- Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso decided to retire from the sport at the end of the 2018 season. The Spaniard decided to step away from F1 after four hugely frustrating seasons with McLaren from 2015 to 2018. Since he was barely able to achieve any kind of success in F1 any longer, he decided to step away and try his hand at other forms of motorsport. The 42-year-old decided to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and the Dakar Rally. After just being two seasons away from F1, Alonso decided to return in 2021 with Alpine.
Why did Fernando Alonso come back to F1?
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on other motorsport series was one of the main reasons why Fernando Alonso decided to return to F1 in 2021. Consequently of the pandemic, the Spaniard believes that most other motorsport series were hit badly, “in terms of the sponsors“. Meanwhile, F1 remained “healthy,” according to Alonso.
Another reason why Alonso was keen to return was to take on his personal challenges. “I move always by [my] own challenges, more than what I think in that moment of my career,” explained Alonso (as quoted by racingnews365.com).
When did Fernando Alonso start F1?
Fernando Alonso began karting at a very young age and by the age of seven, he had already won a race. He continued to compete in karting for several more years before moving to the 1999 Euro Open by Nissan. A year later, he competed in the 2000 International Formula 3000 season. After finishing fourth in this series, Alonso moved to F1 in 2001.
He made his debut with the Minardi team. Despite finishing 23rd in the championship in 2001, the Spaniard received an offer from Renault as a test driver for the 2002 season, an opportunity that he grabbed with both hands.
After completing a year as a reserve driver, Alonso grabbed a race seat with the same team. The Spaniard had a decent couple of seasons in 2003 and 2004 before he went on to win the championship in both 2005 and 2006. However, unfortunately for him, he never won a championship again.
What other teams did Fernando Alonso race for?
Fernando Alonso moved to McLaren in 2007. After finishing third in the championship that year, he returned to Renault for a couple of seasons and then moved to Ferrari in 2010. Alongside his time at Renault, Alonso would achieve the most success at Ferrari. He won 11 races for the Italian team and finished second in the championship on three occasions.
Since Alonso never managed to win a title with Ferrari, he decided to return to McLaren in 2015. However, little did he realize at the time that his second stint at Woking will be nothing short of a disaster. Alonso failed to register a single podium with McLaren in his second spell and the best he finished in the championship was tenth.
That is when he chose to retire from the sport at the end of the 2018 campaign before returning with Alpine in 2021. Alonso spent two seasons with the French outfit and managed to register one podium with them. However, after slamming Alpine for a lack of professionalism, Alonso decided to join Aston Martin in 2023.
It is with the Silverstone-based team that he seemed to discover his own self. Alonso managed to secure eight podiums with Aston Martin and finished fourth in the championship with 206 points last year. The Spaniard will now hope to better that tally in 2024.
Will Fernando Alonso win the triple crown?
Fernando Alonso is one of the few drivers who have proved their versatility in various forms of motorsport. The Spaniard has not only won two F1 world championships but has also managed to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Since he has won both the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he is as close as one can get to winning the triple crown. The triple crown is an unofficial achievement in motorsport, where a driver wins the F1 race in Monaco, the Le Mans event, and the Indianapolis 500. Alonso has made two past attempts to win the Indianapolis 500.
However, on both occasions, he did not even come close to winning it. In 2017, he finished 29th with McLaren-Honda-Andretti. Meanwhile, in 2020, he finished 31st with Arrow McLaren SP. Since Alonso has had two failed attempts to win this race, he once revealed that he may give up on his dream of winning the triple crown.
“If I do it again, it’s going to be for a dream of the Triple Crown or try to achieve the win. It’s not that you do that type of race just for fun. But I don’t know if I will do it again or not. And if I don’t do it again, it’s not because someone else said that I will not be able to win it. You know, if I don’t do it again, it’s because I don’t feel the motivation to do it,” explained Alonso (as quoted by racefans.net).
