Formula 1
Alpine F1 team "blown away" by Alonso's race craft
Alpine Formula 1 executive director Marcin Budkowski says the Enstone team has been "blown away" by Fernando Alonso's race craft across the first half of the 2021 season.
Filip Cleeren Jonathan Noble
Edited: Feb 11, 2022, 6:00 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Alonso made headlines when he produced a tenacious drive in the Hungarian Grand Prix, crucially holding off Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton for several laps while teammate Esteban Ocon secured his maiden victory.
But Budapest wasn't the first time 40-year-old Alonso left his Enstone team stunned by his race craft and his ability to read races from the cockpit, the double world champion often being aware of the full picture as much as his team on the pitwall.
"I've worked with a number of drivers a bit more than 20 years in F1 and he is extremely impressive," Budkowski said. "He's impressive in his approach, which is very, very professional.
"The other thing that blows me away is his race craft. And I think we've seen it in the [Silverstone] sprint race, we've seen it in Baku, they were great opportunities to see that.
"What Fernando did in Silverstone was effectively forming a DRS train behind him, because he wasn't afraid of [Lance] Stroll but he was afraid of [Pierre] Gasly and therefore he eliminated any possible attack from Gasly by putting him in Stroll's DRS.
"For me it's mind blowing almost because we're sat on the pit wall, we have all the data, we have full visibility on the race.
"He is in the car driving at full speed and he has almost the same analysis of the race that we have on the pit wall with nowhere near as much data and an ability to take a step back.
"That's I think the thing that impresses me the most in Fernando. I guess it's 20 years of experience driving Formula 1 cars but not many drivers, even with 20 years experience, will be capable of that."
Alonso claimed that his two decades of experience in F1 has only made him a better driver, suggesting he would now beat his 23-year-old self "with one hand".
Read Also:
- Why Alonso thinks he'd beat his younger self 'with one hand'
- Alonso: Alpine has lost too much ground to McLaren
Budkowski has also noticed Alonso is still as hungry and ambitious as ever, and believes the Spaniard will remain in F1 for years to come if Alpine manages to give him a fast car.
"How long [he'll go on], it's a question for Fernando, [but] he doesn't feel like an old man ready to retire," Budkowski explained.
"He's hungry, he's looking forward to next year. Every time he's in a factory he's asking how's next year car coming along.
"You can see that he's enjoying it, he's happy to be back in Formula 1 but obviously he's ambitious, like our ambition is to do better than we're doing now. That's what we're working hard on for next year and he's excited about that.
"If we give him a competitive car next year, I don't think he's going to go anywhere anytime soon, because he's going to want more and more of it."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Why Alfa Romeo is convinced its 2021 pain is worth it
Next article Red Bull teams in "good place" with current F1 driver line-up
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Filip Cleeren
Esteban Ocon issues statement after Haas benching, denies physical altercation rumours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
Esteban Ocon issues statement after Haas benching, denies physical altercation rumours
Lewis Hamilton buoyed by historic first Ferrari F1 pole: "I still love what I do"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
3 h
Lewis Hamilton buoyed by historic first Ferrari F1 pole: "I still love what I do"
Latest news
Max Verstappen clears the air with Liam Lawson, but stays tight-lipped on Racing Bulls F1 seat
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Max Verstappen clears the air with Liam Lawson, but stays tight-lipped on Racing Bulls F1 seat
"I'll bombard myself with melatonin": Kimi Antonelli admits to driving "tense" and "tired" on cusp of F1 title
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
"I'll bombard myself with melatonin": Kimi Antonelli admits to driving "tense" and "tired" on cusp of F1 title
Ryo Hirakawa could have "easily" made Q2 in F1 Mexico GP without late traffic
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
Ryo Hirakawa could have "easily" made Q2 in F1 Mexico GP without late traffic
Carson Kvapil wins Martinsville as Justin Allgaier takes NASCAR O’Reilly points lead
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Martinsville II
2 h
Carson Kvapil wins Martinsville as Justin Allgaier takes NASCAR O’Reilly points lead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe