F1 star reveals DRASTIC changes to aid championship fight

Alonso, Aston Martin, Verstappen, Red Bull, 2023 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 star reveals DRASTIC changes to aid championship fight

Fernando Alonso has adjusted his F1 preparation in order to better his performance

Shay Rogers

Thursday 29 February 2024 10:58 Updated: 18:03

Fernando Alonso has carried out significant changes to his diet in order to make up for a key deficit faced by growing older.

The 42-year-old is entering his 22nd season in Formula 1 this year with Aston Martin – a team who showed race winning promise in 2023.

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It has been over a decade since Alonso’s last victory at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, but this year could mark his best opportunity in recent times to end that streak.

Part of his longevity in the sport has been due to the changes he has made over the years to sustain a healthy lifestyle away from the F1 circus.

Fernando Alonso drives the new AMR24 at the Bahrain circuit

Fernando Alonso's first Formula 1 season was in 2001

Alonso finds room for improvements

Speaking to Spanish newspaper AS, he lists a change in his diet as one of the main reasons why he has been able to sustain his muscle mass recently.

“We always do the same tests, we do the first part in the Alps, in Italy, in the mountains,” he said. “We have historical data on my body in cardio: one kilometre, five, 10 kilometres, at rest…

“There are many fat versus muscle tests, reaction tests with lights, gym maximums in terms of weight and so on.

“In some tests, in the last five or six years, a minimum drop in performance was seen, especially in the muscular part, from the age of 35 you start to lose muscle, but this year we have managed to recover it to maximum levels and it has been in partly because of nutrition, which has changed.”

“We have tried to gain muscle to compensate for the age factor and without losing reaction capacity or resistance in cardio.

“These are surprising results, very positive, I have trained more calmly and for more time.”

Alonso will be hoping this training pays off as he embarks on a journey through the longest and most testing Formula 1 season ever in 2024.

24 races will take their toll on his body, but his preparation appears to have left him in good stead for the year ahead.

Red Bull Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Spanish Grand Prix