No-one saw it coming. The start of the 2023 Formula One World Championship has been phenomenal for the Aston Martin team, and in particular its star driver Fernando Alonso, on the back of two lacklustre seasons. In both 2021 and 2022, the Silverstone-based outfit finished seventh out of ten teams. After six races this year, Aston sits second in the constructors’ table with Alonso a strong third in the drivers’ championship, behind a dominant Red Bull team.
It’s even more remarkable considering the two-times world champion retired from F1 at the end of the 2018 season, having become disillusioned with the McLaren team and F1 in general. He mounted a comeback with Alpine in 2021 before making the shock decision to jump to Aston Martin for 2023. It proved to be an inspired move for Alonso, now 41, and has shown the world he still has every ounce of talent that won him two world drivers’ championships.
Ahead of his home race, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, Alonso, 41, sat down with Driving.co.uk to discuss the reasons behind his F1 retirement and phoenix-like comeback, as well as his remarkable success with Aston Martin, how his experience in other disciplines such as Le Mans and Indycar has helped, and why he still has something to prove in the Dakar Rally.
David Green: Fernando, would you have imagined at the end of the 2018 season, having walked away from Formula One, that you’d be here on the eve of the Spanish Grand Prix, third in the championship after a strong second place in Monaco?
Fernando Alonso: Yes! […laughs] I don’t know, I think when I retired I was thinking that in 2021 it would be new regulations coming so there could be a possibility to go back to Formula One, and with more even cars, budget cap and more standard parts for everyone, the cars and the performance eventually would get that little bit closer. When I left in 2018 only Hamilton and Bottas could really challenge for a win and I thought that maybe in the future there’s an opportunity so, yeah, this could be in my head.
David Green: You certainly seem to be enjoying it, but at the weekend [in Monaco] when you were speaking to the engineer on the radio you said, “I’m pushing like an animal mate!” — the fire’s obviously still there?
