“I thought that I was losing time in F1″– Fernando Alonso reveals his reasons behind leaving F1 in 2018

” I thought that I was losing time in F1″– Fernando Alonso reveals his reasons behind leaving Formula 1 after a failed 2018.

Before making a comeback to Formula 1 this year, Fernando Alonso was in the IndyCar for his 2019 and 2020 campaigns. His previous stint in F1 was with McLaren, which apparently was not pleasant, especially in 2018.

McLaren was at its lowest back then, and having no scope of upgrading to a better team, Alonso decided to ply his trade in America, and the Spaniard extensively tells why he did it.

“Two things are playing a big role on this,” Alonso said. “One was I think the two years out of the sport was needed for me after 18 seasons in Formula 1 non-stop, with full dedication. It was too demanding at one point.”

“I had in my head other challenges with Le Mans, with Daytona, with the World Endurance Championship possibility etc, I had to do those in a way and tick those boxes to be happy, and to be free to come back and enjoy.”

“Until I was not doing those challenges, I thought that I was losing time in F1, some of the last seasons before ’18. So once those challenges were completed, now I’m freer in a way to enjoy every weekend here.”

Alpine is amazing

This is the third stint of Alonso with the Enstone-based operation, having previously driven for Renault in 2003-2006 and 2008-2009. According to him, Alpine is like his home.

“The second is the team, I think the team is amazing,” Alonso said. “You know what atmosphere we have now, what motivation we have in the team in Enstone, in Viry – the hard work that everyone is putting in.”

“How we approach every weekend, how we approach the little success that we have some weekends, and how we approach the bad moments in some other weekends. We are all united in the same direction, and this feels very good every week.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Read More