Formula 1 | Alonso: Those who have watched F1 for 2 years have a false image of me

Fernando Alonso is 41 years old and as one of the most experienced drivers on the field, with Kimi Räikkönen, he competes with young people who could be… his sons. Mick Schumacher, Lando Norris, George Russell: the younger generation is knocking on the door.

Fernando Alonso is even an idol for some, like Carlos Sainz of course, but also Daniel Ricciardo: the McLaren driver said that the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, in which he fought against the Ferrari driver, was one of the turning points in his career. career.

So, does the Alpine driver have the impression of being a wise old man among the F1 padawans? He confided in the BBC …

“I never thought about that, I don’t know. It’s just that there is now a different generation watching television. And they see all this helmet swapping and they’re surprised at that … they make a few jokes about it, and ask if I came back just to swap helmets with all the pilots. « 

“There are a lot of new fans to the sport, a lot of the younger generation, thanks to the Netflix documentary series. These people have never seen some of my races or some of my championships. They have only seen the last two years and they have a completely wrong perception of who each of us is. « 

“I have over 50 helmets in my museum. But a lot of people didn’t follow anything until two or three years ago in F1. « 

Does Fernando Alonso have good relations with the youngsters? Or is there a little misunderstanding born of the age difference?

“Some of these people are on social media and do all of these things. You have to have a certain sense of humor for sure or you’ll go crazy. « 

“No, I treat everyone the way I think they deserve. Lando is a good guy, just like Daniel. And the people that I don’t quite understand, or that I don’t understand the way they run or act as a person, I try not to get too involved with them. « 

With them as with posterity, does Fernando Alonso feel invested with a mission? How to leave a beautiful legacy for history?

“It’s important to me, I would be lying if I said ‘no’. We run here and we are totally focused on the day to day, on the performance and what we are doing every weekend. « 

« But in the long run it would be nice if when you retire or are at home there is no misperception of what you were as a pilot or how you got some results. «