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Fernando Alonso is keen on a new contract with Alpine but will not put a gun to the team's head to get it, the driver confirmed ahead of the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP.
The two-time world champion is the oldest driver on the grid and feels he is performing at an exceptional level this season. Alonso just turned 41 and has a contract that runs through till the end of the year.
When asked to shed some light on his future in F1 beyond 2022 at the Hungaroring, the Spaniard said:
“All the teams with free seats are an option. My priority is to be with Alpine, we have been working on this project for two years and we are becoming more and more competitive. My desire is to stay, but we have not sat down to move forward, everything is in progress.”
Alonso hinted at Alpine being hesitant to trigger an extension with him, adding:
“I’ll be on vacation, the bosses too, so we’ll have to do some video conferencing. When two parties want to agree, it takes ten minutes. When they struggle to agree, it’s that one of the parties is not happy. It won’t take more than ten minutes. I would like to stay here, I have already said that. But there are two parties and I will not put a gun to anyone’s head. We will negotiate and if we agree, it will be ten minutes. If we have to fight a lot, it will be weird.”
Fernando Alonso still misses 'winning' and 'fighting for podiums' despite being proud of his F1 comeback
Fernando Alonso has admitted that he misses fighting for wins against the top F1 teams but is very proud of his comeback to the sport.
The two-time world champion's last win in F1 was almost a decade ago at the 2013 Spanish GP with Ferrari. Ever since he departed from the Scuderia at the end of 2014, Alonso has been on the podium at an F1 race just once, at the 2021 Qatar GP.
Now with Alpine, Fernando Alonso has been able to bring an air of competitiveness back to the Anglo-French outfit while also continuously trying to improve himself.
Speaking in an interview with motorsport.com, the veteran Spaniard said:
“I miss winning, and I miss the feeling of fighting for podiums and bigger things, yes. But, at the same time, I’m enjoying also, because it’s a race against yourself in a way and trying to be a better version of myself, than what I was in 2019.”
Alonso believes he has been able to take things up a notch in his sophomore season with Alpine. He added, saying:
“I think last year, I was performing at a decent level. Okay, not at my 100% I will say, and this year I feel at my 100%. I feel that I can put some performances that maybe are not expected, and that kind of thing has been always my strength all over my career. I feel that I’m back to that level, so that probably makes me very proud of this comeback.”
Heading into the final race before the summer break, Fernando Alonso is tenth in the World Drivers' Championship standings with 37 points from 12 rounds of racing.
