Fernando Alonso has revealed that he had his doubts about returning to F1 when he resigned from Renault at the start of the 2020 season for 2021 and 2022. The 2-time world champion who dethroned Michael Schumacher’s record-breaking spree of 5 consecutive world championships in 2005 and 2006 left F1 at the end of the 2018 season after a disastrous stint with McLaren. He drove in LeMans, WEC, and IndyCar in his time away from F1 where he had tremendous success in LeMans and WEC.
His fears about a return to F1 were predicated on the return of Michael Schumacher to F1 in 2010 and Kimi Raikkonen in 2012. Schumacher had retired from F1 at the end of the 2006 season while Raikkonen left F1 in 2008 after being replaced at Ferrari by Alonso himself. Both drivers never really hit the dizzying peak of the 2000s when they return with Mercedes and Lotus respectively.
“I know that there were a couple of examples in the past that people were coming back, Kimi or Michael, that they were maybe… we all had the feeling that they were not the same as before. And I didn’t want that in my comeback,'' Alonso said to The Race.
While Raikkonen did win two races — one with Lotus and one in his final season with Ferrari in 2018, Schumacher, never was a match for Nico Rosberg and was replaced by Hamilton in 2013 season.
I know that there were a couple of examples in the past that people were coming back, Kimi or Michael, that they were maybe… we all had the feeling that they were not the same as before. And I didn’t want that in my comeback,'' Alonso added.
Alonso who is now the most experienced F1 driver in the history of the sport and the oldest on the current grid doesn't feel that his presence is detracting from giving younger drivers a chance. He feels only slow drivers are doing that and felt that he was still operating at a top level deserving of a place on the grid. Widely, Alonso is expected to renew a deal with Alpine which would mean the Alpine F2 world champion Oscar Piastri will likely need to look at Williams or McLaren where Daniel Ricciardo is struggling to get to become one with the car.
Despite just 32 race wins and 2 world titles, many regards Alonso as one of the all-time greats. In fact, so much so many believe that Alonso is a superior driver to Hamilton and Vettel two of his juniors who have gone on and managed more race wins and world titles than him mostly because of being in superior / faster cars.
