Formula One legend Fernando Alonso believes he’s at present higher than he has ever been.
The two-time F1 world champion loved a stellar first season with Aston Martin in 2023. Before the beginning of the season, few would have anticipated the 42-year-old veteran to problem the Red Bulls as recurrently as he did whereas driving a significantly worse automobile.
But the Spaniard was capable of file eight podium finishes, ending fourth within the Drivers’ Championship after years of mediocrity with Alpine. And his greatest particular person end in over a decade was no fluke, with Alonso believing he has truly improved for the reason that days of his back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.
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That is in response to Sky Sports F1 presenter Rachel Brooks, who gave perception into the driving force’s mindset forward of the 2024 marketing campaign. Brooks revealed that Alonso instructed her in an off-camera chat how he was feeling higher than ever forward of the opener in Bahrain.
She instructed the Fuelling Around podcast: “I did one thing with him and Lance (Stroll) earlier final yr and it was away from the cameras.
“We had been going between two websites and I used to be simply chatting to him and I simply mentioned to him: ‘Do you ever worry there’s going to be a degree the place you’re feeling like ‘I’m shedding my edge, I’m shedding my response time or my spacial consciousness is diminishing’ as a result of he’s in his 40s. And he mentioned to me ‘no’.
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(Image: Sky Sports)
(Image: Getty Images)
“He said: ‘I’m better than I ever was. I’m actually driving better, thinking better and functioning better than I was in my 20s. He said ‘it’s because of everything I’ve learned along the way that I’m now able to do this’.
“You talk to other drivers and they’re like ‘no, I got to 40 and I started to lose pace or this, or that, or the other’ but he feels right now, he says, that he’s the best he’s ever been.”
(Image: AFP by way of Getty Images)
The age-defying star will enter the final yr of his contract this season, however just lately insisted he can drive competitively till the age of fifty. The former Renault, McLaren and Ferrari ace mentioned: “Now, after I saw myself last year, motivated and performing well. I was thinking maybe that I can keep racing [for a] few more years.
“This winter, I’ve been exceeding a little bit of expectations in terms of all the physical tests and everything that I did. So I will say that if you are motivated, and if you want to commit, you can drive maybe until 48 or 49, or whatever, or even 50.”