“It’s a Drug for Him”: F1 Insider Reveals Fernando Alonso’s Unfinished Business That Keeps Him in F1

For a man who is as talented as Fernando Alonso, he should have won more than just 2 world championships. And he knows that better than anyone else. Even at the age of 42, the Spaniard shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. According to F1 insider Rob Smedley, it’s his hunger for a third world championship that pushes him to carry on in the sport even after having raced for more than 20 seasons.

Alonso’s F1 journey took a turn after his initial success with Renault. In 2007, he moved to McLaren, partnering with rookie Lewis Hamilton. The intra-team rivalry, coupled with a difficult campaign, cost both drivers the title, which ultimately went to Kimi Raikkonen. Subsequent stints with Renault and Ferrari saw Fernando Alonso miss out on championship glory, particularly during the dominant years of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, when he came close to winning the championship twice in 2010 and 2012.

Alonso’s former race engineer talks about what makes the Spaniard so special

Alonso left Ferrari in 2014, disappointed with their ability to provide a title-winning car. However, his return to McLaren in 2015 proved disastrous, facing challenges with a slow and unreliable Honda power unit. Over the next four years, Alonso struggled to secure top finishes, prompting him to step back from F1 in 2018.

However, his return to Formula 1 in 2021 raised questions about whether the double world champion still had what it takes to compete in Formula 1, and boy did he prove everybody who doubted him wrong.

In a recent conversation, Rob Smedley, Alonso’s former race engineer before his Formula 1 days, opened up about why Fernando Alonso is still going strong in F1. Smedley explained as per es.motorsport.com, “He knows he should have more World Championships. So he probably even tells himself he’s got unfinished business in this sport.“

He also spoke about the similarities between Alonso and the current world champion Max Verstappen. “It’s very similar to Max Verstappen in that everyone in F1 is a competitor. But only some of them have that extra 1%. He and Max have that extra 1%… He never gives up. He’s never good enough. He has to be perfection. He just wants to be the leader, he wants to always be at the front and that’s why he’s a natural competitor. That’s why he can’t quit. It’s a drug for him.” (Translated via Google)

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It’s not just him and Smedley though, there are many others in the Formula 1 community including a former F1 team owner who thinks that Fernando Alonso should have won more than 2 world championships.

Eddie Jordan believes Fernando Alonso should have had 6 or 8 world championships by now

Eddie Jordan, a former Formula 1 team boss, blames no one else but Fernando Alonso for not reaching greater heights in his career. Speaking to OLBG, Jordan suggested that the Spanish driver could have clinched up to eight World Championship titles if he had made better career decisions.

“I remember seeing Fernando Alonso pass Michael Schumacher from the outside on a damp track on a really difficult corner in Suzuka, Japan, and I said, ‘Oh my god, how can he get away with that!’,” said Jordan.

“Alonso pulled the move off and I thought from there that he was destined for greatness. I actually blame him for not winning four, six, or maybe even [becoming] eight-time World Champion. He should have picked his teams better. In his 30s, Alonso went for the money when he could have gone a different route. Now he’s come back to the understanding that he has a team around him that has enough to make the car finish well, but he won’t beat the Red Bulls,” he concluded.

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Do you think Fernando Alonso will get his 3rd world championship in what seems to be his final stint in Formula 1? Share your thoughts down below in the comments.