Fernando Alonso back in F1 | PH Meets
Find out why the two-time world champion couldn't resist returning to the grid with Alpine at 39
Fernando Alonso was on top form as he addressed a handful of journalists via video call from Bahrain yesterday afternoon. He spoke openly but directly, never wasting a word nor skirting around an issue. There was very little rehearsed corporate nonsense and no thanking of his sponsors for their continued support, while questions he didn't like got short shrift.
The double F1 world champion will make his comeback to motorsport's top flight this weekend as the 2021 season gets underway in the Middle East. He'll be driving, of course, for the new Alpine team, which isn't new at all but simply the Enstone-based Renault outfit rebranded in blue for this season onwards.
As Alonso himself points out, this is the third time he will have driven for the team formerly known as Renault. That, he reckons, demonstrates he isn't the difficult pantomime villain some - including one German journalist on this call - like to characterise him as. His somewhat barbed response to that particular question was the most amusing part of the entire interview. The final question was my own and his answer wasn't the one I was expecting.
How do you feel abut Davide Brivio coming from Moto GP and do you welcome someone from a parallel sport?
I am very happy to have Davide on board. I think it's very interesting to have his point of view on many things. Normally Formula 1 is a very closed environment where you are repeating the same thing for many years, so it's good to have this fresh approach from him, plus his leadership and knowledge. I'm very keen to learn from him and to help him because I'm sure he will be surprised by some of the things that are happening in Formula 1.
What does a two-time world champion expect from a team like Alpine?
I expect a team that wants to grow up and get better every day. I think this is what we have seen from the team in the last couple of years. I think the progress the team has made in the last year especially has been very impressive and I think with the leadership of the new management, the president Luca de Meo, Alpine wants to become a contender for the championship in the near future. That's why we are all here, why we trust in the project and what we want to achieve.
When you left Ferrari in 2014 you said you didn't want to fight anymore for fifth or sixth place. Then Ferrari competed very closely with Mercedes in 2018 and 2019. Have you ever regretted your decision to leave Ferrari?
No, I never regretted that decision. I don't regret any decisions from my career. I know that if you have a crystal ball maybe you take different decisions at different times, but at that moment I felt it was the right decision, and when you feel something you do it. You make decisions and take responsibility for them. The Ferrari decision I think was perfect timing in 2014, after five seasons where we had some success, we were fighting for the world championship until the last lap in three of those seasons, and we had an amazing atmosphere, an amazing love for each other - me for Ferrari and Ferrari for me - it was the right time. If you keep going and keep not winning, because we are in 2021 and they are still not winning, I think at some point that relationship gets hurt and we wanted to have only love.
The fans, particularly in Spain, are excited about your comeback. Can you be competitive this season?
I have felt a very warm welcome from everybody, from the team of course but also the fans, the media, the other drivers, Formula 1 management... I felt a lot of love. The fans in Spain have to understand that this season is a continuation of last season, and not many changes will be seen on track. Hopefully we can be competitive, hopefully we can fight for some podiums, but it will be a surprise if we can achieve more than that.
Do you think Mercedes' problems are real or should we give an Oscar to Hamilton for his acting?
Again, this season is a continuation of the last, so I expect Mercedes to be very strong. Whatever happened in winter testing is only winter testing, so let's see this weekend. I think they will be fast.
How does the car feel different to three years ago?
It's difficult to compare. I felt very good in the car, the progress of the sport in general was very impressive, the cars are faster now, they have more braking performance, more grip, they have more power, the engines have developed a lot in the last three years so you feel the power on the straights, but you also feel the consistency. The deployment of the electrical power of the engine is very well integrated now, so everything feels much more precise, much more sophisticated. The feeling of the car was fantastic.
Is Hamilton the title favourite again and did you ever think someone might beat Michael Schumacher's record of seven titles?
No, I think no-one expected anyone to beat the record because seven was unreachable. Now Lewis has seven and probably an eighth at the end of the year, something that maybe we didn't think possible 10 years ago. But this is fantastic for the sport to break records, because records are made to be broken and that attracts more people and more fans, and we are living in that moment. And yes, I think Lewis is the title favourite after being so dominant for many years, but we have seen Max Verstappen is also a contender and he is a fighter, so hopefully we can have a very nice battle this year.
Is Flavio Briatore's opinion still important in your decision making and what do you feel when you see Carlos Sainz at Ferrari?
Yes, Falvio is still a person that I respect a lot and I speak with him every week. He is a friend of mine and that will never change. I am happy for Carlos, I think he grew up as a driver a lot in the last few years. He was super fast and was achieving the results the team expected of him at McLaren and Renault, and now he has the opportunity to drive for Ferrari, which is always a privilege for any racing driver. I hope he enjoys every day and has good results as well.
You have a reputation for being one of the best, but you are also known for being one of the most difficult team-mates. It's very difficult to live with Fernando Alonso in one team. What do you think of that reputation?
I laugh.
[At this point Alonso stared down the barrel of the camera for five seconds without saying another word. It seems being called 'difficult' grates with the Spaniard.]
This is the third time I have been with Renault. It was the second time with McLaren last time. They have apparently been happy with me because if they are not happy I don't know why they keep calling me. So that's one proof. With Giancarlo Fisichella I am still talking, and with Jarno Trulli - he lives in the same city as me and after my bike accident [earlier this year] I received a call from him offering to go to the supermarket for me to do my shopping.
