Alonso can always dream: 'That's the magic of motorsport'

The now 41-year-old Alonso knows his fans yearn for another win. On social media, the two-time world champion has been all over the so-called 'Mission Now 33' campaign. "So, I mean social media and fans are always very motivated to make the 33rd win," Alonso said during the presentation of the new Aston Martin, which was also attended by GPblog. "That would be amazing. But I'm not focused really too much on that."

Happy with his fans

He continued: "That's something unstoppable on social media and I'm happy for them to follow that. And this is part of the magic of motorsport or sports in general, just to have the fans supporting you and having something to talk. But yeah, let's see, I'm very motivated. I'm very happy with the things that I'm seeing. As I said, this team is not happy with fourth. This team is not happy with third, this team is not happy with second and this is what I feel from everyone here. 

Aston Martin realises there is still a long way to go before the team connects with the top teams. "They are not giving expectations that are unrealistic," Alonso told the media. "So, they know where we are, we know that last year, only three teams, they finished in the same lap of the leader. So it was Red Bull. Ferrari and Mercedes. Everybody else was one lap behind including Alpine and McLaren that finished fourth in the championship. So we know that those kind of gaps in Formula 1 are very difficult to overcome in two or three months." 

Alonso prefers to hold back and not be tempted to have bold predictions: "But let's see if we can have a good season, enjoy have a good reliability and make sure that the team grows up during the season and about the physical aspect. Yes, I’m fitter than ever, but I think it's just the way you know yourself, the way you train. The last two winter years, they have been difficult, in 2021 I had a bicycle accident. I could not move for three weeks, and last winter also have to remove the plates and things from the face. So this was the first winter that I could, you know, do a normal preparation."