Alonso: We have nothing reliable, but we do have the best one making the car (from 2026)

Madrid (EFE).- Fernando Alonso, two-time Formula One world champion and one of the great figures in the history of Spanish sport, faces with stoicism a season in which, again, his driving level is far above the performance of his Aston Martin; waiting for, with the change of technical regulations, the very successful English engineer Adrian Newey to design a winning single-seater with a view to next year.

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In a joint interview with Agencia EFE and the newspaper Mundo Deportivo, within the framework of his new role as ambassador of the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona – venue this week of the Spanish Grand Prix -, the two-time world champion from Asturias explains what his new role will be like; what memories he has of the last of his 32 victories in F1 – precisely in Montmeló – and what he imagines can be expected of the next season.

Memories of the Last Victory in Barcelona

Question: There’s less talk now about the 33, but the 32 was in Montmeló, where he also won seven years earlier, in 2006. The ‘Alonsomania’ emerged there and you achieved great results. But what memories do you have of your last victory in Barcelona; and what’s new, with a view to this Spanish Grand Prix? Answer: The main novelty with a view to this Grand Prix is that I am going to be an ambassador for the Circuit; something that I am very excited about. It’s something we had been talking about and have had prepared since February, when I went there to do a test with this year’s car. We talked about the possibility and kept it more or less secret until this Grand Prix week.

I’m excited, because that’s where I first felt ‘Alonsomania’, when I saw the stands filled with blue, with the flags of Asturias. It was where I first saw, in 2005, that flood of people going up towards the circuit; something that started to be seen in 2003.

Many of the fondest memories I have of my career and of sharing with the Spanish fans are linked to the Circuit. I have an important emotional connection with those moments and now I hope I can transmit it to future generations and make the sport grow in Spain.

Formula One and the Circuit

Q: Now that there are more and more urban circuits, it’s also a good idea to reinforce the idea that the ‘classic’ circuits don’t need to disappear either, right?

A: Yes, I think you have to keep traditions a bit; or mix them. I think F1 is in a good moment, now. I also think that the renovation of the Circuit two years ago and last year’s renovation go a bit in that direction of modernizing a bit; and, without wanting to compete with the circuits of the Middle East or with these urban circuits, which are another concept, that the Circuit is also prepared for F1 is a good thing.

For the drivers, being able to have facilities that you can use 365 days a year, where you can train, where you can get to know your setups, where you can have everything at hand… is important. And that’s what the Circuit has always been for, since always, with the winter tests and with everything that has always been done there. Formula One and the Circuit go hand in hand. F1 without the Circuit, in the last two decades, would be lame, because we have done more laps there than anywhere else in the world.

Q: Do you see the Circuit’s renewal as possible with the F1 World Championship, because there would be two Grand Prix in the same year (starting next year, the Spanish Grand Prix will be held, in principle until 2036, in Madrid)? Do you still see yourself in F1 in 2027? Will it depend on how competitive you feel? Will it depend more on how the car is in 2026? A: Well, I don’t know if I’ll be racing in 2027. For the moment, I only have a contract for ’26. I’ll decide next year. But I hope the Circuit continues, which I’m sure it will.

What’s needed is to have it secured for many years. It’s true that there might be two Grand Prix in Spain in ’26, but the Circuit is something that’s there and has been there for the last two or three decades; and that’s going to continue to be there for the next three, four, or five.

The other circuits are perhaps more temporary, aren’t they? But I think it’s important for Spain to have long-term stability.

The victory 32

Q: What do you remember from the 32? And, much is said about your talent, your superlative ability to optimize resources, but little about your patience, again in another year in which the desired results are not achieved, not even close. Do you think that ‘Alonsism’, or Spanish fans or those from other places who wish it, now that Adrian Newey (possibly the most successful engineer in the history of F1) is already working on it, will be able to see that longed-for victory 33; if not this year, next year?

A: I have quite intact memories, to tell you the truth, of that weekend. I remember the race day, the strategy, I remember the start, I remember that my family was there too, they don’t go to many races, but they were at that one. My little niece was there… we have a photo at home with her and the trophy, in the Ferrari motorhome.

It was a very special moment, as always. Victories in Spain are very special; I was immensely fortunate to win twice in Barcelona and once in Valencia. They are moments that stay with you for life. In a way, it makes me happy that my last victory was in Spain, but as it was many years ago, that needs to be renewed. Hopefully, the next one will come soon. And, of course, repeating another victory at home, on Spanish soil, in Barcelona, next year, would be very good.

Working on the 2026 car

But it’s difficult to promise or say anything to the ‘Alonsism’ right now, because we don’t have any reliable data that can tell us if we are on the right track or not. We are working on the 2026 car, but a bit without any reference from another car; only what we see from ours. So, we have to trust our people, our facilities, our technicians. In Newey, as you say, and that’s perhaps the greatest security. We don’t have anything reliable, but we do have the best making the car. That has to help, yes or yes.

Q: Well, if they have the best person making the car and one of the best drivers in history… things should work out, right?

A: Yeah, but this isn’t one plus one. Otherwise, it would be very easy to win in F1. You’d always take the best, the best facilities; and you’d always win. I don’t think we have the worst designer now; and yet, we are in the back zone. There are many things that have to fit together.

You have to have that fluidity in the factory, with all the members, also, in the design area; in the mechanical area. We are going to have a new engine supplier, with Honda. We are going to make the gearbox for the first time in the team’s history, because until now the gearbox and the engine were bought from Mercedes, And now the Honda engine is going to arrive and the gearbox is going to be made for the first time in our facilities. There are challenges that cannot be underestimated and we will have to work hard, of course.