Fernando Alonso is looking to mark his return to Formula One after a two-year absence with a ‘strong year’ as he joins Alpine following their rebrand from Renault.
Speaking ahead of the launch of Alpine’s A521 car, Alonso stated his aim for this season as being about building on the success of 2020, in which the team enjoyed three podiums across Nurburgring, Imola and Sakhir.
Discussing his goals in 2021 and reflecting on what the team learned last season, Alonso said: “We want to have a strong year obviously and build on what the team did last year. There were a lot of positives to take from 2020 and the team were very close to finishing third in an extremely competitive championship.”
Acknowledging their three podium finishes as ‘a big step’ on previous seasons, Alonso feels that the aim must be to ‘build on this momentum despite huge rule changes coming in 2022, saying: “It’s still very important to have a strong year in 2021 despite next season’s radical rule changes, which all teams have one eye on already!”
The Spaniard also spoke of being ‘extremely happy’ to be back in F1 and is ‘very motivated’ ahead of this season, commenting on how strong the spirit is at both factories across Enstone and Viry-Chatillon with a real ‘buzz’ ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain from 12-14 March.
Alonso has however urged caution on where the team stands in the pecking order until after Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix at end of March, adding: “We won’t truly know how our car stacks up against the rest until qualifying in Bahrain, but we’re confident that we can have a strong year and build on last year’s performances.”
This season will see Alonso partner Esteban Ocon of whom he is full of praise for following what Alonso described as a ‘good season’ in 2020 for Ocon, which saw the Frenchman finish second in the Sakhir GP in front of Alonso’s full view.
Ultimately, Alonso believes that he and Ocon will be able to help push Alpine forward in their ambitions, saying: “I think together we are both extremely motivated and can form a strong partnership to help push the team to achieving its goals.”
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