MADRID, 10 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) thought in his beginnings as a racing driver that Formula 1 “was unattainable coming from Spain without sponsors or resources”, as he revealed together with his compatriot Pedro Martínez de la Rosa in a promotional video for his team
“I enjoyed karting, but I thought I would always race in karts, not even in single-seaters. Then I had the opportunity to race in Formula Nissan in Spain, like a Formula 3, and I thought that was my maximum. I remember that year they told me that we had to leave karting to be able to race in Formula Nissan,” Alonso recalled.
“And I said: ‘No, no, no, I will do both categories. I will race in Formula Nissan, but at the same time I will do the European Championship and the World Karting Championship.’ I didn’t want to leave karting because I thought it was my life. I thought that Formula 1 was unattainable coming from Spain without sponsors or resources,” he stressed.
Furthermore, the Asturian driver has said that “the first victory in 2003” was his turning point. “I think that victory in Hungary changed everything. For me, it changed the way the team saw me, the whole Formula 1, the whole sport. In Spain Formula 1 was not very popular and since that victory I think television was interested,” he noted.
“There were sponsors and I started doing advertisements on television, so my face was everywhere in Spain. I lost privacy, I was very popular from one day to the next. It was the most important change of my life. Not only on a professional level , but also personal,” Alonso admitted.
On the other hand, he has reviewed his landing at Aston Martin. “There are always challenges when you join a new team because I think each team has a different philosophy in the design of the car, especially in the cockpit area, the seat position, the pedals and the steering wheel,” he said. .
“You have to adapt a little to the team. You can’t change everything when you go to a new organization. So I had to get used to all these procedures, the starts, the pit stops, etc. There are always different things, which are they do differently, and I think that has been the biggest challenge for me,” added the Oviedo driver.
Finally, Alonso has identified his references in so many years of professional career. “It has to be my family because I am very close to my parents, to my father. He is the reason why I am a driver. I did my first kart race when I was three years old,” he said.
“So, without him, there would have been no other way for me to become a driver. He is the person I respect the most and he is the person I consult with about all the important things in my life,” Alonso concluded.