Fernando Alonso is more likely to return to the Dakar Rally than the Indy 500 sooner or later, however insisted his “solely precedence” is to seize a 3rd Formulation 1 world championship with Aston Martin.
Alonso signed a brand new contract earlier this yr that retains him at Aston Martin’s F1 staff till no less than the 2026 season, together with an ambassadorial deal that’s set to maintain him tied to the producer past his grand prix driving days.
Aged 43, the Spaniard says he’s nonetheless aspiring the win a 3rd world championship earlier than his time within the sequence is up, along with his staff having bolstered its technical ranks with Pink Bull design legend Adrian Newey, Ferrari’s technical director Enrico Cardile and former Mercedes energy unit chief Andy Cowell in latest months.
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He was additionally requested in regards to the prospect of returning to Indianapolis to finish motor racing’s triple crown of successful the Indy 500, the Le Mans 24 Hours and F1’s Monaco Grand Prix, however poured chilly water on a fourth look at IndyCar’s headline occasion.
“I tried Indy 500 3 times and did not succeed. It is the one one lacking [from the triple crown]. However in the mean time, it isn’t in my plan,” Alonso mentioned at an occasion of Aston’s sponsor Cognizant.
“I am very, very targeted [on] Formulation 1 now. For the following two or three years, I wish to win the third world title. That is my first and solely precedence in the mean time.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Group, settles into the automobile
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
“After that, as a result of I can be 45, 46, I believe the dedication that it’ll require to go to the Indy 500, the quantity of studying that I should redo once more… will probably be slightly bit an excessive amount of. Or it is what I believe now, I can’t say 100%.”
Slightly than heading again to the Indianapolis oval, the two-time world champion mentioned he was more likely to have one other shot at successful the Dakar Rally, which he feels could be a much bigger assertion of his versatility as a driver.
Throughout his F1 sabbatical, Alonso completed thirteenth within the 2020 Dakar Rally with Toyota alongside five-time bikes winner Marc Coma, with a pricey crash on the tenth stage costing him hours.
“I believe my subsequent largest problem would be the Dakar,” he defined. “If I can win Dakar, I believe will probably be vastly rewarding for me personally as a result of I can win in Formulation 1, I can win in endurance racing, win in Le Mans and Daytona, and if I can win in rally as effectively, it is going to imply lots for me as a driver.
#310 Toyota Gazoo Racing: Fernando Alonso, Marc Coma
Picture by: A.S.O.
“You can not drive a Formulation 1 automobile the identical means as a Le Mans automobile that has to do 24 hours to win the race, or the Dakar rally, the place you need to undergo the dunes and the gravel round Saudi. So, I needed to study and begin from zero in lots of these classes and encompass myself with the perfect drivers on the planet particularly on that sequence, and study from them, and be humble.
“There is no such thing as a drawback to simply accept that I had no concept tips on how to drive a rally automobile, however [was] day-by-day bettering and studying from them till I used to be capable of compete within the hardest rally on the planet.”
