Alonso's Alpine Altitude Test Results: Muscle Fitness Soars

Feb.20 - Fernando Alonso says edging towards vegetarianism over the winter break means he is better prepared for the upcoming Formula 1 season than ever before.

Although easily the oldest driver on the grid at 42, the two-time champion is regarded as a top candidate to replace the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year.

Alonso's Aston Martin contract runs out this year.

"I'm doing everything in my life, and everything in the last months, to prepare better than ever for this very long season and to be better than ever if I want to continue competing," he is quoted by AS newspaper in Spain.

"If I'm going to commit to a project in the future, whether it's for a year or more, I have to prepare myself for it first."

He says the period between the end of last season and now is the first time he has taken the step of adding nutritionists to his training team.

Alonso now admits that his diet is "towards the vegetarian route, although it is not completely strict". But eating better allows him to "extract more energy from the food I eat and from the body's reserves, and thus have better endurance".

He claims that annual training tests he undergoes in the altitude of the Italian Alps shows that his muscular fitness is back to the "maximum levels" he has not seen since he was much younger.

"We have tried to gain muscle to compensate for the age factor and without losing reaction capacity or resistance in cardio," said Alonso.

"These were surprising results, very positive. I have trained more calmly and for more time."

Alonso says he was also able to dedicate more time to his physical condition than before.

"In recent years I had marketing activities, I changed teams, I had to do many things at the factory. This time I have had time for myself, driving other cars, and this has helped me to reach the pre-season in the best state of my life.

"That encourages me to continue (in F1), but I am aware of the sacrifices I make when I give 100 percent and I also have other curiosities in life that I want to do in the future."

Meanwhile, Alonso's teammate Lance Stroll admits he took a more cautious approach to the preseason period, having broken his wrists in a cycling crash a year ago.

"My apartment is full of pillows and I'm not allowed to leave it," he joked, according to Le Journal de Montreal.

"I still have the right to run, so I run and I watch where I put my feet. I don't want to twist an ankle. Just a straight stride," Stroll smiled.

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