These kinds of things are happening to me every day. It's the same with Stoffel Vandoorne, the same with Jenson Button and now with Esteban Ocon. I don't know if you saw but he was driving this week in a go-kart - a go-kart I sent to him. You will never read that. This is why I laugh, because all my team-mates have been good friends to me. It's the same with the Toyota [Le Mans] drivers, the same in Dakar. When I arrived in Dakar they said, 'here, you need to help your team-mates'. I said, 'of course'. Sometimes this reputation is very good because when they discover that I am normal, they are happy and surprised.
Esteban Ocon said that he thinks you are more like 28 than 39. How do you feel?
I feel 39. I wish I could feel 28! I have a little bit less hair than before, but other than that, as a driver, I feel young and ready, I have been preparing myself for this challenge physically but also mentally. Physically I was not concerned, but mentally you have to be prepared to sacrifice everything in your life for the coming years because Formula 1 is very demanding, you have to be ready for that. When you are 20 or 25 you don't have other views in your life than racing, but when you are older you see life maybe from a different point of view and you don't want to give everything away for racing. But I am ready to do that because I still feel that I can enjoy this kind of challenge. My age is a big topic, but I feel good. Even the guy who has been dominating the sport for the last few seasons is 36, so we are within three or four years of each other. There is a new generation, of course, but that new generation has still not won anything.
How will your experiences at Le Mans, the Indy 500 and the Dakar Rally help you in F1?
I will try to take something from my experience the last two years. I think one very notable thing is the team effort required in endurance racing, you work with your team-mates, you need to share everything for the good of the team. That different approach, that way of preparing for the weekend, is something hopefully we can do more often here in Alpine between Esteban and myself, especially this year which is very important as we prepare for the 2022 rules. The Dakar experience was a personal challenge because you have to survive every day in the middle of nowhere. In Indianapolis the level of detail you have to go into with your engineer and your spotter and your mechanics, even though everything is more basic in terms of technology, the level of sophistication in the fine-tuning is maybe greater than in Formula 1. Hopefully I can take some lessons from the last two years into this Formula 1 comeback.
What is it about F1 that means you can't leave it alone - is it that you feel like you should have a third championship?
No, the main reason was that last year, when I sat with myself after Dakar with all my options on the table, the biggest challenge was to come back to F1. That was the biggest challenge I had in front of me. I was thinking about how I could improve as a total driver, become a more complete driver. I could go back to the World Endurance Championship, I could do the Dakar but that's only one race per year, I could do the Indy 500 or the whole IndyCar championship, or I could come back to F1. I had a few options on the table. The one that was most appealing, and most challenging, was to return to Formula 1 and try to win in the short to medium term. That was the most difficult one, but at the same time the most challenging.
I think hes one of the most naturally talented drivers ever to grace the sport.
Really liked his answer regarding being "difficult", its always too easy to form opinions based on how someone as focused and unyielding as Fernando is portrayed by the media. He's human like the rest of us and unfortunately this doesn't make for interesting headlines or click-bait fodder.
The new Alpine livery looks
too! Vettel has 2 of his titles imo.
The bbc website 5 part article on him from 2 or 3 years ago is a must read.
I was lucky enough to be on a call with him in the week as i work for one of his sponsors and he came across really well. Very relaxed.
I tell you one thing Hamilton or Verstappen would not want Alonso in the second car that's for sure.
Give it a few races and Alonso will be back up to full speed and giving Ocon a lesson in how to drive.
Then when Lewis spanked his arse at Mclaren he spat the dummy and moved to Ferrari and spat the dummy there too...he's done nothing since he won the championships...he's spent force best to retire and leave the racing to the quick guys.
Then when Lewis spanked his arse at Mclaren he spat the dummy and moved to Ferrari and spat the dummy there too...he's done nothing since he won the championships...he's spent force best to retire and leave the racing to the quick guys.
Then when Lewis spanked his arse at Mclaren he spat the dummy and moved to Ferrari and spat the dummy there too...he's done nothing since he won the championships...he's spent force best to retire and leave the racing to the quick guys.
Still, he’s quick, so it should make for interesting viewing.
It’ll be difficult for him when he’s spanked left, right and centre!
I tell you one thing Hamilton or Verstappen would not want Alonso in the second car that's for sure.
Give it a few races and Alonso will be back up to full speed and giving Ocon a lesson in how to drive.
Having him back might just make it more interesting, with Lewis I wonder when he will stop like Schumacher it got dull after a while when he kept winning I liked the season where Rosberg said enough.
Having him back might just make it more interesting, with Lewis I wonder when he will stop like Schumacher it got dull after a while when he kept winning I liked the season where Rosberg said enough.
Real shame as I think sticking Russel in as Hamilton's team mate this year would have done the sport the world of good.
Then when Lewis spanked his arse at Mclaren he spat the dummy and moved to Ferrari and spat the dummy there too...he's done nothing since he won the championships...he's spent force best to retire and leave the racing to the quick guys.
Still, he’s quick, so it should make for interesting viewing.
It’ll be difficult for him when he’s spanked left, right and centre!
Renault alpine wont suddenly come good this year but its all about next year really.
Real shame as I think sticking Russel in as Hamilton's team mate this year would have done the sport the world of good.
Gasly must be annoyed not to have found himself back in Redbull.
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