Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin Valkyrie has arrived
The Valkyrie is a company car that sounds better than Alonso’s ‘work hack’, is built with similar materials and methods and is very nearly as fast. Only it has number plates…
Fernando Alonso has taken delivery of his Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar. The Aston Martin Aramco F1 ace and two-time world champion received his new company car in Monaco, driving the car out of the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel.
The one-of-150 example is in a distinctive specification, with Alonso working with Aston Martin’s Q bespoke division to create the design. The main paint scheme is satin Aston Martin Racing Green with contrasting AMR satin Lime graphics highlighting the extremities of the Valkyrie’s porous bodywork. There’s also a hint of Speed Red, light and dark blue within the Valkyrie’s cavernous venturi tunnels.
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In case a green Valkyrie from a distance seems a bit much of a muchness (if any Valkyrie could be dismissed as such) there are plenty of touches to let you know this one belongs to Alonso. Principally, if you peer through the windscreen and windows, Alonso’s logo can be seen on the headrests embroidered in AMR Lime stitch. That same logo is revealed when you open the door, on a plate embedded in the ‘sill’, which in Valkyrie speak, is where you sit after you’ve lifted the door before you slide in. Other hidden touches include the number 14 – Alonso’s race number since 1996 – etched on the aluminium accelerator pedal, as well as ‘CAUTION HOT’ graphics at the rear.
‘It’s hard to put into words how much I have been looking forward to this day’, Alonso said. ‘To sit at the wheel of my own Valkyrie; one that I have worked on designing so closely with the team at Q by Aston Martin is certainly a day to remember. Valkyrie truly is an F1 car for the road, with so much of the knowledge and technology taken from all the experience Aston Martin has on track and I can’t wait to hit the road.’
Alonso has a good deal of involvement with and enthusiasm for Aston Martin’s road car operation. While he was at the reveal of the new Aston Martin Vanquish in Venice, he more notably effectively commissioned the creation of the Aston Martin Valiant track car. The Valiant was effectively born out of Alonso’s ideas for his Valour, which proved to be ambitious enough for a new line of cars. Alonso did indeed also drive the Valiant for its dynamic debut at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
While the Valiant is a road-based track car, the Valkyrie really is closer to a racing prototype with numberplates than a performance road car in the traditional sense. Indeed, the marque is set to compete for overall victory at Le Mans next year with the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH. With its 6.5-litre Cosworth-developed V12 engine revving to an 11,100rpm redline bolted directly to the motorsport-spec Multimatic-made carbonfibre tub chassis, you need an intercom system just to have a steady conversation with a passenger. As you might expect, we found the Valkyrie to be an entirely awe-inspiring, if a little alienating, driving experience, at least on track.
Each car takes 2000 hours to make, using Formula 1-style construction techniques and exotic materials – the sheer amount of titanium the Valkyrie program required had even the Ministry of Defence raising their eyebrows and picking up the phone. It might be a hybrid but whether there’s any Benefit In Kind to be claimed on this company car is very much in doubt.
