Fernando Alonso thinks that he is in the prime of his career, and Italian legend Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP form acts as an inspiration.
Thirty five years young and currently participating in his 15th season of grand prix racing, Fernando Alonso says he doesn’t feel like a veteran.
The ex-Ferrari driver currently at McLaren, believes he is driving at his ‘best level’ now experience helping him to extract the best out of a car.
“I don’t think that my time in Formula 1 is over,” he said.
“I think I am driving at my best level now, and I have knowledge about the cars and the technical situation that allows me to push the car a little bit more to the limit.
“I’m very calm about the situation, I have a contract next year with this team again.”
The belief that should McLaren find front-running form again Alonso could challenge for world titles comes from 37-year-old MotoGP star Rossi, says the Spaniard.
“After some years that you are not fighting for the championship but you keep going, going, going, you know, sooner or later you will show your talent – as Valentino is doing now,” said Alonso.
“That’s a kind of inspiration for us. You need to trust in yourself, and when you have the bike or the car that performs at the best level you will be there.
“Because you cannot forget how to ride a bike, or how to drive a car, in two or three years.”
Double world champion Fernando also insisted that the 2017 regulations ignite his fire within, more so than McLaren’s quest for a competitive car in determining whether he continues to drive after the 2017 season.
“I think that my biggest question is how I enjoy driving next year’s car; if the rules stay as they are now, and I have to save fuel, I have to save tyres, I have to drive 90 per cent and I cannot push in any of the laps, then next year will be my last year,” he said.
“Not because I’m not competitive, even if I win the championship next year, I stop because I prefer other things more.
“It’s not about what results I have next year, or how competitive McLaren is. It’s about how the Formula 1 car goes, in which direction.”
He also stated that offers from even Mercedes or Red Bull wouldn’t be enough to keep him in F1, if the new regulations don’t excite his passion for racing.
“The answer would be that in 2017 I have a contract in McLaren, and then in 2018 I will see how the cars excite me to drive. I don’t think that I’m now motivated to a competitive car or a change in team.
“Of course I want to win, and I want to do it as soon as possible. But next year I have a contract with McLaren, and the following year, it will not be related to car performance whether I continue or not.”
Everyone would love to see a competitive McLaren enabling a competitive Fernando to go racing… at 100% !
It’s a pity,history and time are really against a great comeback but I do hope I am wrong. Now spoiler alert….did you see the state of the duc’s tyres yesterday in the MotoGP?..I have said it before,bike riders are f+#king crazy. It does make our F1 pilots look like princesses😇
Yeah that was crazy, tires just falling apart!
No safety car starts, guys just getting on with it and somehow they ride without radios???
Yes I did take note at that start,it should give Charlie something to think about. This how F1 was run and sadly today we have some very watered down PC series. Our sport is losing its way and forgetting why the fans watch. Alonso,Button and dare I say it…Joss Jr are all racers at heart and I am sure they look at what we have today and scream, yes,we have good points and the cars are simply astounding but the shear mass of Red tape is dragging it down.
I’d have to admit, I only watch MotoGP and Indycar races, I don’t bother with qualifying or any lead up shows etc, and the races stand up by themselves. I find I can sit there and watch without knowing all of the backstory and whats going on, because the racing is good.
Whereas with F1, I’m finding more and more I will watch some practice sessions, always watch qualifying, watch the lead up to the race and then increasingly I’m finding I will fall asleep during the race (it doesn’t help being in Australia and it being on in the middle of the night)
Unfortunately the IndyCar result was spoilt for me this morning, but I will still go home tonight and watch the race, where I find now with F1 if I’ve fallen asleep and miss the end, I will just check the results and unless something spectacular happened I won’t bother watching what I missed.
Ah… Australia,now you do have oil in your veins😎 the v8 racing is something to treasure. F1 has always been a euro time centred event and its easy to forget that it’s a bigger world out there. If I was a new fan from ,lets say S/America, F1 is probably regarded as an odd event, unless you really delv into the past and cut through all the B\S and politics you are left with a race that has no contact,limited cars and over paid drivers all this and you pay $25 to watch..you start to see why other events are getting the lions share of the fans. The sport will change,it always has, but it’s going to be a rough ride as change happens. What the sport needs is a good injection of reality and maybe some real working class young drivers..a hero?? One from the rough part of town who drove the wheels off their big wheel.
You’re obviously one of them easy coasters. Perth is +8 UTC and the European races are a very amenable 8pm start on a Sunday night. Evening meal, fresh brew, bar snacks and I’m set for the night.
Only the North/South American races suck being 2AM affairs. That’s a short sleep, get up to see the race and then back to zeds again before Monday morning at the office. Ugh!
Bike riders are indeed, as you say, farkin’ crazy… and current F1 pilots do indeed, as you say, look like princesses in comparison.