Alonso: "If I didn't continue in Alpine, I would see the best version of me in these 20 years in F1"

'The great circus of Formula One', a book written by the journalist Nira Juanco, with a prologue by Fernando Alonso and an epilogue by Carlos Sainz -who, to the 32 victories in the premier category of the previous one, added another one for Spain last year- was presented this Wednesday in Madrid, in an act led by his colleague (and former boss) Antonio Lobato and in which the double world champion from Asturias, a personal friend of the author, participated via videoconference.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
25 March 2023 Saturday 06:28
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Alonso: "If I didn't continue in Alpine, I would see the best version of me in these 20 years in F1"

'The great circus of Formula One', a book written by the journalist Nira Juanco, with a prologue by Fernando Alonso and an epilogue by Carlos Sainz -who, to the 32 victories in the premier category of the previous one, added another one for Spain last year- was presented this Wednesday in Madrid, in an act led by his colleague (and former boss) Antonio Lobato and in which the double world champion from Asturias, a personal friend of the author, participated via videoconference.

The media communicator from the Canary Islands, one of the most renowned and experienced journalists in the 'paddock', immerses herself fully in a hectic time of F1 to tell, from the bowels of this "great circus", the details and unknown stories that they developed around the great milestones of the moment: from the arrival of Alonso to Ferrari to the first Spanish team in Formula One, Hispania -whose owner, José Ramón Carabante, and his son José were also present at the event-; going through the sadly missing María de Villota and two other pilots, Jaime Alguersuari and Pedro De la Rosa -current ambassador of Aston Martin, Alonso's new team-, who also sent greeting videos.

The start of Formula 1 is more than meeting expectations. The Red Bulls continue to prove they have no rival and Fernando Alonso, together with his Aston Martin, has established himself as the third car on the grid and in the World Championship. It was already seen in Bahrain and, just 6 days ago and with some suspense, he achieved his second podium of the season and the 100th in his entire career.

The fact is that the two-time champion has recently commented on what he thought when he signed the green box. "I have prepared well since my return with Alpine in 2021. I was waiting for the new rules to be closer to victories, it did not happen in 2022 with Alpine, but it was a year to prepare well. Starting in the middle of the year, I signed with Aston Martin, I already started thinking about Aston Martin, preparing myself, talking to the team, preparing the car... It was like a personal thing, if I didn't continue with Alpine, the best version of me would be seen in these 20 years in F1," he said.

On the other hand, he made it clear that it will be difficult to maintain podium positions. "We started well, with two podiums, but Red Bull is in another league. That's why we have to keep our feet on the ground. There will come a race that we are going to do sixth or seventh, because the Ferraris will do well on that circuit. And the Mercedes are going to grow because they are a very big team and we already saw last year that they started out of Q3 and won a race in Brazil. That is the potential that Mercedes has. It can happen that we are sixth or seventh, but we are going to try delay it as much as possible and continue doing great performances", he pointed out.

On the other hand, Alonso reviewed his past. "I would say that of the 20 years that I have been in F1, I have only had four frustrating years in a McLaren-Honda that was not competitive. But in 16 years I have been fighting for podiums and victories and that is something quite unique," he stressed in statements to Channel 4. And, immediately afterwards, he stressed: "Sometimes, I feel that from the outside people feel a little sorry for the movements that I have made in my career, but the facts do not say that and I am happy to clarify it."