Whatever happens, Fernando Alonso He is one of the great references in F1. He has been proven this weekend at the Spanish GP, on and off the track. A veritable wave of fans from the stands embraced the Asturian driver, who managed to overcome a disastrous classification and a penalty for changing an engine that relegated him to last position on the grid. Alonso ended up adding two points, in ninth position and again made it clear that he is in top form at 40 years old. He himself described his performance as “a carrerón”. But these days in Barcelona it has also been possible to verify that the atmosphere within Alpine is not as idyllic as when Fernando arrived at the team last year, ready to start his second stage in F1 to fight again for victories and titles in what was his ‘home’, Renault.
Despite the fact that Alonso has recently strengthened ties with some Alpine sponsors and that the new team manager Otmar Szafnauerassured in Montmeló that it would be “foolish” not to consider renewal of the two-time Spanish champion, the truth is that at this point many see him outside the team and perhaps even F1. The president of Renault Luca de Meo He sowed more doubts with his shocking response to the DAZN microphones on the starting grid of the Spanish GP, when they questioned him about Alonso’s future: “We love Fernando very much. We are going to have to find a solution for everyone, because we also have Esteban (Ocon) and Oscar (Piastri), who are very good. We want to protect our riders and look for an ideal solution for everyone. I think the work he has done… that Fernando is doing is incredible,” he said.
Peter of the Rose regretted the reaction of the Italian businessman, who in his day was the great supporter of the return of Alonso to F1: “I was surprised that there has not been a ratification, it is incredible. The question, for me, is if Fernando would want to continue, not the other way around. The plan is in the medium-long term in Formula 1, otherwise there are no results The way for ‘The Plan’ to take effect is by having Fernando within the team for several years, it’s a long-distance race”, analyzed the former Barcelona driver.
¿Hay @alo_oficial for years in Alpine? ????
Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault: “We love Fernando very much. We are going to have to find a solution for everyone, we also have Esteban and Óscar, who are very good. The work that Fernando is doing is incredible” #SpainDAZNF1 ???????? pic.twitter.com/d6Gr8Bdiqk
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) May 22, 2022
The plan does not work
Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001 and left voluntarily at the end of the 2018 season, when the results at McLaren were no longer with him and new motoring challenges began to haunt his head, such as the World Endurance Championship, the Dakar, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 or Daytona. He decided to return to F1 due to the horizon of a major regulatory change in the category that, in theory, was going to match the performance of cars with common parts and a budget limit. The pandemic delayed the application of the new regulation and Fernando completed a transitional 2021 at Alpine.
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But this season has started and the great revelation is not Alpine but Ferrari. Red Bull has remained at the top and Mercedes is overcoming its crisis. In six races, Alonso’s team is more or less where it was the year before. Fifth in the constructors’ championship, with the possibility of regularly reaching Q3 on Saturdays and the points on Sundays, but little else. As if that were not enough, Alpine has a French driver, Esteban Ocon, with a contract until 2024 and better results to date than Fernando. And they also have on the payroll and on the ‘unemployment’ the greatest talent of the quarry, the Australian Oscar Piastri, champion of the F3 and F2 anteroom categories and who has already warned that he will not spend another year watching the races from the sofa. An option, without a doubt, much cheaper than the one that implies renewing Alonso, the third highest paid driver on the grid.
In the midst of a wave of rumours, the possible interest of Aston Martin and its millionaire owner Lawrence Stroll in Fernando has emerged, who did not want to comment on the matter in Barcelona: “I can only say that I would like to continue for at least a couple more years in F1 and I hope to have news after the summer break”, he commented. McLaren’s option is also on the table. All this would happen because of what the veterans Vettel and Ricciardo do, also on the tightrope, although right now, as both teams are, it does not seem that Fernando will find the winning car that he so longs for there either.