Pat Symonds talks about Fernando Alonso in a special F1 Beyond The Grid podcast episode as the Spaniard returns with Renault.
- The opening topic on this week’s F1 Beyond the Grid episode was that of Fernando Alonso’s recently-announced return to the sport, and as it turned out, this would last for the entirety of the installment with Symonds.
- He stated plainly that Renault can expect a ‘damn good driver’ upon the Spaniard’s return, as he spoke on some of his greatest abilities having worked with him.
- Symonds spoke in-depth on his ability to understand strategy, and defended an error made by the two-time champion at Abu Dhabi in 2010, as he failed to notice a rather obvious flaw in the plan.
- The chief technical officer in F1 also dismissed notions that Alonso’s return will be similar to that of Michael Schumacher, saying that his time in WEC will have likely made him stronger.
- On this note, Symonds stated that Alonso will have learned to be more of a team player (an achilles’ heel of his in the past) with Toyota, such is the nature of endurance racing.
- Symonds then answered the tough question of whether or not Renault would have won those mid-2000s championships without Alonso, who was – at times – destructive, as he stated the title wins would have been unlikely without him.
- On his best performance, Symonds said the best drive from Alonso was his inaugural win at Hungary in 2003, while he added on the 2005 race at Imola.
- Then, Symonds regaled host Tom Clarkson with the tale of his first test day with Alonso in 2001, and what the reaction was from both the Spaniard and the team at this time, as well as how winning changed him.
- He also covered how Alonso did against Giancarlo Fisichella, and stated that he is certain of his motivation for returning: winning another F1 world championship.
- Comparing Alonso to other drivers, he discussed the Spaniard’s strengths relative to those of other greats like Ayrton Senna and Schumacher – he rated the two-time F1 champion well against the best of the best.
- Answering a hypothetical, Symonds spoke on the drivers he would pick for a fictional ‘Symonds GP’, before quickly jumping to how the 2022 F1 regulations might suit Alonso – but only if he has worked out his at-times ‘anti-team’ attitude.
Due to FOM’s restrictions, we cannot use the podcast but we have the link where you can find it: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hdWRpb2Jvb20uY29tL2NoYW5uZWxzLzQ5NjQzMzkucnNz/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvYm9vbS5jb20sMjAyMC0wNy0xNDovcG9zdHMvNzYzMjI3Mw?hl=en-IN&ved=2ahUKEwjH4bfbgtLqAhWR8HMBHaS4D7YQieUEegQIAxAE&ep=6
Here’s the last F1 Beyond The Grid podcast with Michael Masi
Here’s the new F1 Nation episode