Why Alonso has no plans to stop his F1 journey anytime soon

Fernando Alonso is confused and even a little puzzled, but still up for the challenge. “Yes. Why?” he wonders when GP Racing asks him to add together five numbers to each other. He leans over the table to glance at them in our notes and returns to his initial sitting position in three seconds with a playful smile.

“336,” he says.

Here’s your answer, Fernando. That’s the exact number of his grand prix entries (including three non-starts) before the 2022 season, as we speak on a cool evening in Bahrain during the last test before F1’s new era begins at the same venue in a week’s time: 17 with Minardi, 106 in two spells with Renault combined and 95 during another two at McLaren, plus 96 with Ferrari and 22 with Alpine last year.

Perhaps he knows these numbers by heart, but still acts surprised. Anyway, this is not the most difficult task for a guy who – as many in the paddock are convinced – can add up three-digit numbers while driving a Formula 1 car and, according to a former Ferrari sporting director Massimo Rivola, often left the team’s engineers “feeling like idiots” thanks to his ability to see races like nobody else can, including those sitting on the pitwall.

“I can do [it] faster,” Alonso insists, blaming – it must be admitted, not without reason – our handwriting for that three-second delay in supplying the answer.

Alonso is 40 years old and set to surpass Kimi Raikkonen’s record of most grand prix entries by the middle of autumn this year, and is still in great form.

“Fernando is still one of the best on the grid,” said former F1 driver and Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle ahead of the season. “If he was in the Mercedes, I think he’s got world championship potential.”

Alonso himself is happy to agree.

“Yes, I do,” he says, when asked if he believes Brundle’s assumption is correct. “Obviously, if not, I was not here. I’m not here to travel around the world. You’re here because you trust [in your abilities] and you have your self-confidence and belief you can do well and drive well.

“I came back to Formula 1 because I felt that I was able to perform still at the highest level possible. And yeah, I do believe that if we have the right package in the next coming years, we could fight. Then, winning a title requires a lot more things, luck and other. But to be a contender, I think we are able to do.”

Alonso looked set to challenge for pole position and a possible podium at the Australian GP before a Q3 crash - underlining his undisputed talent in the F1 ranks

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The lure of a ‘new’ F1 

It is this desire to win that is the real reason he’s back. The new technical regulations – touted as the biggest rule change in at least four decades – along with the introduction of the cost cap, is an opportunity for teams like Alonso’s Alpine to move up a tier in F1 and potentially challenge the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.

“I think if the rules continue as they were last year, you only come back in Formula 1 if you are in one of the two teams, you know, in Red Bull or Mercedes, that you can win races or win or fight for championships,” Alonso says. “Now with the new rules, I know that the top teams are still the favourite ones. But I think there are more possibilities. So you try to take that challenge and hopefully build something from zero to the winning.”

And while he doesn’t think F1’s new era is going to be its best, he’s still glad of the opportunity to have another go.

"If you have the chance to come back, those moments you live in a different way and you enjoy it in a different way" Fernando Alonso

“I normally say that the early 2000s were the cars that I did enjoy most,” he says. “They were very light, compared to our days, you know, 200 kilos lighter. The V10s were amazing engines, with a lot of torque, also this sound and the high revs. It was really, really, really unique when you jump in a Formula 1 car, so I think those were the best years that I remember.

“I love when car manufacturers go into the sport – early 2000s we had some private teams, yes, but a lot of big manufacturers interested in Formula 1. And some freedom also in terms of design and philosophies. I would like that as well in [modern] Formula 1.

“I know that we are not going into that direction, we’re going in the opposite, because of the cost cap and more common parts and things like that. But that’s OK. Now it’s just different. And the cars are just very different to drive. But they are very safe, first of all, and the sustainability is an important thing now, not only in Formula 1, also in the world in general. So we are happy to follow that direction.”

Alonso has made it clear he wouldn't have returned to F1 if he didn't think he could win world titles

Photo by: Alpine

“Useless moments” no more

The timing of Alonso’s comeback was perfect. Daniel Ricciardo’s defection to McLaren freed a place for Fernando in Team Enstone, with which he won both of his titles. Delaying the new rules until this season meant Alonso had a year to re-acclimatise to F1 and prepare for the regulation change. And although a bike accident last winter slightly disrupted his comeback progression, by the beginning of the summer no one had any doubts that Alonso was properly back.

It was important for him too, to understand if he’s able to complete 22 race weekends across four different continents in a single year, and still enjoy it.

