Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne to join Alonso at Aston Martin in 2023
Stoffel Vandoorne is delighted to be driving for Aston Martin in 2023. The Belgian driver will be the British team's reserve driver, working alongside Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll next season.
As he has just received his Formula E world champion title, Stoffel Vandoorne is eager to start his first season as a reserve driver for Aston Martin.
Mercedes is withdrawing from the Formula E World Championship for 2023, so the Belgian driver will no longer compete in this discipline and will focus again on Formula 1. Although he has not raced in this discipline since leaving at the end of the 2018 season, Stoffel Vandoorne has been a reserve and development driver for Mercedes for 3 seasons. He will reunite with his former teammate Fernando Alonso at his new team, Aston Martin. This is one of the reasons that motivated him to commit to the Gaydon-based company.
« It’s a new adventure for me… I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a team that is on a steep rise and is fully developing the car. And I’ll be reunited with my friend Fernando. » explained the Belgian driver.
The driving of a Formula 1 car is a complex exercise and completely different from the Formula E single-seaters that Vandoorne is used to from several seasons. However, the driver does not apprehend this adaptation phase and believes that he will quickly be operational in order to help his new team progress.
« It has been a long time since I last drove a recent Formula 1 car, so in terms of track experience, I cannot say what the change will be like, but I am used to switching from one simulator to another.
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