Alonso reveals which two drivers were “the reason I put on TV” outside of the F1 season

Although Fernando Alonso competed around the world in 2021, he was still glued to F1 – and closely watched the two drivers in particular. The 40-year-old driver is preparing for the second season with Alpine and said there is nothing stopping them from being competitive this year.

Returning to the former Renault team, where he won two championships in 2005 and 2006, the veteran managed to rise to the podium in 2021 and play a key role in his teammate Esteban Ocon’s maiden victory by holding Lewis Hamilton for 11 decisive rounds. in Hungary.

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Asked what drivers he was following on his two-year F1 sabbatical, Alonso replied: “I also said at the start of the championship, before it even started, in Bahrain, that the driver who impressed me more when I was home. George watched on TV. [Russell], performance at Williams and Max [Verstappen]. They were the two guys I put on TV for… ”

This happened before Daniel Ricciardo quickly interrupted him and reminded the alpine driver that he should have followed the Australian’s efforts on Renault before joining McLaren in 2021.

“And Daniel,” laughed Alonso, “because he was in Renault and that car was very interesting to me last year, but no, I mean they gave something extra and that was the reason I turned on the TV.”

2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso looks forward to 2022 with Alpine

Last season, however, Alonso started because of a rocky bike accident, which delayed his preparation – and this month he has two weeks of training to remove the metal plates from his jaw.

“I think we need a good winter, that’s for sure, I need to prepare or prepare a little better than last year; the February bike accident didn’t help last year, ”he said before the surgery.

“This January I have to remove the plates from my face, so I have two weeks off in January, but I probably still had them off even without surgery because it’s just time to relax. But after that you have to go for winter tests with a good program, physically and also in the car. And if the car is competitive, I’m sure I’m 100%.

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Alonso added that Alpine has every opportunity to produce a competitive car this season as F1 enters a new era with continued, tight cost caps aimed at further leveling the playing field.

“And it’s our job to make a good car; either we do it or we learn from our mistakes, “he said.” But there are no more [excuses]: we have less budget or we have less resources or they use two wind tunnels. There are no more [of] all these things, so it’s up to us, ”he decided.