It was six in the morning in Spain, 1pm in Suzuka, when Alonso attended the first of two official FIA press conferences with the drivers ahead of the 2022 F1 Japanese GP.
Along with the Spaniard from Alpine, Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen and Nicholas Latifi were also summoned, and in fact Alonso was the second to start speaking, after the local hero Tsunoda, who was on his left.
Read what Fernando Alonso was asked this Thursday in Japan and his answers.
Statements by Fernando Alonso at the press conference for the Japanese GP 2022 F1
Official F1 Questions
Question: Fernando, you have already won twice at Suzuka, what makes this place so special?
Answer from Alonso : “I have won once! In 2006… only once… but I also won at Fuji. As for this place yes, I think everyone loves Suzuka. The combination of high speed corners , with a little bit of lean in the corners, it makes the feeling very special. The fans are very passionate here. So the whole weekend is great. And yes, I am looking forward to enjoying the cars this year, especially the high speed”.
Q: You always get a lot of gifts from fans here. What’s the craziest thing you’ve received so far?
Alonso: “Ha! I’ve been asked that question before and I’m not sure I have enough memory right now to remember one, but I’m sure during this weekend, things will get crazy at some point and I’ll try to leave everything in the garage, so they can enjoy it too”.
Q: The last two races have been difficult for you, with retirement at both Monza and Marina Bay. Was it a similar problem both times?
Alonso: “No. They were different problems. This year we have had reliability problems. We have lost a lot of points. And unfortunately now we are in this battle with McLaren, a few points behind and yes, I hope we can have five normal races now and finish on top. But yes, it has been our weak point this year.”
Q: How do you see the battle with McLaren? Do you expect it to last until the last race?
Alonso : “I think so. I think there will be weekends where we can score a few more points than them. In others, we will score less. I think Singapore stands out because we lost a lot of points there. But I think it will be very, very even to Abu Dhabi.”
Questions from journalists in the room
Question : A question for Fernando and for Sebastian. Gentlemen, an opinion is never lacking when it comes to penalties and Formula 1. We are in the era of the cost limit and next week, let’s cross our fingers, we will know which teams have stayed within the limit and which teams have not. last year. How strict do you think the FIA should treat a team that has exceeded the cost limit in any way?
Alonso : “I don’t know. It’s a difficult issue from our point of view, the drivers’ point of view. I think what we think is not really relevant here and we trust our teams to really control everything they do. But yes, I guess we all hope that the FIA will control all these things as well as possible because we want to race in a fair environment and so on. But it is a very… I think it is a very difficult subject, because there are many things that we have to make sure that they are controlled. The budget limit is one, but there are many teams with different structures, with different things, with their own circuit in their own factories. Things that we have to control a lot. So it has to be very well done.”
Question ( Motorsport.com ) : Can you tell us where the power units are after last weekend? Obviously you don’t want to penalize here, but are you likely to do it in Austin?
Alonso: “Yes, maybe we won’t be completely sure until the end of the year. So we may have to introduce a power unit. I don’t think it will be this weekend but soon…”
Question (Autosport.com): A question for Fernando and Sebastian. You have spoken before in this press conference about the need to trust the process with the FIA. What is your level of trust in the governing body and how does it compare to previous topics of the season?
Alonso : “Very high, to be honest. As I have said several times, I have a lot of confidence in Mohammed, the President, and in his team. I think there are still some things in the race weekends and the consistency and other issues to The ones that we’re up against, yes, race after race they’re getting better, but they’re willing to learn and get better. So that’s very positive, maybe compared to the past. And yeah, like I said, in other things, outside of the racing, off the track, I fully trust what they are doing and the outcome of next week, I believe in this cost cap and how the sport is moving into the future. So I think I have no doubts about anything “.
In the second group of drivers for the second part of the FIA press conference were Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, George Russell, Guanyu Zhou and Charles Leclerc.
