Fernando Alonso attended the program UNO más UNO son TRES by FINETWORK, where he starred in a curious dinner with Joaquín , a Real Betis Balompié player, and Fernando Romay , a former Spanish basketball player.
The Asturian driver arrived lively, energetic and friendly, as expected with the other two athletes. Joaquín and Romay asked him about his years away from Formula 1 and his return, and Alonso explained how he felt.
“I’m happy to be back and looking forward to the next season. I spent two years without F1, but in other competitions, with the WEC, I did the Dakar Rally, I’ve always had a steering wheel in my hands, so I haven’t been stopped. “.
“Nothing had changed, everything was still the same, F1 is such a small world in which the same people are always there, it doesn’t change much,” said the two-time champion.
The soccer player faces his last campaign as a professional, after 21 years as a professional. For this reason, he put on the table the issue of Fernando Alonso’s age , who will turn 41 next July.
“When you’re old enough, it’s hard. The first races were hard for me. The speed at which things happen, the technical side of F1, because in other categories, the cars are much more basic. In F1 you have a lot of electronics, aerodynamics, another language with the team, and that cost me a bit”.
“A thousand people in the team for two cars. Experience in F1 is good, you know the circuits, but if they put 10 more CV in the engine, it doesn’t matter how old you are, it doesn’t matter if you’re 23 or 40, you have the example of Carlos Sainz Sr., who is over 50 and won the Dakar”, he commented.
“In the first few races I wasn’t 100%,” Alonso said. “Then you get used to training and the simulator, we have many elements to be at your best.”
“I don’t follow a strict diet, but you have to be careful. Your body doesn’t respond the same with 20 as with 40, we have a minimum between driver and car of 740 kilos, and we can be around 80, although in each race I lose two because in the cockpit we are at about 55 degrees”.
Joaquín and Romay stated that they wanted to accompany the Alpine rider in a race in 2022, but they also asked him how much more time he had left in the category.
“I hope to run two or three more years in Formula 1, and then dedicate myself to other categories because I love driving. It will cost me a lot to be out of a car,” he declared.
Next season will give all teams a chance with the change in regulations. Alonso fans began to joke on social media about the possibility of Alpine creating a winning car for the Spaniard in 2022, and the Spaniard himself took notice.
“I started seeing it on social networks, it started with ‘El Plan’, and I don’t know very well what it is either, it’s wrong to say it, but I don’t know what ‘El Plan’ is. I think it’s part of ‘El Plan’ not knowing what it is, you have to bet,” he said between laughs.
The Betis player and the Olympic medalist know first-hand the risks of sport and injuries, although they wanted to know what it was like to be inside an F1 car and the danger that this entails.
“When I’m in the car, I think I’m going slowly, but when you leave or stay next to the car, and you see what’s left of the session, you think: ‘they’re going to kill themselves,'” Alonso said. “I never felt afraid of speed, respect, yes.”
“There are unpleasant driving situations, which is when it rains, you don’t see anything, it’s very difficult. You’re not afraid, but you’re not enjoying it. The speed of 330 or 340 km/h is the same, but you don’t see, and if you raise the foot, the one behind you won’t see you and will hit you, it’s trusting each other”.
