Fernando Alonso speaks on Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, as he adds on his Aston Martin and or Mercedes chance plus F1 future.
Aston Martin’s Alonso got the Hamilton-to-Ferrari message a day after the news broke as the Spaniard was busy training. That hasn’t deterred him to make a cheeky note about it being Hamilton’s dream to join Ferrari, which wasn’t the case months ago.
He is happy with him joining, though, and was surprised too considering Hamilton’s loyalty towards Mercedes. But he reckons he could be a good factor for Ferrari in their quest to win the F1 world champion in future, as he can push them to attain the desired goals.
Regarding his own future, Alonso put down any links with Mercedes for now as he has put Aston Martin as first priority when he eventually fixes upon whether to continue in F1 or not beyond the 2024 F1 season. He feels fitter than ever and has sound motivation too.
While he may not race until he is 50-years-old, but is open to give few more years. Although, that kind of decision will only happen once he has started with the 2024 F1 season. He has the desire certainly, but needs self confirmation before any decision.
Here’s what Alonso said to select media including BBC, Sky Sports and more –
How Lewis Hamilton news came about –
Alonso: “I didn’t spend too much time, I was training actually that day. I missed all the stress from everybody. So, I was just one day late on the news. I don’t know, probably was a surprise, I will not lie. But not because the change itself. It was just because, from the outside, it seemed like he was very linked with Mercedes and very loyal to them and things like that. It was a little bit unexpected. I don’t know the reasons behind; I don’t know anything. I don’t know the story. More a question for him. I didn’t pay too much attention. Probably next week will be more of a theme because still one year ahead, I didn’t spend much time thinking.”
What do you make of it –
Alonso: “I don’t know, it was not his childhood dream 12 months ago, no? Or two months ago, I guess. Because it was a different dream. Nothing really to comment. I hope he enjoys the experience. I think it’s a very special team. But it’s more special when you win… That’s the thing you need to win, it’s few years already [since] they have a very fast car and they were fighting for big things. Maybe Lewis can bring that extra to fight for the championship because as I said, the car is there. At the end of last year, even with a very dominant Red Bull car, Ferrari still able to match the lap time and to be faster than them in most of the qualifying. So, I think the car should be fast enough.”
Mercedes scene, being only world champion available –
Alonso: “On the Mercedes thing, nothing at all yet. First of all, I know the driver market started earlier this year than probably June or July which is the normal timing. But this will not affect me at all. I have been preparing for the season good enough, we have preparing for the testing. It is so limited that I cannot decide the future now. I’ll have to wait few races. I’m aware of my situation, which is very unique. There are only three world champions on the grid and fast world champions, because in the past, maybe there were some world champions where they were not so committed to be fast. I’m probably the only one available for ’25, so I have a good position. But at the same time, when I make the decision, if I want to keep racing or not for the future, first and only talk that I will have at the beginning is with Aston Martin, because that will be my only one priority.”
Training, fitness and Aston Martin priority –
Alonso: “I feel good, I feel fitter than ever. The numbers that we achieve in all the physical tests that we do every season, they were the best ever this year. But I was training a little bit different this year. I was also, as I said, adding a nutritionist to the team, which changed a little bit our way of seeing things and preparing the body. Everything that I do in life and everything that I did in the last few months were just to prepare myself better than ever for a very long season and to prepare myself also, in case I want to keep driving, being better than ever. If I commit to a project in the future, for the next year or next few years, I need to be first ready, myself, to commit to that.
“I will not drive a few more years in Formula 1 just to drive and to have fun. I’m not that kind of driver, I’m not that kind of person. If I want to keep driving it’s because I know, starting from myself, that I can give 200% to the team on and off-track. Simulator work, marketing work, delivering the results on track. So, I’m preparing for that in the eventuality that I want to keep racing and if I want to keep racing, let’s see what the options are. My first priority will be always to sit down and discuss with Aston. They gave me the opportunity last year to join this organisation, which I’m very proud to be part of. With the new factory, with everything that is going on, there is a great future in this team. And I want to explore every possibility to race for many years here.”
Age factor –
Alonso: “The number to keep racing in future, a few years ago, I would say that maybe 42 or 41 was the limit. Now, after I saw myself last year, motivated and performing well, I was thinking maybe that I can keep racing a few more years now. This winter, I’ve been exceeding a little bit the expectations in terms of all the physical tests and everything that I did. So I would say that if you are motivated and if you want to commit, you can drive maybe until 48 or 49 or whatever, or even 50.
“But at the same time you have to give up everything in life. Formula 1 needs total dedication and this is my [21st] season in F1, and I gave my life for 24 years to this sport, which I’m happy and I’m okay with that. I can keep doing for a few more years, but I don’t know if I will be racing until 50 with such a demanding calendar and things like that. Not for the abilities, but because there are other things in life that I’m curious.”
Decide himself about staying or not –
Alonso: “There are a couple of phases that I need to go through. First of all, I need to decide myself what I want to do for the future if I want to commit my life, again for a few more years to this sport, which I love. I love driving. I’ve been driving all over winter. Different cars, DTM car, car cross, rally car, go kart itself. So I love Formula 1, but generally I love driving. So if it’s not Formula 1, I will find myself happy in any other form of motorsport and maybe having more time for my private life, which is also very important, at this age. But this is a decision that I need to do with myself. I need to think, and I need to commit to a team, eventually, and make sure that I understand the next few years of my life it will be that team 100% of my time.
“Once I do that decision I want to sit with Aston Martin and say okay I make these decisions. I would love to continue in this project because I think we did a good step forward in the last year. We built a lot of things together. We have this new facility here. We have everything to succeed for the future and I trust this project. So that will be my first priority when I say that I want to speak first with Aston Martin because I feel part of this project very much. But if we cannot reach an agreement and I want to commit to race in Formula 1 I know that I have a privileged position I am probably attractive to other teams, the performance that they saw last year, the commitment. And as I said there are only three world champions on the grid and there is only one available.”
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