the future of Fernando Alonso in Alpine it’s getting blacker. The ‘divorce’ with the French team seems to be growing after the statements by Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault, and Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine, about the current situation in the two-time world champion team.
Something that, however, does not seem to have caught the Oviedo by surprise. In fact, At the beginning of April in Australia he already warned that “I will race two or three more years in F1, in Alpine or somewhere else”.
Words that he confirmed this weekend in Barcelona, when referring to his future in the ‘great circus’. “The future… We’ll see after the summer, which is what I had in mind since preseason, as I already said, that in summer I would think what is the best option”, assured the Asturian pilot.
And the best option, seeing that the preferences of the Alpine leaders go through Esteban Ocon and Oscar Piastri, gives the feeling that they already know they are out of the French team. In this sense, his age -around 41 years old to Piastri’s 21- and the fact that he only has 4 points this season -to his teammate Ocon’s 30- are the two great factors that have ‘helped’ Alpine to make the decision. Not having Fernando Alonso in 2023who is also today one of the highest paid drivers on the grid.
The Spanish rider is increasingly aware of this, and that is why Prioritize for the next course go to a team in which you have real options to be world champion again.
“Logically, the new rules always put a different order between the teams and you have to see what chance there is between the teams that have a chance of winning in the coming years. So that will be the priority when I plan to talk to another team.“, he pointed out in Barcelona.
Even days later, he went further in his demonstrations in an interview with ‘Sky Sports’ when they asked him if he would accept the offer of one of the winning teams to be the second driver, with a clear leader that would not be him. The answer caught the attention: “Yes, of course.”
“I think, in the end, there are not many number one or two drivers in any team right now and lTeams need both drivers to work together to improve the car.e”, confirmed Fernando Alonso.
The shadow of retreat
The problem for him, however, is that It will not be easy to find a place in a leading team or one that has minimal options to fight for the title. So much so that illustrious ex-drivers such as Damon Hill, world champion in 1997, considers that the doors of the cars that can fight for the title will no longer open for ’14’.
The 1997 champion believes that Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull would make a mistake by signing the Oviedo: “I don’t think it’s the investment they need.” The reason is that he could not spend many years in the team that hired him and it would be impossible to build a project in the medium or long term: “How long is it going to last? A year? Two years? In the end, the clock will mark the time of Fernando and it happens to everyone, although it is something that the pilots do not want to admit,” he assured.
Although his intention is to continue in Formula 1 “two or three more years”, the reality is that if he does not renew with Alpine and there is no guarantee project that bets on him to try to win his third title, Fernando Alonso’s withdrawal could be closer than it seems. But more ‘forced’ by the circumstances than by their own decision or competitive capacity. A reality, in any case, that will be very difficult to accept if the time comes.
