INTERVIEW: Fernando Alonso's unshakable belief in winning a third World Championship

An ill-fated move to McLaren followed the year after in which Alonso fell one point shy of a three-peat, a 'failure' that left him aghast as the belief he was entitled to number one status within the team, befitting of a reigning two-time Champion, was shattered as he went up against the rookie prodigy that was Lewis Hamilton.

Ultimately, the internal war that engulfed both drivers that year played its part in Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen stealing a march, and the title, from underneath their noses with his late-season heroics. Alonso returned to Renault, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Three times, all with Ferrari, Alonso finished as a runner-up. That third Championship has long eluded him. Yet here he is, on the cusp of finishing his 22^nd season in F1, and starting his 23^rd next year unshaken in his faith that he can still be a three-time World Champion.

"Absolutely, I do have that inner belief," said Alonso, in an interview with this writer for The New York Times. "If not, I would probably not be here."

Alonso's reasoning is founded on the fact that, despite the uncertainty of what next year's new regulations will bring, over his past three seasons with Aston Martin, he has witnessed a remarkable transformation of the team under owner Lawrence Stroll.

Alongside the construction of a state-of-the-art factory at Silverstone, which includes its own wind tunnel, the team has recruited heavily over time, with its workforce now numbering 900. Earlier this year, it secured the signature of its most significant asset — Adrian Newey.

Naturally, it is hoped the genius who has crafted the design of cars that have resulted in the securing of 12 Constructors' Championships and 14 Drivers' Titles can again wave a magic wand that is his renowned 2B pencil and sketch a machine that will carry Alonso and Aston Martin to victory.

“When I joined the team, I spoke with Lawrence about the project,” said Alonso. “It was still the old building back then, and just the drawings of the new campus.

“I knew the timeline, and I knew there were a couple of things happening in the following years from my arrival, which became even better when we were joined by Adrian Newey and some other names. The progress we have made in these three years has been better than expected."

Referencing his start to life with Aston Martin, scoring six podiums in the first eight Grands Prix in 2023, and the struggle for results since, Alonso said: "At the beginning, it's true, we got some results, and then we stepped back in terms of performance."

"Parallel to that, there has been a huge change in the team. First with the facilities, completing the campus, then the wind tunnel, and then the great addition of the many talented people who have joined.

"It seems that it was an appealing project for everyone who has joined the team, with these big names. Now it seems that everything is complete. In Formula 1, there are no exact mathematics. You will not see results from one day to the next, but definitely, there is everything needed to succeed. It's just a matter of time now.

"That's the thing that we, as racing drivers, would like to see happen as soon as possible, but at the same time, Formula 1 is a sport that needs a little bit of time to glue everything together."

Every piece of the puzzle is in place at Aston Martin. The great unknown, however, is the performance of the car itself for next year, and understandably so, given the dramatic changes to the regulations, notably to a power unit that will be run on 50 per cent electrical power and 100 per cent sustainable fuel.

Alonso, though, is not too concerned. He has every confidence that with all the resources now at Aston's disposal, even if it doesn’t hit the ground running, it will quickly get up to speed and be in contention.

"We have the capabilities, the resources and talent to make the project a success in the short term," said Alonso. “But I don’t know if that means that we need to be fast straight away.

“In previous changes of regulations, I was probably more stressed about getting it right from the beginning. Now, I think things will be right, and sooner rather than later, because we have everything in place.

“We have everything that is needed to be competitive eventually. If it’s race one, fantastic. If it’s race four, race seven, race 11, it doesn’t matter. We will be there. That’s the trust we all have in the project, which has a solid foundation.

"Hopefully, we get it right from the beginning because, as I say, this is a project that has a solid foundation."

If Aston Martin can get it right from the beginning, there is every chance Alonso's hopes and dreams of being a three-time Champion will be realised, and the stigma that hangs over him of that elusive 33^rd victory — with his last on home soil in Spain in 2013 — will be finally erased.

Whilst it is fast approaching two decades since he clinched his second title, the saving grace for Alonso is that it was only a few years ago he savoured that rare feeling of being a champion again.

Alonso won the 2019 World Endurance Championship, along with Le Mans for a second time that year, after triumphing 12 months previously in the famed event following what appeared to be his retirement from F1 at the end of 2018.

Whilst nothing will naturally ever erase the memories of his 2006 F1 success, he concedes he does find it remarkable that it is fast closing in on 20 years since that glory of yesteryear.

"Even though you don't think too much about these things, if you stop a little bit and you reflect, for sure, it blows my mind," he said.

"It doesn’t feel that long ago, because I kept fighting for the Championship in 2007, 2010 and in 2012. It’s the same with my last race win in 2013. It doesn’t feel that from 2013, I was not in a condition, or I didn’t have the feeling, that I was able to win a race again, even if I haven’t come that close.

"But the 2023 podiums were confirmation, and a reminder for everybody, that I'm still here, and I will perform when the car is there, and the seasons out of Formula 1, winning the World Endurance Championship, Le Mans, these kinds of things, were another.

“They’re maybe not the same feeling as [I had in] Brazil 20 years ago, winning the Formula 1 World Championship, but they are the closest moments and feelings. For me, the last big satisfaction was maybe a few years ago. It was not 20 years ago. That’s why it doesn’t feel like 20. That’s the perception I have.”

Over the past two decades, F1 has changed considerably, and not necessarily for the better in Alonso's eyes, as he feels an element of "fun" is missing. That does not mean he is not wholeheartedly invested in the sport. He is as driven now as the day he started.

Besides, many additional factors spur him on, with the arrival of Newey one of those, and what that means to him, and what it is doing for him.

"I feel that I'm good at driving," said Alonso, when asked specifically as to his driving force. “When I’m not in Formula 1, I’m on a go-kart circuit, or a buggy in the middle of the dunes, or a rally car.

"Then, when I reflect on what is the best step for the following year, the following three years or whatever, I think Formula 1 is still the pinnacle of motorsport.

"You get to work with incredibly talented people, learning things from them. Now, with Adrian, when you sit with him, have lunch with him, you talk about motorsport, and that inspires you to become a better driver the following day.

"When you go to the gym, you try to improve, or you go to the simulator and you try to apply some of the techniques he was chatting about with you at lunch that maybe for next year are required due to the car behaviour and things like that.

"I love that part of my life and the sport. Surrounded by this environment, you grow as a human being."

Images courtesy of Getty Images.