Fernando Alonso has so far won 2 world championships in Formula 1 and in a recent interview he said that his only priority is a third world championship with Aston Martin, while in the future he may participate again in the Dakar Rally, rather than the Indy 500.
The Spaniard is under contract with the club until at least the end of 2026 and despite turning 43, is aiming for a third world championship, especially after the signings of Adrian Newey, Enrico Cardile and Andy Cowell. As he stated:
I tried three times in the Indy 500 and didn’t make it. It’s the only win I’m missing for the triple crown (Le Mans 24 Hours, Monaco GP and Indy 500). But right now it’s not in my plans. I am very, very focused on Formula 1 now. In the next two or three years, I want to win my third world title. This is my first and only priority right now.
After that, because I’ll be 45-46 years old, I think the commitment it will take to go to the Indy 500, the amount of learning I’ll have to do again, will be a little too much. At least that’s what I believe now, so I can’t say with 100% certainty if I’ll be back in the Indy 500.
I think the next biggest challenge will be Dakar. If I can win Dakar, I think it will be a great reward for me personally, because I can win in Formula 1, I can win in endurance racing, I can win in Le Mans and Daytona, and if I can win in Rally too Dakar, it will mean a lot to me as a driver.
You can’t drive a Formula 1 car in the same way as a Le Mans car that has to do 24 hours to win the race or a Dakar Rally car where you have to go through the sand dunes and gravel around Saudi Arabia. So I’ve had to learn and start from scratch in a lot of these classes and surround myself with the best drivers in the world especially in these series, learn from them and be humbled.
It’s okay to admit that I had no idea how to drive a rally car, but day by day I improved and learned from them until I could compete in the toughest rally in the world.
In 2020, Alonso participated in the Dakar Rally with Toyota, where he finished 13th, after an accident in the 10th stage of the race cost him many hours.
Source: www.autoblog.gr
