Fernando Alonso has admitted that he had every intention of leaving Formula One after the 2009 season, assuming that his contract with McLaren would be his last.
The two-time Formula One World Champion signed a three-year contract with McLaren in late 2005, revealing that it would be his final contract in the sport. Fernando Alonso announces 2009 Formula One retirement plan.
Alonso began his Formula One career with Minardi in 2001 and rose to the top of the sport by the mid-2000s, winning back-to-back World Championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006.
At the end of the 2005 season, Alonso signed a three-year deal to go to McLaren for 2007. This deal strained his relationship with Renault in his championship-defending year, which
He was effective in doing so. Alonso had signed with Ron Dennis’ McLaren team to race for the Woking-based squad in 2007, ’08, and ’09, but the deal was terminated after the first season as the relationship deteriorated – the arrival of a precocious Lewis Hamilton had resulted in a lack of team orders, and the distraction of the ‘Spygate’ scandal caused Dennis and Alonso to have a bitter falling out.
Alonso returned to Renault in 2008, then moved to Ferrari for a five-year spell in 2010, before making an improbable comeback to McLaren in 2015. After four disastrous seasons, Alonso departed F1 for two years before returning to Alpine (previously Renault) and joining Aston Martin in 2023.
It has had a career of exceptional longevity, with the
The now-43-year-old shows no signs of slowing down as he approaches the 400 Grand Prix milestone. During an appearance on the Beyond The Grid podcast to discuss the milestone with host Tom Clarkson, Alonso was asked how his 19-year-old self, who lined up on the grid for his maiden race in Melbourne in 2001, would have seen his career progress. “I was not really thinking too much about the future,” he recalled.
“I was a driver whose goal had come true: driving in the first Formula One race. I would argue that I didn’t have a clear road map for my career; I didn’t know what the next race would be or what team I’d be on; I was improvising.
“Every weekend was
“A new adventure.”
Unprompted, Alonso confessed that he had every intention of departing F1 in the same decade in which he began his career. “What I’d say is that when I won the title in 2006 and joined McLaren, I signed a three-year contract for 2007, 2008, and 2009.
“I was 99% certain that 2009 would be my final Formula One season. That was my plan. I have a very clear plan in my thoughts. I won the title in 2005 and again in 2006, then joined McLaren for three years, which was my final contract in my mind.”
When asked why he had this plan and what he planned to do instead if he retired before turning 30, Alonso said: “I don’t. know! Maybe there was no cause for it, but when I signed that contract, which was for three years, it felt like a long-term contract to me. “Okay, three years may seem like a long time, but you know, this is the last, right? I’ve already realized my dream by winning the championship twice. Being a Formula One champion was something I could never have imagined. “So, what else can I do here?”So I signed a deal with McLaren with the intention of winning more championships and races. However, life after Formula One is very different, and it is not just about motor racing. know! Maybe there was no cause for it, but when I signed that contract, which was for three years, it felt like a long-term contract to me. “Okay, three years may seem like a long time, but you know, this is the last, right? I’ve already realized my dream by winning the championship twice. Being a Formula One champion was something I could never have imagined. “So, what else can I do here?”So I signed a deal with McLaren with the intention of winning more championships and races. However, life after Formula One is very different, and it is not just about motor racing. “I was hoping I’d have a family and do normal things.
Things, regular days.
“I don’t think the 19-year-old Minardi 2001 Fernando Alonso would have thought anything unusual about the 400 Grand Prix, because I wasn’t thinking too much about the future.” But, in 2007, this would undoubtedly be surprising.” Fernando Alonso: You have to accept Formula 1 as it is.
Alonso’s F1 career peaked during those early years, with the Spaniard unable to reproduce his title victories despite long stays with Ferrari and McLaren in the 2010s. His move to Ferrari, in particular, coincided with the ascent of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel, and what appeared to be a team move that would result in titles was ultimately a letdown.
In 2024, Alonso’s fire and enthusiasm for racing remains unabated, but he said
that his love for the sport had to evolve over time; by the time he decided to leave F1 after 2018, his future was uncertain.
“It evolved. Yes, I learned things and accepted things that I hadn’t at other stages in my career,” he remarked.
“I have a sense of justice and a sense of fairness that you have to disconnect if you are in Formula 1.”There is no fairness here. There is no justice sometimes, and you must deal with the particular aspects of this sport.
There are many politics and interests. Some judgments may not be as sporty as others.
“You have to.
accept it if you want, if you would like to be part of the circus. You have to accept certain things.
“If not, you find another category, which is exactly what I did in 2018 – I was not happy with myself, I was not enjoying Formula 1 at that moment, not only on track, but also off track, you know, the domination of Mercedes. “It was just… I don’t know. I felt it was time.
“I still loved motorsport. I still loved driving cars. So let’s try the Indy 500, the Le Mans, all these kinds of things. And then I came back to F1, enjoying it more – not because F1 changed too much, it’s because I accepted things that Formula One has, and you take it or you leave it.”
Alonso, who already holds the record as the most experienced Grand Prix driver ever, sets a new record milestone when he starts this Sunday’s Mexico City Grand Prix – the race will mark his 400th Grand Prix entry in F1.
There’s no one even close to this number – Kimi Raikkonen, who debuted at the same race as Alonso back in 2001, also took two years out from F1 after ’09, but called time fully on his career after 2021 after reaching 353 races.
Asked for his feelings as he hits the record number, Alonso acknowledged Clarkson’s assertion that it’s an “insane” number to reach: “It is, it is, I think 400 – even though I think now the calendar is a little bit longer and you accumulate 24 every year, and not like in the past – but yeah, taking into account that I’ve been two years out in 2019 and ’20, to reach 400 now is a big number. It’s a way of demonstrating my passion for the sport and for Formula 1.”
As for whether he’s proud to have reached the 400 mark, Alonso suggested that pride is the wrong word, as “it doesn’t mean too much for me right now, because you’re racing and you’re focused on the next weekend, but knowing that no one has in the past, and maybe someone does in the future, but not many, let’s say a group of five or ten maximum.”
“As I previously stated, it simply displays my passion for racing, Formula 1, and how much I enjoy this lifestyle, as well as motor racing in general. Even if traveling is difficult, racing is simply a reward for all of your efforts.”
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