Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso reflected on his time in Formula 1 as the Spaniard gears up for this 400th Grand Prix at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso is set to become the first driver to reach a milestone of 400 Grands Prix in Formula 1 at this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix. With the 43 Spaniard currently in his 21st season in the sport, having debuted in 2003 with Renault.
Speaking to the media ahead of last weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Alonso admitted that his 400th Grand Prix is not a statistic he puts much emphasis on, albeit still an impressive achievement.
“Yeah I mean this is obviously nice and I acknowledge the number but it’s some of these statistics that you are not really interested in.” Alonso explained “I would love to race half of the 400 and win one more championship or win more races, that’s the important statistics that you want to achieve.
“At the same time it shows my love for the sport and the discipline of trying to perform at a very high level for 20 plus years. Hopefully I can celebrate a good weekend in Mexico and as we normally say, not cheering for the next 400 because it will never happen, but at least 40 or 50 more with the next two years coming.”
When asked about the physical challenges of such a long career in the sport, Alonso noted that improvements to safety standards in the sport make competing less physically demanding. He went on to note that the constant travelling associated with Formula 1 is more demanding than competing on track.
“Not good for your back, for your neck, for your spine” He said. “I think Formula 1 technology also changed in the past. I think the cars are now a little bit more friendly with the driver. It’s true that the ground effect cars, you know they were a little bit harder but apart from the last two years I think technology did change as well. Everything has been evolving into a better place for the drivers, so that’s a good thing.
“Then I think the pace of the car on Sundays are so slow compared in the past when we put the fuel we have to save tyres and save energy and so on. The only stressful time in the weekend physically, is qualifying and it’s very short. So it’s not a problem of keeping up [with] the youngsters in terms of physical conditions, it’s more mentally and travelling and events and pressure that is probably the thing that hits you harder at this time and probably stops you racing at one point.”
Reflecting on his long career to this point, Alonso was asked what aspects of the sport he misses from previous seasons. The Spaniard admitted he yearned for the big, loud pre-hybrid era engines as often mentioned by his peers and fans alike, but he went on to say that he believes Formula 1 as a sport is in the best position it has ever been in currently.
“Refuelling, fast cars on Sundays, sound of the engine, big sponsors, grid girls, grid boys…” Alonso responded, reminiscing. “I don’t know, it was some different marketing you know. Now it’s all about social media and things like that. Before it was how to be more in the real world. But I think we’re in a good place now, sport and Formula One is very popular now around the world, especially here in the US.
“I think we are probably in the best moment of Formula One but it’s true that in the past we have, especially the pit stops you know, gives you a lot of strategy possibilities. Starting with higher fuel loads, lower. Going for three stops, one stop. We didn’t have to manage as much as we do now.
“In the races, because we raced with 30 kilos on board, the qualifying versus race pace was one second slower or something like that. Now between the battery and the fuel load, sometimes in the races we are seven seconds slower or something at the beginning of the race. That is a little bit less motivating. But as I said, different areas, different technology but the best moment of the sport probably is right now.”
