Fernando Alonso he leads practically all the longevity statistics of Formula 1 thanks to his long career that began back in 2001, a career of which he has taken stock in the run-up to the Hungarian Grand Prix.
at hungaroring got his first win in 2003but it was also the moment in which his life changed: “I remember that it was a magical moment of my life and my career, and something that changed everything. I lost my privacy for 20 years. The first win is big for everyone and for me it was a big change.”
“It’s complicated because you’re trying to fulfill your dream, the one you’ve had since karting, driving the best cars, getting to where I am now…, but you never weighed the sacrifices you make, the changes that your family and your life eventually undergoes when you get to F1. I wouldn’t change a thing because it’s your choice but things are a little more difficult than what you see on tvthat 20 or 30 years of your life have changed,” he added.
Regarding the sporting decisions that he has made throughout his career, Alonso was blunt: “I would not change any decision nor do I regret anything. Nobody has a crystal ball to know the benefits that a team will have”.
“I went to McLaren and fought for the title and then to Ferrari where I don’t think any driver can say no. I fought for three championships in the five years that I was there. McLaren-Honda could be an interesting and powerful project, but didn’t work. That can happen in sport,” she mused.
“Then I stopped Formula 1 because I had a lot of things and challenges in my head that I wanted to try. I came back with what I always considered my family, Alpine/Renault. After that, I went to Aston Martin and all that shows the difficulty of choosing a team,” he explained.
Despite his long career, the Asturian affirms that he continues to have the same ambition: “When I lower the visor I have the same motivation and adrenaline for running. All of that is the same as 20 years ago, only now I have more off-road experience, the way of dealing with the engineers, preparing the strategy…”.
“The level of stress is different, knowing what I already know and that few things surprise me in the race, but the DNA, I insist, is the same,” he concluded.
