Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack says Fernando Alonso is pushing his crews and "leading by example at all times".
Aston has enjoyed a remarkable start to its 2023 campaign, the Silverstone-based outfit establishing itself as the second-best team on the grid behind Red Bull thanks to a hat trick of podiums delivered by Alonso in Bahrain, Jeddah and Melbourne.
And the Spaniard's impressive achievement and contribution to Aston's step forward aren't lost on the team, with a group of mechanics cheerfully singing Alonso's name beneath the podium.
"I think it was a confirmation basically, of where he's standing in the team," explained Krack, quoted by Motorsport.com. "He brought a lot of energy, a lot of positiveness when he arrived.
"He is leading by example at all times. He's there very early, he's working really hard, and it is this lead by example that everybody just sees and grabs on and gives an extra level of motivation.
"And I think the singing of the name was like a confirmation also for him that he really brought a lot into the team."
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Krack admitted to being surprised by his team's early performance this season, and praised Alonso for the two-time world champion's performance and unwavering consistency throughout the race weekend.
"If someone told me you will have three podiums after the first three races I would have not believed it," he said.
"But it shows also what a champion we have there. He's just incredible, his consistency.
"If you look at all the sessions so far throughout the year he has always been there, in every session, in every FP1, FP2, he'll always up there and pushes the maximum all the time."
At 41, Alonso is no longer a spring chicken in F1, and yet the years appear to have no impact on the veteran's drive and energy.
"I think the most important thing is the speed and the desire to compete or the desire to be competitive," added Krack.
"I don't like to speak about age, about Fernando's age, about my age also by the way!
"In general, I think it is really important how you keep yourself fit, how you keep yourself in, and what is your desire to do well, and this is something outstanding that Fernando is having.
"I would really be happy if we could provide the car for him to gain this third title, but I think we need to keep our feet a bit more on the ground, speaking about world titles.
"We have made now our first step in progressing from where we were before, and we should not start to dream."
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