No Le Mans return for Alonso being Aston Martin F1 driver
Sep.8 - Fernando Alonso says he will not be combining his Formula 1 seat with Aston Martin next year with a return to Le Mans.
The Spaniard, who is leaving Alpine after this year, won Le Mans back-to-back in 2019 but says the F1 calendar is no longer conducive to a split project.
"Difficult," he is quoted by El Mundo Deportivo when asked about a return to Le Mans with Aston Martin. "Right now I'm pretty focused on F1, and Aston Martin too. Next year we have 24 races plus practice, sponsored events and you have almost no life left. You sacrifice everything for one thing," Alonso, 41, said.
2018 Le Mans winners (LMP1) Alonso, Buemi & Nakajima
"As long as I'm in F1, Le Mans is impossible and in the future I don't know if I'm going to try it. I've won both times I've tried it and I'm afraid if I try it again I'll break that streak."
Indeed, the former double world champion says he is so dedicated to his second stint in F1 with Aston Martin that he hopes for "my 33rd victory in Formula 1 with them".
"I am confident that we are going to do a good job," said Alonso.
"They have all the necessary resources and investment, the talent - they have signed number 1 engineers from Red Bull and Mercedes. This year they have started badly but many times starting badly gives you that spark of wanting to change the situation quickly.
"Let's try to turn the situation around."
However, he said much the same thing when he returned to F1 last year with Renault-owned Alpine - and the team and the media even embraced 'El Plan'.
"Let's not start that again," Alonso smiled, "because there was already enough trouble with El Plan. These things are always created in social media.
"If it has to be the mission, then it's the mission. Do I believe in it? We all have to believe.
"But what happens in F1 is that you start in one position and you are going to finish in that position. It's not like football where a small one can beat the big one.
"In F1 everything is too exact and mathematical for that. There are few moments of surprise. That's the big problem.
"You can create an illusion but then in the 24 races it can be very monotonous to keep doing the same thing and frustrating for the fans," he concluded.
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I look forward to four top-tier constructor's fighting it out for the WCC in 2023. Aston Martin has the creds and the resources.
The singleness-of-purpose Alonso speaks of IS the mysterious "je nes sais quoi" that make great teams unbeatable. We saw it happen at Ferrari when Michael Schumacher and Jean Todt performed magic for all those years. The transformation was startling and watching it happen was enthralling. Presently, it appears to be lacking at Ferrari.
There is an elephant in the room however: Lawrence Stroll and his almost almost retarded son, Lance. These two are prime examples of what monolithic sponsorship can do. Though I have some glimmer of hope for Lance (he's made it to top-10 more than once ...), it is his lumbering troll of a father that has obscured the vision and mission necessary to win, like a thick purulent fog.
The potential exists within Aston Martin for them to be a break-away team in 2023. A laser-like focus on the Prize may just provide them with opportunities to diversify their funding model, and disperse the choking fog. I believe that is the intention of the team for signing Alonso - and I predict that he will win his third WDC in 2024.
Los milagros llegan al que lo crea, no al que lo espera.
Ha Alonso , you bugga winning lemans twice is a bit like LaLa winning with Merc, easy when Zero car competition,Well hes right about facilities and engineers and about starting badly, remind anyone of Honda, BUT Honda got it right......
Fernando has nothing to prove to anyone
Truly a great racer and one of the last characters in F1
The majority of current drivers are indeed grey people who talk up their abilities and still have shite results and blame everything apart from their lack of ability
Gone are the days of real racers
RIP the good guys
The connor moore stuff makes up a litle for the grey drivers the, 2021 and 2022 have been a gift for him