In a remarkable shock statement, Two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso believes he has made the best decision of his career by joining the Aston Martin team in 2023, although the Spaniard also insists he has no regrets about any of his previous choices.
A shock statement indeed considering the past glories achieved at Renault, and championship fights at McLaren and Ferrari.
Long career in F1
Fernando Alonso began his Formula 1 career with Minardi in 2001, before joining the Renault team with whom he won his two world titles in 2005 and 2006. The Spaniard then moved to the McLaren team, where he was team-mate to a certain Lewis Hamilton, before finally returning to Renault due to an unpleasant atmosphere within the Woking team.
After two seasons with the Renault F1 Team, Alonso accepted an offer from Scuderia Ferrari, which he joined in 2010, but the Spanish driver was unable to win a third world title with the Maranello-based team and eventually decided to return to McLaren in 2015, attracted by the return of Japanese manufacturer Honda.
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It was a challenging start to @McLarenF1's 2023 campaign….
But, they've certainly turned around their fortunes as of late with some mega performances by both @OscarPiastri and @LandoNorris!
We take a look back at the papaya team's highs and lows thus far 🎬👇#F1
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 15, 2023
His time at McLaren-Honda was undoubtedly the most difficult for him, as the hybrid power unit developed by the Japanese firm suffered from a lack of reliability and the Spaniard was forced to retire from one race after another. He eventually put an end to his career to explore new challenges in WEC, Indycar and the Dakar.
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Return to Formula 1
In 2021, Fernando Alonso announced his return to Formula 1 with his former team Renault, now Alpine, before finally springing a surprise in 2022 by deciding to leave Alpine to join the Aston Martin project from the 2023 season, which he described as his “best decision” since the start of his career.
“I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t regret anything! Nobody has a crystal ball to know how the teams will perform the following year,” said Fernando Alonso, quoted by Sky Sports.
“When I left Renault, which was my own decision, I joined McLaren, and that season we fought for the world championships. So, in terms of competitiveness, it was a good thing, a good decision.”
“Then I joined Ferrari, and I don’t think any driver can turn down an offer from Ferrari and join that team. We fought for three championships in the five years I was there.”
“Then I joined McLaren-Honda, which was a project we all thought could be interesting and powerful. But it didn’t work out and that sort of thing can happen in this sport. Then I stopped Formula 1 because I had too many things on my mind and too many challenges that I wanted to try.”
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WEC and Indycar
“It was a wonderful period in my career to try Endurance racing or Indy with quite good success as well. I’m very happy for that. And then I came back to Formula 1 with what I’ve always considered to be my family at Alpine, at Renault.”
“And now my latest decision, which a lot of people thought was the worst, to go for Aston Martin. But it’s probably the best of my career.”
“It shows the difficulty of choosing a team and the lack of knowledge that anyone can have from home.”
Since the start of the 2023 season, Fernando Alonso has scored six podiums in twelve races and, ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix scheduled for the last weekend of August, sits third in the drivers’ world championship.
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