qualifying”, he said.
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At Silverstone, the new and more modern facilities – factories and wind tunnels – have not yet been completed, but Stroll’s investment is already paying off and his intention to succeed, like Alonso, has infected the entire staff. “People there like to ride motorcycles,” jokes Fernando, hoping after countless disappointments since his departure from Ferrari in 2014. “It means that we have made changes to the structure. We have retired from 400 to 750 people in our headquarters. The new factory is growing and the works are approaching completion. .
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Lawrence Stroll, 63, made his fortune in Canada exclusively distributing brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Peter Cardin, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors. Claire is married to Anne, who is called Callens by some trade name. They have two children, Lance and Chloe, who is an actress and a singer.
Laurent Stroll’s huge passion has always been speed. He owns one of the most impressive Ferrari collections in the world, with a 250 GTO (considered the most expensive in the world), a 250 Testa Rossa, a 250 GT California Spyder and a LaFerrari, among others. The new boss Fernando Alonso became in 2018 among the 1,000 richest people in the world (special position 887), according to Forbes magazine. Today he has an estate of 2,900 million dollars and is counted 1,012 in number.
“When I set up my F1 team, I set out to gather the best people and develop the right resources and organization to succeed in this competitive sport”, emphasizes Mr Stroll, who says that he shares Alonso’s competitive spirit and mentality: “I know. and him for many years he was surprised. Fernando was always clear to me that I was committed to being such a winner.”
