the followers of Fernando Alonso can breathe a sigh of relief. The two-time Spanish champion has announced in Australia that he intends to continue in Formula 1 “at least two more years, two or three years.” His third spell at Renault, now under the banner of Alpine, after achieving his two crowns with them in 2005 and 2006, has not started as well as he expected. The famous ‘Plan’ of the Asturian has had more shocks than joys at this point and the first two races of the season, with the arrival of the new sporting rules, have resulted in only two points on their account. “Much less than we deserve,” he insists Alonso.
After getting a podium in Qatar in 2021 and helping his teammate Stephen Ocon to achieve his first victory in Hungary last year, Alonso signed a one-year extension, until 2022, of the contract he sealed to return to F1 with Alpine last year. During a two-season hiatus away from the World Cup, Ferdinand He competed in the Dakar Rally, twice won the 24 hours of Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship and failed in his attempt to win the ‘triple crown’ in the Indianapolis 500. But he acknowledges that he always yearned to return to F1. And now he’s holding on to the wheel.
Despite being the oldest rider on the current grid -will turn 41 in July-, Alonso he feels strong enough to continue and considers that his performance does not decline with age. On the contrary, he believes that experience is a degree. Therefore, he even resents being asked if he feels pressured to allow the promotion of Alpine’s reserve pilot, Oscar Piastri, 23 years old, current champion of F3 and F2. “Obviously, if I were 25 years old, that wouldn’t be talked about,” he replies.
“People try to find a way for young talent. But I think it’s about performance, not age. Last year, I think I did well. I finished slightly ahead of my teammate Esteban Ocon. Let’s see this year how the battle unfolds. I still feel competitive and fast and I feel that I am enjoying this stage in Formula 1”, argues the Spaniard.
Alonso has explained that he will probably negotiate his renewal in the summer and has suggested that Piastri could find an alternative steering wheel: “If Piastri is with Alpine, it will be positive. If he is in another team, it will be positive too. He has won all the lower categories so far, which obviously shows that he has talent and is very professional and hard-working in the simulator and in the factory. . He is still very young. And hopefully he will find a seat soon. But we will know and we will start talking about it probably in the summer, “he settled.