“I think I got everything I was looking for last year,” he says. “I thought that it was the right thing to do to come back. Other series were not so appealing after the pandemic, they were all struggling a little bit for sponsors and for competitive seats and teams and... I think Formula 1 is still very healthy in that respect, even with the pandemic.

“That was appealing, and also the 2022 rules that we introduce this year were probably the biggest reason. Because last year we knew how competitive we could be, it was a continuation of 2020, of what Daniel and Esteban [Ocon] did in 2020. I knew what kind of results to expect. So I embraced it, [as well as] all the other things in Formula 1, the popularity that the series has, the comfort that you get here, how you get treated, you know, like a hero. F1 has a lot of privileges for drivers. So, yeah, I enjoyed all of that as well.”

His two-year sabbatical (2019-2020) not only allowed Alonso a break from Formula 1 after those difficult years with the struggling McLaren-Honda project, but also to fall in love with motorsport again.

“I saw Formula 1 from outside as well,” he continues, “which is very different to watching from the inside, because here you live day by day, and performance is the only topic that you talk [about], 24 hours a day.

“You lose sometimes the general picture of the sport and what is good to do. Even simple things like the national anthem and protocols on the grid and things like that. You used to hate those moments, because it’s completely, you know, a waste of time, and you need that time to prepare the start or the engine or something.

“Then when you are two years out and you watch TV, and [realise] those moments are quite special, for the fans and for the sponsors, for everyone. So if you have the chance to come back, those moments you live in a different way. And you enjoy it in a different way. They are part of the show and you start enjoying some things that were like useless moments of the weekend.”

Alonso's F1 sabbatical allowed him to experience new motorsport challenges including the World Endurance Championship, the Daytona 24 Hours, the Indy 500 and the Dakar Rally

Photo by: A.S.O.

 Sabbatical thoughts since 2009

Raikkonen, who made a detour into rallying in 2010 and 2011, has repeatedly said that without that break he would have never stayed in F1 for so long. The same goes for Alonso. “Absolutely,” he confirms. “I thought a couple of times to stop Formula 1 [even before]. One was around 2009, because I switched to McLaren at the end of 2006. I signed a three-year contract with McLaren, and I thought that that was my last contract. I was double world champion, I had three years in McLaren [ahead of me]. I thought at that time that could be a good moment to stop.

“And then I had another moment that I thought that it was nice to have some sabbatical years, it was around 2014 when I stopped [with] Ferrari. And then 2018 is where I finally made that decision. But it was always in my head, you know, from 2009 basically, to stop for a couple of years. And then reset yourself for another push, because if you keep going always, you cannot be that long in Formula 1, because it’s too demanding, on track and off track.”

Raikkonen managed to win a couple of races and even fight for titles – albeit constructors’ only – during his ‘second career’ with Ferrari, but the story of another former Alonso rival Michael Schumacher’s return to the sport was far less impressive. The German not only failed to match his previous results (which was to be expected given the level of Mercedes at that time), but was bested by Nico Rosberg, allowing the public to conclude that Schumacher was “not the same anymore”.

"I did Indy, WEC, Daytona, Dakar, so many different series. That kept me very active and into driving. Even discovering different driving techniques and different driving approaches. So that made me a little bit more complete as a driver" Fernando Alonso

You won’t find many in an F1 paddock who would say something similar about Alonso.

“I think there were maybe two differences, or what I see obviously, I don’t have exactly all the information about Michael,” says Fernando when asked to compare his comeback to Schumacher’s return to F1 in 2010. “For me, one difference was that I was very active when I stopped Formula 1. I was every weekend in a race car.

“I did Indy, I did the World Endurance Championship, Daytona, Dakar, so many different series. That kept me very active and into driving. Even discovering different driving techniques and different driving approaches. So that made me, I think, a little bit more complete a driver.

“Michael, I don’t know exactly what he was doing, but what we read is that he was doing motorbikes and this kind of things.

“And then the second thing is that Michael retired after a winning era in Ferrari. So when you come back, if you are not at that level or that kind of results, everything looks bad.

“When I stopped in 2018, I stopped after a few years of quite low, you know, and not good results. So immediately when you are in the top 10 or top six or whatever, it looks much better, because your last memory was not fighting for the championship!”

Third place at last year's Qatar GP meant more to Alonso in the months after the race than at the time

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

 Qatar podium bigger than it seemed

Alonso’s first lap during last season’s sprint race at Silverstone showed he’s still a wizard at starts; his fierce battle with Lewis Hamilton in Budapest not only allowed his team-mate to win a race, but proved that Fernando’s racecraft is still excellent. His podium in Qatar was the final bit of evidence needed to show this Alonso was as good as the one before – not only because he managed to finish third in an F1 race, but mainly because he did it on merit, beating one of the Red Bulls on the way to that podium.

