Things aren't going as well as they could be for Fernando Alonso. Though he's still one of the best drivers on the F1 grid, it's been years since he's had a competitive car. And that can begin to wear on a racing driver after a while. Little wonder, then, that he's looking at other options.
"I love motorsport, all the categories," the Spaniard told Autosport. "But it's true Formula 1 is not exactly the same or as exciting as it was in the past, for me, to drive the cars just two or three seconds faster than a GP2 car." Alonso isn't venting his frustration at his current team, McLaren-Honda, which has been perpetually stuck at the back of the field this year as it struggles to find its form again and the new engine deal has yet to bear fruit. What's frustrating Fernando is the current F1 rulebook. "I'm enjoying this process of starting from zero and getting competitive," explained the two-time world champion. "But with no testing, with these tires, with these limitations, with the [21-race] calendar for next year, there is the temptation for other categories."
The implication is that Alonso could move over to Le Mans, whether in supplement to or as a replacement for F1. He's been linked many times over the past few years with a potential switch, previously with his past employers at Ferrari, who were also growing frustrated with F1 and were making noise about heading to Le Mans instead. More recently he was said to have been prevented from trying his hand at endurance racing by Honda. But with former rivals like Mark Webber and Nico Hülkenberg both driving for the winning Porsche team, to say nothing of all the other F1 drivers that have tried their hand in sports car racing, the grass in Western France could start looking irresistibly green to Alonso.
Fernando made his F1 debut with Minardi in 2001 and has been a permanent fixture on the grid since 2003. He won back-to-back world titles with Renault in 2005-06, bounced between teams in the following years, and came in second in the championship standings for three seasons with Ferrari. He scored his first points of this season at Silverstone earlier this month when he finished the British Grand Prix in tenth place for McLaren-Honda – a team that is clearly in a building phase, and to which Alonso is contracted for the next three years.
"I love motorsport, all the categories," the Spaniard told Autosport. "But it's true Formula 1 is not exactly the same or as exciting as it was in the past, for me, to drive the cars just two or three seconds faster than a GP2 car." Alonso isn't venting his frustration at his current team, McLaren-Honda, which has been perpetually stuck at the back of the field this year as it struggles to find its form again and the new engine deal has yet to bear fruit. What's frustrating Fernando is the current F1 rulebook. "I'm enjoying this process of starting from zero and getting competitive," explained the two-time world champion. "But with no testing, with these tires, with these limitations, with the [21-race] calendar for next year, there is the temptation for other categories."
The implication is that Alonso could move over to Le Mans, whether in supplement to or as a replacement for F1. He's been linked many times over the past few years with a potential switch, previously with his past employers at Ferrari, who were also growing frustrated with F1 and were making noise about heading to Le Mans instead. More recently he was said to have been prevented from trying his hand at endurance racing by Honda. But with former rivals like Mark Webber and Nico Hülkenberg both driving for the winning Porsche team, to say nothing of all the other F1 drivers that have tried their hand in sports car racing, the grass in Western France could start looking irresistibly green to Alonso.
Fernando made his F1 debut with Minardi in 2001 and has been a permanent fixture on the grid since 2003. He won back-to-back world titles with Renault in 2005-06, bounced between teams in the following years, and came in second in the championship standings for three seasons with Ferrari. He scored his first points of this season at Silverstone earlier this month when he finished the British Grand Prix in tenth place for McLaren-Honda – a team that is clearly in a building phase, and to which Alonso is contracted for the next three years.
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