F1 News
Alonso has tough winter: "I have to train more than the other drivers"
- GPblog.com
New cars in 2022 means a hectic winter for the drivers. Fernando Alonso expects that a small run-up will be needed before the drivers can handle the new cars and rules. For the Spaniard himself, the oldest driver on the grid, the preparation will be a little busier still.
The two-time world champion expects that as many as three or four races will be needed in 2022 before everyone gets used to the new cars and the new rules. In this, the Spaniard does not immediately see a heavier preparation. The work in the simulator and the days with the team will be more. In conversation with Formula1.com the Alpine driver can look back on changes in the sport during his almost twenty years of active participation in F1.
Tough winter break for Alonso
During that time, Alonso saw the sport change a lot. His age and accompanying physical state has also changed: "Obviously I don’t train the same now I am 40 as when I was 23. You have to train more, you have to stretch more, you have to have a different food routine, do many other things to be in the same shape, with the same strength," Alonso says there are more fun things to do, but he is aware of his age. To be as strong as possible, he has to work hard: "I have to train more than the other drivers. Because yes, I am older than them."
Last season, in the year he returned to F1, the Spaniard beat his younger teammate Esteban Ocon by a difference of seven points. Alonso picked up one podium with a third place, while his teammate recorded a win earlier in the season. He closed out 2021 in tenth place in the championship.