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The relationship between Fernando Alonso and Alpine has been turbulent in recent months thanks to his shock switch to Aston Martin and his criticisms of the team. But he has put the brakes on his recent complaints, to instead underline the significance of these two years at Alpine for his career.
Alonso’s Aston Martin deal took Alpine by surprise, while his complaints about the reliability problems that have forced him to retire from five races in 2022 reached new heights after he gave up a seventh place in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago.
But while the final months of Alonso’s third stint with the team he previously raced for in 2003-6 and 2008-9 have been fractious – also because perceived under-appreciation and lack of buy-in from the team were key to his Aston switch – when asked about his feelings about leaving Alpine he described himself as “very grateful”.
Alonso said he relished the chance Alpine had given him to prove he still had what it took to cut it at the front in F1 after two years away. And not only to other people.
“I’m pleased because obviously I came back to the sport not knowing how competitive I will be after two years out,” said Alonso when asked in the Interlagos paddock about how he felt heading into his final two weekends with the team by The Race.
“I had the memory from Michael [Schumacher] when he came back to the sport that he was maybe not at 100% – or it is what we felt. Kimi [Raikkonen], the last two or three years he was not really motivated or something.
“So I was not 100% [sure]. I have a lot of self-confidence, but not that much to be sure 100% that I was fast enough to be at the top level. So I’m happy with these two years.
“Last year, I was not performing at my best. I felt uncomfortable a few times, I had to overcome few challenges. While this year I was nearly 100%.
“So that gives me a momentum into the future. So I will remember these two years with a lot of… I will be very grateful always to Alpine for giving me that chance.”
Alonso expressed his gratitude to Alpine in a characteristic way. He’s never afraid to talk up his own performances – and he’s entitled to do so, given he’s performed strongly this season.
While last year did start a little slowly, with the nadir a difficult weekend at Imola when he had his first experience of the car in the wet that nonetheless yielded a point for 10th after Raikkonen was penalised, Alonso hit his stride in the middle of the season.
He kicked off a strong run of mid-season results with sixth at Baku, climbing four places from 10th on the restart grid in the two-lap sprint after the race was red-flagged.
Alonso’s campaign peaked with third place in Qatar and he carried his form over into 2022 with a strong campaign blighted by problems outside of his control. As he keeps pointing out, he’s lost significant points to such problems – at Interlagos saying that “I should be 60 points ahead, or something, of any other midfielder this year”.
Non-driver-related dramas have indeed been a regular occurrence. In Saudi Arabia he retired with a water pump failure, before crashing in Q3 in Australia after a leaking oil seal caused a hydraulic failure that prevented him downshifting.
In Spain, poor communications in Q1 meant he was unable to start his crucial lap before the clock ran down, while in Canada an air leak cost him power while running third and resulted in him dropping back.
In Austria, he couldn’t start the sprint race from eighth on the grid because of an electrical problem, followed by engine problems in the races in Monza, Singapore and Mexico.
“I think after 2022 I will have massive luck next year on everything,” he joked when it was suggested to him that bad luck will inevitably turn to good.
“I know there are a lot of talks after Mexico, five DNFs this year with engine issues. But there are another four races that I finished without battery, or the car didn’t start in Austria, or I lost one wheel in the pitstop.
“It’s amazing, [in] 20 races to have problems in nine or something, nearly 50% of the races.”
Yet for all that, Alonso is right to be pleased to have had the chance to show what he can do. As he pointed out, even he wasn’t completely sure he’d still be sharp enough for F1 after two seasons out despite staying race fit through his other racing activities – notably winning the World Endurance Championship for Toyota alongside Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima and racking up two Le Mans 24 Hours wins.
And there was reason for concern given Schumacher’s three-year comeback with Mercedes was a troubled one, yielding just one podium finish despite Schumacher making a positive all-round contribution to the team. As for Raikkonen, while his return in 2012 with Lotus was successful, it’s true that in his later years in F1 he was not operating at that level.
Without Alpine signing him to take the place that was being vacated by Daniel Ricciardo in a deal announced after one race of the delayed 2020 season, Alonso would have found it more difficult to prove to himself and others that he was still the relentless driver of old.
He did have contact with what is now called Aston Martin, which signed Sebastian Vettel for 2021, about the possibility of returning there. But had Alonso done so, something that would have been complicated given the team was set on Vettel, he would have been lower down the grid in ’21 and might have found it more difficult to test himself.
Alpine, initially under the Renault name, has played a critical role at regular intervals throughout Alonso’s F1 career. It helped him into F1, allowed him to win the 2005 and ’06 world championships and then recover from his ill-fated move to McLaren when he returned for his second stint.
This third stint is ending earlier than both parties will initially have hoped, but it has certainly allowed Alonso to eliminate any doubts he or the watching world had and extend his career as an F1 driver.
The only question now is whether he has chosen wisely by using the time this has bought by jumping ship to Aston Martin, or if he might rue the fact he won’t still be at Alpine to benefit from the good times after the problems that have punctuated 2021 and ’22.