“Until Qatar I thought it was not too important,” Alonso says, “because the podium was… I mean, it’s nice to be on the podium, but it’s not the end of the world [if it doesn’t happen]. But then, with months coming after Qatar, I realised that, yeah, it was important. It was important to release some of the weight on my shoulders, and the fans and expectations that are always created around me.

“That podium meant more than I thought right there when I was in Qatar. So I’m happy with that. It was a race that was not a six red flags, rain, dry, you know, a big chaos, it was a more or less a normal race. That was a good feeling.”

After Raikkonen’s retirement, Alonso is the most experienced driver on the grid. But it’s not just the age and the number of starts (333). Fernando is the only driver in F1 with racing experience in IndyCar, WEC, Daytona, Dakar. He feels he’s not only as fast as before, but also more ready to push the team forward.

“For sure, with more background on myself,” he says, “I cannot compare with others, but if I compare myself to 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I’m surely much better now. And I can, I think, say to the team different things in a different way, that are much more precise, you know, to what we have to do. So, yeah, I hope it helps to have that extra experience.”

With experience gained from racing in many other categories, Alonso feels he can use it to help improve Alpine in F1

Photo by: Alpine

Trust in the process

Alonso is in love with F1 again. He’s still hungry, even when he’s only fighting for lower points positions. He still thinks he’s good enough to fight for the championship. But will he have a good enough car? Is Alpine ready to provide him with one?

“Well, you never know until you are in that point,” he says. “At the moment we are making the team stronger. If I think back one year ago, and we were here in Bahrain, and how the team is now, we are much more prepared. I think some of the areas that we were weak now they are very strong, and we have a very good group of people. And on [the] track side I think we are maximising everything we have every weekend.

“Obviously, how competitive you are is difficult to know until we put the cars on track and the development that you do during the year. So there are a couple of things that we still need to improve as a team. But we are working on that. And now we have this possibility of the cost cap, which in the previous years maybe to reach a certain level it was nearly impossible for some teams. Now I think you can do, because we have the same cards on the table for everybody.”

"I will not race more than four seasons, I think. But it would be nice to reach 400. That’s a good number!" Fernando Alonso

There are some worrying signs, though. Team Enstone has already gone through a lot of tribulations after being sold to Gerard Lopez in 2009, then subsequently being rebuilt by Cyril Abiteboul under the Renault moniker. And Team Enstone is again undergoing big changes under the new leadership of Laurent Rossi. Abiteboul’s now gone, as is former ally Marcin Budkowski. Davide Brivio, who joined Alpine in a new role of race director at the start of last season, has moved to a different position. Alain Prost has also left, slamming the door behind him and giving a caustic interview to L’Equipe, in which he accused Rossi of wanting “all the spotlight”. Aston Martin’s Otmar Szafnauer and the FIA’s Bruno Famin are fresh through the door.

Team Enstone has undergone another overhaul with a new management structure put in place

Photo by: Alpine

Who better than Alonso to know that times of change can be hard? But perhaps his only option now is to believe those changes will bring something good.

“Changes are not always the best thing, because there are too many things going on in the team, and you need to find some stability,” he says. “But we have great leaders in our team, we have Laurent, CEO of Alpine, we have Luca de Meo, the president [CEO of Renault], who is very supportive about Formula 1, which we need. And we trust them, and [that] all the changes that they are making is because they believe it is the best thing. And we support them.”

It’s clear, though, that Alpine won’t be able to fight for wins (at least on a regular basis) this year. Laurent Rossi keeps talking about a 100-race project and stresses that “the objective is to reach a level of competitiveness that places us on the podium as many times as possible in 2024”.

You don’t have to be as quick at maths as Fernando to be able to add another 100 to his 336 GP entries. It is going to be a very big number.

Does he have his own deadline? “Probably,” he answers. “Because I will not race more than four seasons, I think. But it would be nice to reach 400. That’s a good number! I don’t know how many seasons I need to race.

“336 will be at the end of this year?” he asks. No, Fernando, that’s now…

“So we need to put 23 on that. It’s 359. So… another two seasons, probably, after this one. It is reachable. Yeah, 400 is reachable.”

This is undoubtedly his last chance to win again. And to reach 400 races will require a contract extension beyond this season. Eventually, time – and those big numbers – will catch up with F1’s warrior. But he certainly won’t go down without a fight.

Can Alonso reach his target of 400 F1 races?

Photo by: Alpine