“First Time I Jumped in the Car…”: Fernando Alonso’s Earliest Pit Exit Could’ve Gone Down Horribly Due to Zero Testing

Fernando Alonso is undoubtedly the most experienced driver in Formula 1 right now. With over two decades of experience and 377 race starts in 380 GP entries, the Spanish driver is mammoth when it comes to his F1 stories. However, his start to the sport wasn’t all fluid as he faced enormous struggles during his first F1 race with Minardi.

Alonso is the driver with the most laps completed in Formula 1 right now and that stands at over 20,000! He has 32 Grand Prix wins and two world championships under his belt. He is known to be the man who ended Michael Schumacher’s incredible run of five world championships.

Nevertheless, things didn’t start well for the Spaniard as he once revealed in a video by the BBC back in 2013. There, he opened up with Mark Webber on how his first Grand Prix went after his debut. Alonso’s first GP was the 2001 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.

Speaking about this, Alonso said, “I arrived in Australia with Minardi, we didn’t have any test. It was the first time I jumped in the car and I didn’t know all the buttons in the steering wheel, especially neutral.” Therefore, without having much knowledge about all the buttons on the steering wheel, specifically the neutral, the Asturian went out for his practice session.

So, he exited the garage and while coming out of the pit lane, he saw a long queue of cars. This was the moment Alonso became nervous as he had to find the neutral button to stop his car. After some real anxious moments, the 42-year-old finally succeeded. Interestingly, the same man is now the most experienced F1 driver!

Is Fernando Alonso going to retire anytime soon?

After having two bittersweet years with Alpine, Fernando Alonso finally had a mega-season with Aston Martin in 2023. The Spaniard finished the season in P4 with 206 points and was the pioneer of the British team. This has given him so much boost to his already self-confident personality.

As a supremely confident Alonso has returned to the F1 scene, he has no reason to retire any time soon. Not when he is highly motivated, has a good car underneath him, and is satisfied with his performance. Not even when the upcoming F1 seasons involve 24 races and six sprints and are highly physical for the drivers.

However, he did not entirely rule out his chance of retirement. On this, he said as per RacingNews365, “If I feel as low, I think it will be noticeable and I will not be happy with my performance, and then I will be the first to raise my hand and say: ‘Okay, this is time.’”

Fernando Alonso will certainly retire one day, but that’s not now. For him his own acknowledgement of the importance of monitoring his performance and commitment is necessary. If that is the case, he will step back one day, if necessary.