Fernando Alonso Presented the red shirt designed by Kappa – inspired by the one used by the national team, it will be worn at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona this weekend. The Asturian driver joined SPORT and expressed his concerns after a difficult start to the season when his good performance behind the wheel of the Alpine A522 was not reflected in the race. Alonso comes to Montmeló with just 2 points in his locker after race management in Miami left him without him after two penalties.

Circuit’s grandstands haven’t been full since you’ve fought for championships and victories in Formula 1. Do you feel this interest now?

I wouldn’t say the atmosphere on the track will be as good as in the good years, yes there will be more people than in other years, but from 2015 to 2021, between the pandemic and the fact that we live. Not really in competitive cars, half of the people who came to the Spanish Grand Prix were foreigners, so the fact that there is a better entry this year is good for everyone, for the sport, for this Grand Prix… and I hope it’s no coincidence, it will be like that for years to come. .

How do you face home racing?

With illusion. In front of our fans, we only have one opportunity a year to enjoy people and hopefully achieve a good result. And that’s what we’re looking for. We were relatively quick in the first five races, but we didn’t get the points we wanted on Sunday and I hope we have a good race here in Barcelona and we can score a lot of points.

In Australia, he said, your intention is to continue in Formula 1 for at least a few more years. Are you holding on or have you changed your mind? Will we have to wait until summer to know definitively the decision about his future?

I didn’t change my mind and didn’t think any more about it. I feel good now, physically and mentally fresh to continue in Formula 1 for a few more years. I don’t know if it will be before or after summer but I hope to hear soon, yes.

According to the general impression, he had one of the best starts to the season, but his good form did not reflect on the championship standings. How can this situation be reversed?

In terms of scores and results, I hope it improves over time. We’ve completed five races and there are eighteen more races, three quarters more of the World Championship, so there’s a long way to go and the results will come if we keep doing things well. The sensations are good and once you stop talking to them, the perception of both the team and the opponents is that we are pretty strong. Regardless of the points, I have a general feeling that we’ve had a good start to the season.

Speaking again in terms of the future, the Indianapolis 500 will be held next week. When you close your second stage in F1, do you think you want to try new challenges in motorsport or is that enough?

I don’t know… I’ve always been a little moved by the senses. I didn’t think about other challenges outside of F1 in 2016 or 17 and in 2018 I had them on my mind and I decided to take a few years away from the World Championship to complete these challenges. Then I thought it made sense to go back and try to do good with the new regulations in F1. I don’t program much in the long run and my feeling right now is to continue in F1 for a few more years. I would say I wouldn’t repeat now at 500 Miles but change my mind later. The Dakar, for example, is an experience that I love and really want to repeat, and as you’ve seen with Carlos Sainz or other drivers in the lead, you can do it later in life. We’ll see what happens in the future

At the Miami GP, there was a lot of criticism from the drivers about the asphalt, the lack of protection at some points of the circuit, the preparation of the marshals… This happened at other city circuits like Baku or Jeddah. What do you think of this trend of F1 towards these types of circuits compared to more traditional or conventional scenarios?

We have to give Miami time. The weekend was very good for F1 overall. The anticipation it created, the guests there… it was something unique, and it shows the growing popularity of F1 in the United States. I give this first edition a good mark, while there are definitely things to improve, there are some parts of the circuit that could be retouched after the first edition, but this happens in all the new places we go. The most worrying thing is the race direction or the stewards. They have not adapted very well to all the changes that have occurred this year and this is currently worrying drivers.

It’s true that with the new rules and new vehicles they can follow each other more closely and there are more head-to-head battles, but at the same time, it seems that the drift effect is less and the overtaking problem still persists. What do you think is missing from these cars for F1 to think it has achieved its goal of elevating the show?

The category needs to be more equal. It’s been improved at the transition level so we can follow each other more closely, but there are still vast differences between some teams and others, and that’s not what these new rules were meant for. It seems that everyone will have a lot in common and there will be much more equality and more different winners, more opportunities for everyone. Of course there are overtakes, you put a Ferrari or Red Bull last on the grid and they stay on the podium like they did last year with Mercedes or Red Bull. The rest of us have already dropped more or less all of them in chronological order. This is F1’s biggest challenge. Despite all the changes and the cost reduction due to the budget ceiling, it is the only race that has these differences, despite the fact that there is a two second per lap difference between first and twelve in the race.