Fernando Alonso has been the discuss of System One since he put Aston Martin on the rostrum on the Bahrain season-opener however previous good friend and former rival Pedro de la Rosa says no person must be stunned by how fast and aggressive he’s.
The Spaniard has been racing his double-world champion compatriot since 2001 — first in System One after which for enjoyable in go-karts — and says Alonso’s will to win is as fierce as ever.
“What really impresses me about Fernando is the fact that he’s 41 and he’s exactly the same Fernando with the same hunger as I met in 2007,” De la Rosa, who now has an ambassadorial function at Aston Martin, informed Reuters forward of Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“There’s no difference whatsoever in his approach, how hard he’s working and how hard he’s trying and pushing everyone.
“Physically he’s young, he’s been taking care of himself and he’s pushing incredibly hard in every little detail — not only on the car, on the team, but also physically on his training regime, on his diet. He’s a very complete athlete.”
De la Rosa was a check driver at McLaren in 2007 when Alonso joined Renault as champion and Lewis Hamilton got here on board as a rookie, and so they labored collectively at Ferrari after that.
Again in 2001, the now 52-year-old was with Jaguar when Alonso debuted at Minardi.
De la Rosa stated, in an interview organised by the workforce’s non-alcoholic beer accomplice Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0%, that even in uncompetitive automobiles Alonso had saved pushing as if chasing the title.
“It’s the fact that he hasn’t thrown in the towel at all … he didn’t need to see the carrot of the podium to be 100%,” he stated.
“He was always giving 100% even if he was fighting as a double world champion for 15th position.”
RECORD-EXTENDING START
Alonso, champion in 2005 and 2006, will likely be making a record-extending 357th begin this weekend with a workforce now second within the championship after ending 2022 in seventh place.
No driver has ever received after 300 begins however Alonso, once more third in first observe behind the Pink Bulls in Jeddah, may develop into the primary.
“If it’s not this year, it will be next year,” stated De la Rosa of a potential thirty third win.
“The expectation that Fernando’s podium in Bahrain has given the team, Formula One in general … it’s beautiful to watch.”
De la Rosa may fill a ebook with all of the tales of Alonso’s thirst to be first.
“Sometimes I tell him ‘Fernando, we are here for fun. I’m on holiday here in Dubai, don’t give me this’ and he’s like ‘Yeah we’re on holiday but we still need to win’,” he stated of their karting rivalry.
De la Rosa recalled additionally a time at Ferrari when Alonso prompt they race at a monitor close to Venice.
After spending all night time researching on-line, De la Rosa realised he had been tricked.
“He took me to a place I hadn’t seen before. I said ‘Fernando there’s no need for this, you were going to beat me anyway.’ He just wants to make sure.”
