Alonso and Aston Martin look a strong package

LONDON : Fernando Alonso has made some wrong moves in a Formula One career that should have delivered more than two titles but joining Aston Martin is looking like a good one.

The 41-year-old Spaniard moved to the Silverstone-based team from Renault-owned Alpine at the end of last season after signing a multi-year deal as a replacement for retiring Sebastian Vettel.

The money was substantial, and the prospect of extending his career by two more years highly attractive, but there were doubts he was heading to a better seat than the one he had vacated at a works team.

The impression from pre-season testing in Bahrain, however, was that Aston Martin are on the rise.

It is early days, and the picture only an outline without so much as a racing lap, but the team that finished seventh last season compared to Alpine's fourth could be best of the rest behind the big three.

They may even be level on performance with Mercedes, third last season and their engine provider.

"I think they’ve made a big step," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, whose former aerodynamics chief engineer Dan Fallows joined Aston Martin as technical director last April, told F1 television.

"It looks like their concept of car has moved them forward and they look like they’re not too far away. Fernando in particular looks very competitive."

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen agreed: "I think Aston Martin look fast," said the Dane.

"They seem to constantly be doing good long runs and when they try to put in a fast time, they seem to do it as well."

MISSION 33

For Alonso fans, 'El Plan' - the project with Alpine - has morphed on social media into 'Mission 33': to add to his tally of 32 career victories a decade on from his last with Ferrari in 2013.

The driver, whose resume