Alonso at Le Mans is a Mistake: Webber

Former F1 driver Mark Webber says Fernando Alonso’s attempt to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside his F1 commitment is a mistake. His explanation was that the endurance racing series had different requirements than Formula One. In motorsport, there is an achievement called the Triple crown. It consists of winning the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and Le Mans. Alonso is expected to race in the reknowned 24-hour event this year with Toyota.

But Webber believes a proper onslaught at Le Mans requires total dedication and an exclusive focus. These are two requirement he feels his friend will have difficulty fulfilling as long as he remains in F1. The Australian raced in the World Endurance Championship with Porsche in 2014 after retiring from F1

Webber said, “It’s a mistake, they are two totally different things. They both absorb a very high amount of mental energy. If you do Formula 1 you cannot afford certain distractions. I say this after doing several seasons and racing at Le Mans. If I were Fernando, I wouldn’t do it.”

Webber believes that Alonso should have no difficulties adapting to a different environment, despite the specifics linked to endurance racing, at Daytona. But, he says that Le Mans with limited preparation and other ‘distractions’ is a completely different scenario. The 41-year old said, “Either he chooses to do Le Mans properly and focuses on it, working on it three weeks in advance with a maniacal focus and forgetting the rest of the year, or he could risk getting hurt. At Le Mans, it all starts days before the race.

“You run in the day, then in the night, then you’ve got the parade downtown with the fans, the meetings with the engineers, how the race will be divided up with your team mates, how to hand over the car to them without losing any time, and vice versa. It requires a very strong mental commitment, and to understand if it’s all worth it, I think Alonso is right to do Daytona. He’ll assess everything and get an understanding of what is needed. And then I’m sure he’ll take the right decision.”

Back in 2015, Nico Hulkenberg won Le Mans while racing full time in F1 with Force India. But Webber felt that the situation was different, “That was with a second-rate team in F1. The pressures are different. He was also with the top Le Mans team and that simplified things a lot.”