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Alonso: Every F1 race since I decided to stop a celebration

Published on 15 Oct 2018 09:48
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By: Fergal Walsh

Fernando Alonso has described every Formula 1 race since he decided to call it a day on his career a celebration. The Spaniard will walk away from F1 at the end of the season after spending 17 years in the sport, in which he has amassed two world titles.

Alonso has been left frustrated over the last number of years, racing uncompetitive cars and bagging just two podiums in the hybrid era. This year, things looked promising for McLaren who started the season competing high up in the points positions.

However, the team has since slipped away and become backmarkers after implementing little development over the course of the 2018 season. Alonso will look for a new challenge away from F1 next year, and has described the remaining races of the season as "a celebration".

"Every race now, from the moment I decided to stop, is just a celebration," said Alonso. "I can't wait to go to Austin now and see the place again, drive around in the cars.

"Maybe we're not the fastest when you see the times at the end of the session, but every lap feels fantastic. It's not that I don't love F1 anymore, I still love these cars, but if I stop now it's because I'm 37 years old and achieved all my dreams in F1."

The 37-year-old has criticised the current state of Formula 1 as he doesn't believe the gap Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull has over the rest of the field is fair. But he added that he feels he is not alone in his stance, highlighted by a recent social media post.

"You need to make the sport interesting again,” said Alonso. “I posted a video of 2005 and I received 3000 comments of ‘this is the Formula 1 I fell in love with and not the thing you have now’, so it’s not me being critical of this Formula 1, it’s the whole world.

“One of the top six cars can start last in every race and will finish in the top six and lap the seventh with whatever guy you put in those cars. We miss the noise of the V10, the V8, we miss the creativity on the strategy, the different fuel loads, the tyre competition, so you go into Sunday with some unpredictable feeling of what is going to happen.”

Ram Samartha

Posts: 1,172

I've always been an Alonso fan but I have to say that I find all of his complaining the past 3-4 years a bit distasteful. He made his decisions and still he puts the blame on other people. He, of all racing drivers is in a position to make a positive mark on the future of F1 because of the respec... [Read more]

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Oct 16 2018 - 07:06

F1 News Fernando Alonso Mercedes McLaren Ferrari

Replies (3)

ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
I tend to look down upon those that criticize F1 constantly, and for the most part I have found most of Alonso's criticism unnecessary. But while no age of F1 was without downsides, 2005 was clearly more exciting and unpredictable. The last paragraph in this article summarizes what I see as the main problem. We've had an exciting championship this year, but it's against a pathetic backdrop of cars that don't really play much of a role.

Some people get excited to see Lewis, Sebastian, or Max, overtaking 10 cars in as many laps, but I actually think it's pathetic. It cheapens the experience. It makes good headlines, but it's not the same as Kimi in Japan 2005 and many others.

I actually think current F1 is one big step away from being one of the best ages of the sport. If we didn't have the top three teams ~1s per lap faster than everyone else, we'd have an extremely competitive midfield where almost any car could win. We've had every car but Williams win the "best of the rest" award this season. Imagine if those were actual wins?
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- Oct 15 2018 - 17:49
blade

Posts: 341
The major issue I see with today is allowing teams to be all-powerful in the decision making. Where there don't have veto's the FIA and Liberty appear afraid of their own shadow - 'I can't possibly upset Ferrari....." I seriously doubt F1 would die if they left. How long would it be until they returned - they need F1 as much as F1 needs it. My message to Mr Carey is "Grow a pair" and fix this mess before the value of your investment starts to recede. You have already had enough time in the seat not for this to be called "your problem" - don't let history judge you poorly.
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- Oct 15 2018 - 20:20
Ram Samartha

Posts: 1,172
I've always been an Alonso fan but I have to say that I find all of his complaining the past 3-4 years a bit distasteful. He made his decisions and still he puts the blame on other people. He, of all racing drivers is in a position to make a positive mark on the future of F1 because of the respect he has, but all that he does is bitch, bitch, bitch instead of actively make a positive mark on the sport. When was the last time we saw a headline that "Alonso instrumental in developing next year's car and surprising everyone with his positive attitude and ground-breaking input on how F1 advances in the future." Never (or not most drivers to be fair). Instead he continues to align himself with people like Briatore. He wants to be the best racing driver in the world. More power to him.
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- Oct 16 2018 - 07:06