Like many drivers in F1 today, Fernando Alonso cites Ayrton Senna as one of his idols. Alonso is one of the best drivers of his era, but he always wished to be a part of the sport in the 1980s, when Senna was at his peak.
Back in 2015, when Alonso was driving for McLaren, he appeared in a promotional event with the team’s sponsor TAG Heuer, where he spoke about his love for the old days. Alonso feels that the cars were much better to race on, with more room to experiment for the teams and drivers.
“Now everything is much more strict,” the Oviedo-born driver said. “There is no testing, there are only simulations, so there was probably a little more time to enjoy it before.”
Alonso also got to drive his idol Senna’s 1988 championship-winning MP4/4 around the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona and was amazed at how they felt out on the track. Alonso admitted to being emotional after driving the car, and labeled it as the “most dominant car in Formula 1”
Fernando Alonso enjoyed the simplicity of Ayrton Senna’s car
Every single era in F1 has been different, with the cars changing radically over the years. Back in Senna’s days, the F1 cars did not have the electrical components modern cars do. Alonso, however, prefers the simplicity of cars like the MP4/4.
Alonso was able to out in nine laps on Senna’s car, and even though he didn’t go flat out and push, he considers it to be a wonderful experience. After driving the car, he admitted that modern F1 cars are much more complex, but there are advantages they get because of it nowadays. Back when Senna was driving, there was no power steering, and the drivers had to manually shift gears.
“I think it’s like a computer from the ’80s to a computer from now,” Alonso said. “It’s changed a lot.”
Safety in modern F1 cars a huge plus, says Alonso
One thing that has definitely improved in F1 over the years is its safety standards. Earlier, we used to see crashes with serious injuries and even fatalities way too frequently. Even though F1 isn’t completely safe- and it probably never will be- the standards are much better.
Alonso agrees that it is difficult to pick out an era and sideline it as ‘the best’, because they all have its pros and cons. The current era, however, allows drivers to be at ease, because the chances of serious injuries or death, have been drastically reduced today.
