Alpine has not yet concluded the continuity of the Asturian, who added his seventh consecutive race in points this season, a streak not achieved since his time at Ferrari
One of a driver’s trusted men on the Formula 1 grid said that in this sport, more so than in others, a driver cannot be considered renewed if there is no black-on-white contract. A handshake used to be enough as a sign that both parties agreed to proceed, without the need for any physical formalization, but that hasn’t happened for a while now.
Fernando Alonso has all the signs to go on for at least one more season. Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi responded to the intense rumors circulating in the specialist press to apply an ointment to calm things down. “We are in talks with Fernando Alonso. We are looking at different options for him and for Piastri. They are both very good and we would love it if they both drive next year. I am open to loaning Óscar Piastri as long as he is with us comes back. A lot of drivers start with other teams to learn the ropes. If he eventually comes back, that would be a good scenario for us,” said the leader.
It’s no small support. Although Rossi does not have the strength he once had, he is the trusted man who has placed Luca de Meo to control the sporting part of the Renault group. If Alonso needed an important ally, he undoubtedly is.
Piastri is a promising driver like few others, but so far he hasn’t shown anything in Formula 1: he hasn’t had the chance to do that. That has not deprived him of important allies, beyond the usual and volatile of the British press. Alpine’s team manager Otmar Szafnauer himself is its main champion and defender, to the point that if it were up to the Romanian-American he would be willing to raise the A522 and lower a two-time world champion. Faced with this situation, Alonso has done what he knows best: shut up. Seven races in a row in the points (and it tastes like little)
The concept of normality is not always easy to define, and less so in a sport like Formula 1. For Max Verstappen it is normal to win and the abnormal is to stay off the podium; for Alonso it is to score closer to fifth than to tenth. Or so it should be. After a very difficult start to the season, the Spaniard has racked up seven consecutive Grand Prix in which he has scored at least one point. “I wish we had a lot of normal weekends because then we would have finished fifth or sixth every Sunday,” he declared almost pleadingly.
Regularity has become Alonso’s main weapon to obliterate any argument he has for continuing in the big circus. In the last seven entries, he took a fifth, a sixth, two sevenths, two ninths and a tenth, adding 35 points. In the same period, Esteban Ocon added 32.
Fernando Alonso’s non-continuity would only be explained under non-sporting justifications. Sometimes it is not enough to achieve the maximum with the tools they give, and that is true in sports or in any work environment, but there are also reasons that no one can influence. Or maybe Alonso would be the first brilliant worker to find lentils abroad because some bosses find him unprofitable? Aren’t there mediocre offices who prefer grayer results but cost less?
Whether Alonso stays in Formula 1 largely depends on Alpine, as there’s not much more Alonso can do. The team’s pinnacle in 2021 came right on the scene of the next Hungarian Grand Prix, where Alonso will also celebrate his 41st birthday. Ocon’s win on the last visit to the Magyar circuit was one of the big surprises of last season and was achieved in large part thanks to Alonso’s colossal defense against Hamilton. No one doubted that the Asturian pilot would have to stay in the competition for at least another year.
Source: La Verdad
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