Alonso looks back on his first victory in F1, in Hungary, and the sacrifices made since then

Fernando Alonso is the elder statesman of the F1 grid, at 41 years old the Spanish driver is going to race on the grounds of his first career victory.

In the press conference, the driver talked about his first victory, on the Hungaroring circuit, right here 20 years ago. « It was obviously a magical moment in my life and in my career, but things changed a bit afterwards. It changed a lot of things in my life and in Spain too. For 20 years, I haven’t had any privacy in my life. »

The double world champion driver spoke about the sacrifices a driver goes through to make it to Formula 1. « Since our youngest age, in karting, our dream is to race in the fastest cars in the world in Formula 1. When we were young, we dreamt of sitting here, we never thought about some of the sacrifices we had to make and the changes in our lives and our family’s that occur if we make it to Formula 1 », recalls the Aston Martin driver.

Despite the sacrifices, the Spanish driver doesn’t want to change anything about his life and career. I wouldn’t change anything because it’s always your own choice and you’re trying to succeed and pursue your dreams, but it’s probably more difficult than what you see on television on Sundays.

In 20 years, the preparation has changed

Despite many years spent in single-seaters, the driver is still happy to race. « When you close the visor on Sunday, you always have the same motivation and joy of racing. The adrenaline of driving these cars and competing against the best drivers and teams in the world and striving for success is exactly the same as it has been for 20 years » explains Fernando Alonso.

The double world champion with Renault still notices differences in race preparations from the time back then compared to now. « I have more experience on the track, so the way you prepare for the race with your engineers, the strategies, the knowledge of the tires, and the way you prepare for the race are different now. The level of stress is also different. Knowing what will happen during the race, all the different scenarios that can occur during the race. There aren’t many surprises, let’s say in my mind or in my race, so it’s a bit different » concludes the Spaniard during his press conference.