How classic Alonso strengths are helping him in a critical F1 phase 

Fernando Alonso is at a truly significant stage in his career. At Monaco he started his 340th grand prix and, after Baku, he will have surpassed Michael Schumacher’s 7764 days of involvement in Formula 1. That means more than two decades covering a debut with Minardi in 2001 to Alonso’s current status as a feisty points scorer for Alpine – and just like Schumacher there have been gaps in that career when F1 was not Fernando’s focus.

But Alonso is stepping into a longer period than anyone, whether through time or number of races. Following the Italian Grand Prix in September, assuming he competes in each scheduled race, Fernando will have equalled Kimi Räikkönen’s record of 349 grands prix started. It’s a numbers game.

Numbers do matter to Fernando. Scoring two world titles instead of five, having lost out by eight points across three seasons in battles with Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel, must have sharpened his sensitivity to the slightest difference. But those figures are less important to Alonso in his current mindset than the information he can absorb from those around him. Hand him an update on the car that in theory is worth two tenths of a second and, according to those who have worked closely with him, he will typically find those two tenths – unlike his team-mates, who often struggle to adjust their driving styles to find the gain.

Alonso is also renowned for his understanding of strategy. Eric Boullier, current managing director of the French Grand Prix and former race director at McLaren, was suitably impressed when working with the Spaniard.

“Fernando reads every kind of detail,” Boullier says. “He hides away in his changing room in the motorhome, and you might think he’s relaxing, but most of the time he is working – he’ll study tyre degradation for all the rival cars around him from Friday practice onwards, and by Sunday he’ll know which rivals he’ll need to push and which he needs to keep at a distance. In the race he absorbs even more detail from the spectator screens, using that information to gain advantage. He is incredibly strong on strategy.”

Rival engineers have been impressed to hear the sort of information Alonso can absorb over team radio as well. It is all part of a mindset which began as a youngster in karting, and then as a mechanic for other kart racers while Fernando was trying to build his own professional racing career.

Fernando Alonso took his first Formula 1 victory with Renault at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2003

Photo by: Motorsport Images

“He’s one of those drivers who understands everything from the technical part of the car,” confirms Eric. “He’s not an engineer, but he knows how systems work and he gives guidance as to how the systems could work better while not trying to redesign them himself, a thin line that’s important to understand.”

Having worked so closely with Fernando, Eric is also surprised that some people see him as a disruptor within a team. “I don’t know why this reputation has built up,” Boullier adds. “He’s never been a team destroyer. He’s a real team player – but that does not always include the driver next door. He works well in a model where he’s number one and he has a number two who can help him and they can work together.

“When he was with Jenson Button they were clever enough to understand each other, to respect each other. With Stoffel Vandoorne, he [Alonso] could use Stoffel’s input for his own benefit so that’s why the relationship was working. If he cannot use a driver for his own benefit then that person becomes an enemy. But I saw him as the best team builder ever – he’s a great competitor, he’s self-focused but he wants to include everyone around him to win.”

That element of Alonso came across with his current Alpine team via radio at last year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi: “I’m very proud of you guys, we executed every Sunday to perfection,” Alonso told the team on the slow-down lap. “The best is yet to come next year, I promise. This [season] was a warm-up, you know, like the boxers. They do a game just before the big fight – this was 2021 for us – but you were amazing.”

Sadly, Alpine has not yet produced a car as consistently fast as Alonso needs, but it does offer him moments to shine. And the partnership with Frenchman Esteban Ocon –15 years Fernando’s junior – is certainly not as destructive as the one we saw with Lewis Hamilton back in 2007, as Eric agrees: “Esteban has been trying to develop his own position in the team, using Fernando for his own benefits in a similar style and they appear to have a good balance. The pairing works not too bad and is interesting to watch.”

The skills, the relationships all seem to be there, but can Fernando add to the number that means the most to him: his tally of 32 grand prix wins? That depends on the progress made by Alpine and it needs to happen quickly. Management changes have not made life easy, yet the core engineering structure has developed for several years and working with such a technically astute, cooperative driver surely helps that shift.

When Alonso claimed his first victory in F1 in Hungary in 2003, he said he hoped to have a long career with lots more victories. That career length has been achieved, but those extra wins have often proved a little more difficult to come by.

Can Alonso add to the number that means the most to him: his tally of 32 grand prix wins?

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images