Fernando Alonso has been on blazing form since joining Aston Martin. The Spaniard has enjoyed a career revival and has secured 4 podiums in the first 5 races of the season. However, not too long ago, fans were questioning the expiry date of his F1 career.
Many considered the 2-time world champion as a star of a bygone era. At the age of 41, when Alonso switched to Aston Martin, critics claimed he should have rather retired instead of prolonging his career.
However, the Asturian driver has proved to many that age is just a number and he still can fight for wins. Now, Alonso wishes to prove his haters wrong by winning the championship.
Fernando Alonso has bigger plans than his 33rd win
Since his podium in the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP, fans have been quizzing Fernando Alonso to deliver his 33rd-race win. Even tennis No.1 Carlos Alcaraz joined the hype train. However, the driver has much bigger goals in his mind.
The Spaniard claims he has his eyes set on the ultimate prize. “Winning a Championship would be perfect,” he confessed in an article published by The New York Times.
The Spaniard won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, becoming the youngest F1 champion at the time by beating the likes of Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen. Alonso believes if he achieves the same feat at the age of 41 with Aston Martin, then it would put him in a league of his own.
He said, “If I win another Championship, so many years after the previous one, that distance between two Championships would be remarkable. That is my objective at this moment.”
The Spaniard knows he will have to retire at some point in the future. But a win in the coming seasons will allow him to rewrite his legacy in his sport, tainted by his 2018 exit. It lets Alonso script the perfect comeback story.
The Spaniard continued, “I want to leave a legacy in this sport. That of someone who loves racing so much that he continued to compete for many years at the highest possible level. That would prove a point, that it was part of my comeback.”
Alonso never wanted to retire in 2018
Fernando Alonso briefly retired in 2018 after a disastrous second spell with McLaren. The driver was frustrated with McLaren’s reliability issues and the poor performance of their Honda engines. His best finish was in 2016 where he finished 10th in the standing.
Alonso left F1 in 2018 ance ventured into other forms of racing, namely IndyCar and Le Mans. However, the Spaniard revealed that he would have never left F1 had his time with McLaren not ended poorly.
“When I retired, I was at a low point. I didn’t want that because my performance, my competitiveness, was as high as ever then, but people didn’t see it,” Alonso said.
The driver is confident having finally received a chance to drive a competitive car. The stint with Aston Martin will be enough for the driver to script his perfect comeback story.
He shared, “Now I’m showing that I’m still fast, no matter how old I am, that’s part of the comeback story. Winning 33 or fighting for a championship would add even more drama to the story.”
Alonso’s last race win came at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. The 2x world champion might have tough competition in the title race against Max Verstappen. But there is a chance that the 41-year-old can achieve his 33rd race win.
