Having worked with the French outfit thrice in his F1 career and winning two titles, Fernando Alonso reveals the changes that he has noticed.
This is the third time that Fernando Alonso is driving for Alpine, formerly known as Renault, in his career. Alonso became Renault’s test driver in 2002. He joined the team in 2003 and went on to win two back-to-back world championships with them in 2005 and 2006.
In 2007 he moved to McLaren, however, in the very next season he returned to Renault until 2010 when he switched to Ferrari.
The Spaniard decided to come back to the French outfit in 2021. He believes that there have been some changes in the way they operate since his last stint with them in 2009.
In the Beyond The Grid podcast, Alonso said, “it is different. I think Formula 1 did change. That is like a revolution, like a digital era. Also [in terms of] technology, they changed the hybrid power units. How sophisticated the cars [are] now, aerodynamically, is a night and day change on the cars in 2009.”
“So the team did change in the way they develop different tools. The facilities are better. I think the people at the factory are clever now, and they are obviously up to the new standards of Formula 1,” he further added.
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Fernando Alonso believes that Alpine wants to repeat its success
The 40-year-old had a podium finish after seven years in Qatar GP where he finished at P3 in 2021. He admitted that he had a pretty close fight with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who was chasing down the Spaniard battling for the third place.
Alonso believes that while the French outfit has developed in several ways over the years, it has kept the mentality to win from his previous days with the team.
“At the same time, in Enstone, I think still remains the same DNA of the people working there, with a family environment, family spirit and a winning mentality,” he explained.
“Because they succeed once, and they want to repeat it. Even if they are not the same people working there, they are maybe the son of some of the people that were working there.
“There are a lot of people willing to repeat that success soon.”
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