The Asturian pilot wants to complete his contract with Aston Martin before facing other competitions, again. The Triple Crown goal has moved away remarkably, but he doesn’t rule out returning to Indianapolis one day. Before, he will contest the Dakar again.
When Fernando Alonso retired from Formula 1 for the first time in 2018, he did so to get away from the spotlight of the Great Circus, take a breather and dedicate himself to other goals. That helped him learn from other competitions and recover the taste for the discipline in which he became a legend.
The triple crown dream notably advanced it after winning twice the 24 hours of Le Mansbut ran into the innate difficulty of Indianapolis 500 miles, that they have choked. Along the way, moreover, he tried a discipline as radically different as the Dakar, to which he promised to return one day to win it.
Once Alpine’s ‘The Plan’ has been a fiasco and Aston Martin ‘The Mission’ will start in 2023, the door opens again to what will happen next. If everything goes as planned, Alonso will leave Formula 1 definitively this time at 43 or 44 years old, a remarkable age that, however, will not prevent him from continuing to be active.
The question is as simple to formulate as it is complex to answer: What will Alonso do after Formula 1?
The Triple Crown walks away
Alonso has proven in his meat the difficulty of Indianapolis. He has tried three times to conquer it and all three times he has fallen short (especially in 2019, when he didn’t even qualify for the race), so he has had to give it up.
Once back in the maelstrom of Formula 1, he wants to focus on it. He won’t go back to Indy until he leaves Aston Martin., nor will it make it to the World Endurance Championship. In 2023 the 100 years of the Le Mans circuit will be celebrated, which aims to be a historic race… for which Alonso has ruled himself out.
“Now I am quite focused on F1 and Aston Martin. F1 takes all your energy. You have practically no life left and you sacrifice everything in life. As long as I do F1, I will not do Le Mans. We will see later», settled on the matter in his chat with fans on the ‘Finetwork’ profile.
In general, Alonso wants to dedicate all his efforts to his last dance in Formula 1. He knows that he has the time he has in action and does not want to be distracted by anything outside. «Until I’m in F1 I don’t want to think about other things. The calendar is very demanding. I don’t know in the future. Now it is not in my head, “he settled on the matter.
Fernando Alonso, after winning the 2019 Le Mans 24 Hours
And the Dakar? And the F1 in other functions?
Another very different matter is the Dakar rally. Although for Alonso it is a competition that is foreign to what he usually does, the unbeatable sensations with which he finished his debut participation in 2020 made him fall in love with the toughest raid in the world.
After finish 13th and as the best ‘rookie’ of the editionAlonso promised that he would play it again one day. Now he has confirmed that he will not do it until he leaves Formula 1. And he is clear about what the mirror of him is.
«I have an example and inspiration, which is Carlos (Sainz) father, who continues to race and win the Dakar. I know I’m still sane for a while, and I hope to be in Formula 1 for two or three more years, which I think I’m 100%. Then, from there, a challenge that I have never hidden is to try the Dakar again», He recounted in an interview on DAZN during the Dutch GP.
What it seems that he will not do is take the step to stay in Formula 1 but in other functions. Alonso was clear: «Right now I don’t see myself, but I can’t say I won’t because life takes many turns. When I stop running, it would cost me to come to another function, so I think I will dedicate myself to other things », she recounted.
It seems that Alonso will not follow in the footsteps of men like Alain Prostwho put himself at the controls of his own team with a result, at least, that could be improved.
Photos: Alpine F1 Team / Toyota Gazoo Racing