Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has confirmed Fernando Alonso will be joining the LMDh programme from 2024 after retiring from F1.
Fernando Alonso has enjoyed a long and illustrious career in F1. The 41-year-old is currently the oldest in the grid with 345 race starts to his name.
The Spaniard recently broke the record for laps completed in Formula 1 during the 2022 French GP. He has completed 18672 laps in F1.
Fernando is poised to stay with Alpine till the end of the 2022 season. But Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine has confirmed the Spaniard will be part of Alpines plan in the future. But not in F1.
Alonso will join Alpine in the World Endurance Championship in the Hypercar category. And the former World Champion will be the face of their LMDh programme from 2024 onwards.
Fernando won the 2005 and 2006 F1 titles with Renault. And he was the youngest F1 champion at the time. He has been the face of Renault for several years, especially in their re-entry in F1 as Alpine.
Rossi said, “It has always been part of the discussion, even last year when we were discussing the extension for this year. We talked about the fact that Fernando is an F1 legend, but also a Renault group legend. For us, he is the champion.”
Managing Director of Alpine Laurent Rossi on Alonso’s future:
“We made the decision to launch WEC LMDh program with the idea that he (Alonso) joins the team in 2024 when he retires from F1”#F1 #Alonso #WEC #Formula1 #Alpine #HungarianGP
— F1 Paddock Insider (@F1Insider_) July 26, 2022
“He was always going to have a seat in LMDh the day he switches. He will be welcome, it’s his team. So obviously this is part of the discussion. We actually made that decision thinking about him in the first place.”
Alonso has raced in WEC previously and has won the title twice in 2018 and in 2019 with Toyota. He has since desired to go back to Endurance racing after he closes his chapter in F1.
Also Read: “We played the race like chess”: Fernando Alonso surprised by Alpine beating McLaren
Fernando Alonso’s exit and Oscar Piastri’s entry
Fernando Alonso has been Alpine and Renault’s most trusted servant for decades. But with his exit, we could see some more exciting prospects take the centre stage.
The Renault Driver Academy has produced many talents like F2 drivers Jack Doohan, Olli Caldwell and current F1 driver Zhou Guanyu. But no driver has been as talked about as Oscar Piastri.
Piastri is the reigning F2 champion and a product of the Alpine academy. He won F3 and F2 in successive years, but see’s himself without a seat in F1.
Alpine boss Laurent Rossi says he is confident Fernando Alonso & Oscar Piastri will both be in #F1 in 2023. He added that Alpine will only loan Piastri & talks with Alonso include an Alpine #WEC drive when he leaves F1. pic.twitter.com/5FxHn5jwgo
— The F1 Journal (@thef1journal_) July 23, 2022
Rossi has confirmed that Piastri will have a seat in F1. But not with Alpine, rather he would be loaned to another team, rumoured to be Williams, for a season. He could replace Alonso following the Spaniard’s retirement from F1.
Regarding the abundant talent pool of Alpine Rossi said, “There’s plenty of options for them to be in the waiting seat. We’re going to have LMDh soon available. So we feel like we can manage this pipeline of drivers more than we have done in the recent past.
Also Read: Alpine boss wants Oscar Piastri to replace two-time World Champion from 2023
