“He’s the last guy you want to be hanging out with for two hours in your mirrors”– Former Red Bull superstar thinks Fernando Alonso is still a magician on racedays

Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber thinks Fernando Alonso is still a magician on the track during race days at the age of 40.

Fernando Alonso returned to Formula 1 with Alpine, aiming to compete for the championship in a few years. And for them, Alonso could be a good mentor.

After Kimi Raikkonen’s retirement after this year, Alonso will become the oldest driver on the grid. Yet, Mark Webber thinks he is still a magician on the track.

“Fernando, he is driving well,” judged Webber, speaking on the latest F1 Nation podcast. “Has he got that last two tenths that Max and Lewis will have in qualifying? I don’t think so.”

“Has he got the knowledge, the nous of how to strip down and pull a racing afternoon together? Unbelievable. The guy is still a bit of a magician, we know that.”

“His starts… he loves positioning the car in that first sector. If you go back through all of his on-boards, he’s always snooping around that outside anyway. That’s where he always is, it can be a bit of a high-risk manoeuvre…”

“I guess I used to hang out with him a bit on the track so I know where, generally, he would end up and be – and he’s the last guy you want to be hanging out with for two hours in your mirrors.”

Next year can be exciting for Fernando Alonso

Webber is excited about Alonso’s performances for 2022, provided Alpine provides him with a great car. The new regulations are touted to disturb the status quo of the F1 grid.

“So let’s see how next year goes with the new car; that’ll be interesting. [A] new car for him, next year will be interesting.,” said Webber. “This year, he’ll be floating around where he is and he can do a good job with it, there’s no question about that, but next year will be fascinating.”

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.

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