Fernando Alonso does not believe that the pleasure of driving in Formula 1 is only linked to performance and success. The Aston Martin F1 driver is having a complicated season, but he explains that he finds the pleasure of driving in other challenges, in particular that of compensating for the weaknesses of a reluctant single-seater.
“I don't think the pleasure of driving is just about performance. Sometimes you come to a circuit or even a kart track, and you're alone on the track, you're not fighting with anyone. Then you experience lots of joy and you have a very good day” Alonso said.
“Sometimes you have a car that's not really well tuned or you have massive understeer. Or you jump into a rental car that's veering to the left or whatever, whose chassis isn't really square, and you still have a lot of fun fighting against this weakness of the car that you know, and trying to make the car turn the same way, from left to right, in certain corners.”
“Of course you have to feel competitive from time to time but I don't doubt myself. In fact, I'm probably a little too confident about my abilities to need a result to believe in it.”
“If we are competitive and I'm fighting to get out of Q1, it's not because I slowed down overnight. It's because the car needs to be improved. But it's good to get some good results from time to time so that the team does not lose confidence.”
“Coming back to the subject… So I think it's the challenge sometimes of what the car can do that produces the satisfaction and the joy of driving. And I think the adrenaline and the freedom, when you're behind the wheel, allows you to choose what you want to do, how fast you want to approach the corner, when you want to brake, 30 meters later, 30 meters earlier.”
“All these decisions made on instinct give a feeling of freedom which, I think, increases the pleasure of driving any car. So I don't think it has to do with performance.”
The Spaniard has experienced Formula 1 cars with V10, V8 and V6 engines and many generations of single-seaters, and his favorites remain the first ones he drove in the premier category: “Comparing the different eras of Formula 1, I think the cars from the early 2000s were the most enjoyable to drive.”
“They were very light, very responsive. The feedback you get from the car when you have less sophisticated tools is much purer than what we have today, which is a little filtered by all the technology that we have. I still think these cars were more fun to drive.”
