The return to Formula 1 of Fernando Alonso was one of the most anticipated themes of the 2021 World Cup. The two-time world champion, at the age of 40, was expected by many at the gate after spending the 2019 and 2020 seasons winning and having fun between WEC, IndyCar and Dakar. “It will never be what it was before”, some said, mindful of the discussion comeback put in place at a similar age by Michael Schumacher in 2010. Alonso himself had in a sense put his hands forward, defining the 2021 season as a sort of ‘training’ for 2022, the true goal of the Oviedo native and the Alpine due to the new technical regulation.
Instead, the performance of the former Ferrari driver, increasingly a veteran of the Circus after the retirement of Kimi Raikkonen, went beyond the rosiest expectations. After a first part of the championship conditioned by a physiological period of adaptation, the Spaniard is in fact back to being the usual steamroller, unable or almost unable to make mistakes. In the last 17 races Alonso has scored points 13 times, giving his fans and enthusiasts around the world some authentic driving masterpieces. Above all the incredible shines third place in the Losail race, in Qatar, behind the ‘usual’ Hamilton-Verstappen couple. Not only did that podium put an end to a seven-year abstinence for the Iberian, but a ‘normal’ race came to an end, without any conditioning linked to the weather or lucky chance.
A further note of merit that makes it clear that, even at this age, Alonso is one of the best drivers on the grid. The other highlight impossible to pass over in silence is the fourth place in Budapest. In this case, it is not so much the result that remains imprinted in the memory, but rather the result sensational defense put in place against Lewis Hamilton, forced to go through long laps in the Alpine # 14 exhausts, capable of blocking every passage with cleanliness and determination. A performance, however, not an end in itself, but essential to allow Esteban Ocon – Alonso’s teammate – to win a race that would probably otherwise have been easy prey for Hamilton himself.
Fernando Alonso, 81 points. 10th place. Average: 3.68 points.
Rating: 8- | Eternal
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