F1 News
'Fresh' Alonso, still motivated to race: 'But if I start struggling with the pace...'
On the eve of the start of the action ahead of the Sprint weeken in China, Fernando Alonso was asked regarding his future in F1. The double-time world champion still feels competitive to race in F1, but should his pace drop, he'll be the first to stop enjoying his time in the series.
Seven drivers on the grid were not yet born when Alonso made his official debut as a Grand Prix driver in 2001. How does he feel in the face of this remarkable stat, grateful or old? "Both, probably, yeah. It's a privilege to keep racing and doing what I love to do, which is racing cars," said the Aston Martin driver in the FIA Drivers' press conference ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
"I've been lucky enough to to race and to experience many different eras of the sport and I [am] still here and I still feel competitive and motivated and fresh to travel around the world and race these cars. And most importantly, I think, [it's] feeling competitive." Should that feeling go away, though, what would happen then?" If one day I feel that I'm not fast, or I feel that I'm struggling on the pace, or anything, I will be the first one that I'm not enjoying."
'Ultra competitive' Alonso 'still as fast as in the first Chinese GP ever'
"I'm an ultra competitive person. So, for me, the most important thing is that I made my debut in 2001. I raced the first ever Chinese Grand Prix 2004 here and in 2025 I'm here and I'm as fast as ]I was in] 2004, or is what I feel. Faster now because maybe there are different tools now and different possibilities for us, for drivers, to improve ourselves along our careers, so as I said, I feel privileged to be here," the Spaniard concluded.
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