Fernando Alonso is currently on a six-race scoring streak with a season-best finish of fourth at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
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Alpine have announced that Fernando Alonso will continue to race with the team in 2022. Team boss Laurent Rossi has expressed how impressed he is with the Spaniard’s “dedication, teamwork and focus” since a return to Formula 1 this season. Alonso, who turned 40 in July, left F1 at the end of 2018 after four frustrating seasons with McLaren. He spent the next two years racing in other categories. This included the Dakar Rally and at Le Mans.
Alonso was tempted back to Grand Prix racing this year with Alpine. This marked his third spell at the team previously known as Renault, winning both his World Championship titles in 2005 and 2006. The racer is currently on a six-race scoring streak with a season-best finish of fourth at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Alonso’s defence of a charging Lewis Hamilton in the latter stages of the race helped his teammate Esteban Ocon secure a maiden victory personally as well as for the team.
Ocon signed a new long term contract earlier this year. This provides the perfect balance of youth and experience for Alpine, who are preparing for a new era of F1 with sweeping new regulations set to be introduced next year.
“I’m very happy to confirm the contract extension with Alpine F1 Team into 2022. I felt at home the moment I returned to this team and have been welcomed back with open arms. It is a pleasure to work again with some of the brightest minds in our sport at Enstone and Viry-Chatillon. It’s been a tricky season for everyone, but we’ve shown progress as a team and the result in Hungary serves as a good example of this progression,” said Alonso.
“We’re targeting more positive memories for the rest of this season but also crucially from next year onwards with the new regulation changes coming into Formula 1. I have been a big supporter of the need for a level playing field and change in the sport and the 2022 season will be a great opportunity for that. I am looking forward to the rest of this year and racing alongside Esteban in 2022 for Alpine,” he added.
Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi further expressed his happiness following Alonso’s decision to stay with the team.
“We are very pleased to confirm Fernando for next season, partnering with Esteban. For us it is a perfect driver line-up, amongst the strongest on the grid. It works in a hugely complementary way, with both offering raw talent and speed, yet impeccable team spirit that delivered our first win in Hungary,” he stated.
“Fernando has impressed us all since he returned to the sport at the beginning of this year. His dedication, teamwork and focus to extract the maximum from the team is incredible to be a part of and certainly special to witness. His performance in Hungary was another example of his racing pedigree and reminded everyone how skilled a driver he is. I am convinced we can benefit strongly from Fernando’s insight and experience as we enter the final development and optimization phase of the 2022 chassis and power unit. He is just as hungry as we are for success and is putting in every effort to translate it to performance,” concluded Rossi.
