Fernando Alonso labels F1 midfield "a completely different sport" to title race

Alpine

Alonso labels F1 midfield "a completely different sport" to title race

Alonso won back to back world titles in 2005 and '06

Sam Hall

Wednesday 16 June 2021 15:17

Fernando Alonso has described the chaotic F1 midfield as a "different sport" to racing at the front of the order.

Alonso made his F1 comeback this year with Alpine after spending two years away from the sport racing in other categories.

After a string of relatively anonymous performances in the opening races of the season, the Spaniard recorded his best result of the year last time out when finishing sixth in Azerbaijan.

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Asked how different it is racing in the midfield compared to battling for championship honours, Alonso answered: "It is a different sport, completely different sport.

"All you do right now when you have a package that will not win a championship is to get ready for that moment.

"So you just make sure you are improving every single day, all the weakness of the car, the weaknesses of your driving style, the start procedure, the pit stop... all the things around the weekend that must be ready when you have a competitive package eventually one day."

Alonso concedes midfield mentality changes weekend approach

In both of his championship seasons, Alonso had only one driver challenging him for the honour. In 2005, this was Kimi Raikkonen and the following year it was Michael Schumacher.

Although others did win races in each year, the ability to focus largely on a single adversary will have simplified things heading into a weekend, but when racing in the current midfield, Alpine must consider almost every other car on the grid.

He added: "When you have a winning possibility car, I think that is the magic of the sport. Until that day, it is just the preparation for that moment. It changes a lot in how you approach the weekend."