Formula 1 | The comeback of Fernando Alonso

In 2018, after 17 seasons in Formula 1, Fernando Alonso had had enough.

With two world titles and 32 Grand Prix victories, he is gone. But without joy or satisfaction. His last championship was 12 years old, his last victory was 5 years old.

“When I left, I was at rock bottom. I didn’t want that, because my riding, my desire to win was just as high as when I started,” said Alonso, 41. But people didn’t see it. Now I prove that I’m still fast; age doesn’t matter. It’s part of a comeback. Winning a 33rd Grand Prix or fighting for a championship would add even more drama to the story. »

He was absent from F1 in 2019 and 2020, but during that time he kept racing and rediscovered the joy of winning. He was crowned World Endurance Champion with Toyota, won the 24 Hours of Daytona, as well as the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans competition. Twice rather than once.

Despite his strong start to the season, Alonso hasn’t won a Grand Prix for 10 years. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, two-time defending champion and 2023 leader, would love to see Alonso win again.

“Fernando should have won a lot more races,” Verstappen said. I think he deserved a lot more. So yes, I would be happy to see his 33rd F1 victory. And even more. We will see during the next races. »

Alonso returned to Formula 1 in 2021 at Alpine with moderate success. But in the middle of last year, luck smiled on him: Sebastian Vettel of the Aston Martin team, four-time world champion, announced his retirement. Alonso and his longtime friend Lawrence Stroll, the team owner, hit it off quickly.

“Talks with Alpine were quite advanced, but nothing was on paper. Lawrence sent me an offer. It was good and since I had nothing on the other side, the decision was easy. Everything went quickly; we’ve known each other for a long time,” he said.

Interviewed about it, Stroll said he had several reasons for wanting Alonso: “He’s one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers, that’s for sure. And he’s never been more motivated. When we spoke, he said to me: “Listen, I can bring something to this team during my last years of driving and after, I hope, play a role at Aston Martin for many years. When he said that, I was already quite convinced. »

The pair met in Canada in 2011 at a go-kart race that Stroll’s then 12-year-old son Lance was taking part in.

Lance Stroll was a member of the Ferrari Academy and Alonso was in his second season with the team. Today, here they are as teammates at Aston Martin.

“I wouldn’t say we had a relationship, I was 12,” the Stroll son says. I was just a little guy, a fan. But now, yes. There is a great dynamic in this team. I really like working alongside him. He has incredible talent, knowledge and experience; and every day he wants to get the best out of himself. »

Alonso says he remembers his first meeting with his teammate today: “It’s funny to think back to that today. I also remember that in my last year at Ferrari, in 2014, I stayed at Lawrence after the Montreal race. I trained there for a week. »

“I also visited Lawrence in Monaco on his yacht afterwards, we were having dinner together. We know each other. We always kept in touch. »

Turning their friendship into a “professional partnership” came naturally, he says.

Lawrence Stroll bought Aston Martin in 2018. The team was then called Force India, he renamed it Racing Point. Two years later, Stroll and partners bought a controlling stake in carmaker Aston Martin, allowing him to bring the marque back to Formula 1 in 2021 after a 61-year absence.

That year, he said he wanted the team to battle for the world title race in five years. He had a new factory and wind tunnel built that cost “over $250 million”. The staff has grown from “350 people to 780 today”.

The team will soon move into the new complex. The wind tunnel, which will allow the team to test the aerodynamics of the prototypes, will open in the spring of 2024.

Thanks to Alonso’s performance, Aston Martin is advancing faster than expected and is in second place in the constructors’ standings.

“When we signed him at the start of August last year, Fernando didn’t know the car would be this fast,” said Lawrence Stroll. But he knew what passion I had invested in this project, what great people I had hired, what great facilities I was building. He wanted to be part of it. He believed in it. »

Even Alonso is surprised at the results. “I believed in the project. I thought it was a great adventure for me, who is at the end of my career, to start with a team that has so much enthusiasm and such a bright future. »

His second retirement? A role other than as a driver at Aston Martin? Alonso doesn’t think about it often. He is happy behind the wheel again. “But I know I’m 41. I know I’m not here for another 10 years. So well, yes, maybe after that I will be linked to the team in another way. »

But first, he wants to savor at least his 33rd victory.

“Winning a championship would be perfect,” Alonso said. After all these years since my last victory, such a gap would be unprecedented. This is my current goal.

“The memory I want to leave in F1 is of someone who loves the sport enormously and who continued to race for a long time, at the highest level possible. It would prove something, it would give meaning to my return. »