Fernando Alonso on creating the Aston Martin Valiant
Aston's new 734bhp manual sports car was a bespoke commission from the two-time F1 world champion
“I wanted a Valour and asked if it could be a little bit different – if they could make a special version for me,” said legendary Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso on how Aston Martin’s new limited-edition Valiant racer was born.
Fitted with a 734bhp 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12, which is coupled to a six-speed manual gearbox, the bespoke commission has been created to be as pure a driving experience as can be made.
“I think the final product is a moving piece of art,” Alonso told Autocar.
Limited to just 38 examples and with a price of close to £2 million, the road-legal Valiant is a development of the 2023 Valour, also a limited-run model.
We sat down with Spain's two-time F1 world champion at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed to find out more.
-*How did it come about?*-
“It all started when the Valour came. Firstly, I wanted a Valour and asked if it could be a little bit different.
“I’m a big fan of aerodisks and some other features and I asked the team if they could make a special version for me. Obviously the aerodisks were not homologated for the Valour, the rear wing was not homologated, having lightweight materials – it was a little bit of a challenge for them. And when we reviewed the list of things, they said: ‘Okay, I think it is better to make a new car with a new name and we just make a limited edition.'
“So I said why not and from that point we started working on some aerodynamic devices, more power, less weight, all things a racing driver loves to have, and I think the final product is a moving piece of art.”
-*What’s it like to drive?*-
“Quite extreme. It’s a track car that is made for the normal road. The Multimatic dampers make the car’s handling very good. For me, the sound of the V12 is a very special way to feel the car and transmit the passion you have behind the wheel. For me, the two things that surprised me most were the suspension and the handling, but also the sound of it.”
-*How often do you drive a manual?*-
“Never.”
-*So why choose a manual for your ideal car?*-
“I grew up driving manuals in my younger categories even in Formula Nissan. This is a collectible car and is something that I want to drive in 10-15 years' time and have the feeling of how everything started and road cars started.
“When I got my licence, I waited since I was 14 or 15 until the day I was 18 and I could drive cars. I was in different single-seaters and driving full speed but you are always waiting for your licence, for the first moment you have the freedom of being alone with a car. Taking the highway or going to a restaurant on your own is something you don’t forget. And having a manual with a V12 car is something that I think has more appeal than having a normal automatic.”
-*Do you have street cars to drive a lot?*-
“I drive every day. I live in Monaco so I use a scooter more than cars but I still drive often, to the airport every single week we are travelling, so I go to the airport. So I drive road cars often.”
-*Is there anything on the car where they said they can’t do that, or that you’re really proud of?*-
“Many, many things. The normal answer is ‘no’ but the team is clever enough to find a way, especially the gearstick to be exposed like that. Originally, it was not possible because it is a big job to change the structures but now it's a nice feature.
“Some aero devices, like the floor, like the splitter and diffuser, were a challenge because for a track it’s not difficult but for a road car you need to go over speed bumps and have some maintenance of those where it’s a nice shape on the bodywork. Some of those were a challenge or a question mark whether it was worth putting them into a road-legal car but everything came alive and more or less everything we asked for is in the car.
“And I think it is 100kg less than the Valour, which is a big number to achieve. When you say 100kg, they initially say no, and you need to take 1kg here, 1.5kg there, you can drop 20kg and 100kg is a big ask but eventually it was achieved.”
-*How involved are you in the process of getting weight out or tuning the car?*-
“Not so much: the team is capable. For me, they were more in contact with more of the F1 team than me personally. The relationship between the Aston Martin F1 team and the road car team has been a little bit closer than ever for this car in terms of using some of the materials we use in the F1 team.
“Some of the weight savings that we do, especially in the F1 team, is on the highest parts of the car, because you can lower the centre of gravity. So places like the cockpit, the seat, the steering wheel, the console – those are key places in F1 because you lower the centre of gravity and they feed back that into the road car version. I think the seat and the cockpit is a big change between the Valour and the Valiant.”
-*You could be racing for I don’t know how long, but could you imagine a second career in designing road cars?*-
“I would say no because I think it is much more complex to design road cars than help a racing team on a weekend, which is where I can help Aston Martin in the future. I will race for a few more years but my Aston Martin contract is for the long term and, after my driving duties, I can help the team more in a race weekend, helping the drivers to go into the weekend at different phases of the calendar, to stay fit, to stay focused, weekend assistance, race decisions - intermediate tyres/wet tyres – I think I’m more useful in that area than road cars.
“But I will be happy always to test cars. I think since I joined Aston Martin, the thing that I love is that in the DBX, the handling, that car has no roll, no pitch. That platform is super-stable and I’m always surprised when I drive that car. It’s the car I drive in Monaco, and is the car that I love from all the Aston Martins, so I think that kind of feedback, that’s something the team can benefit from.”
-*Will you have any input into who buys the car? *-
“I don’t think so. I have seen some messages. It’s a highly collectible car and will hold a high value always, so some friends have sent me a message, but I think they [the cars] are all allocated.”
-*I understand you’ve ordered one. Is that right?*-
“Not yet, but… the Vantage GT3 I’ll have. I have an Aston Martin DTM from the old Class 1. I have a Valkyrie [hopefully being] delivered in time for my birthday on 29 July, which would be good timing, and I’m looking for a DB5.
“I’m in contact with the heritage team and I’m in a moment of my life that I’m looking forward to having a small collection. Aston Martin is known for collectible cars and high value and it goes into that segment and it’s one of the things I’ll have.”
-*You’ve fallen in love with Aston by the sounds of it?*-
“Yeah I’m more into the brand now. I was always a fan but lately with some of the products, I think it’s a step up from the past and the brand is still very exclusive and some of the luxury brands that I worked for in the past, they went into a different direction and bigger numbers.
“I like these cars to be exclusive and to treat the customers as unique customers and you are very special to them and I think Aston is one of those that’s taking care of customers and I share some of those values.
“When you buy a car of this performance and made in these numbers, you want to be treated as a one-off if you’re one of 37 or one of 1000.”
-*Is there competition in the paddock about which cars they’ve got an allocation for?*-
“Not really but, in a way, we all know what the others have in their garage. We follow a bit in the distance what they have. More and more retro-style cars people are trying to collect, old-school cars, and that’s the Valiant, with a V12 and manual shift. Even if it’s a new car, it reminds me a bit of the retro. And all of them in a way, they love the Valkyrie. Max [Verstappen] has one.
“But it’s something we all love. We are enthusiastic about cars and drive the best cars in the world every two weeks, but in our normal everyday life, we want to drive a powerful car as well.”
-*What’s the Alonso spec for a Valkyrie?*-
“The coupé, and I just went for the Formula 1 colours. I wanted to have something that was closest to F1. I drove the Aston every two weeks and wanted the Valkyrie to be the same, with touches of lime.”
-*And the DB5?*-
“I would love to have the silver grey but some of the proposals have blue, they have greens, so I will look into that. But totally original.”