Formula 1: Fernando Alonso discusses long-term frustration

The frustration of two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso has been growing for quite some time. Here is what he had to say about it.

The frustration of two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso within the sport has reportedly been mounting long before the 36-year-old Spaniard’s second tenure driving for McLaren began in the 2015 season and he began driving a car with an unreliable Honda engine for the team.

In fact, Alonso has not won a Formula 1 race since he won the Spanish Grand Prix driving for Scuderia Ferrari in the 2013 season, but according to him, his frustration within the sport has been growing long before that race, which was now 101 races ago. Alonso has driven in 96 Formula 1 races since he won the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

Here is what Alonso had to say about the matter when asked about how much longer he planned to remain in Formula 1 with no chance to contend for victories, according to ESPN.

"“I think it has been up and down. I think the last possibility of the last championship car we had was 2007. The rest has been always quite far off from the performance of the top and the winning team of that season.“We’re now 11 years after that moment, so I don’t think it’s a problem [for me to be off the pace] but I think the biggest thing for me is to think about the direction Formula One is going and I don’t think too much about how competitive we’ll be next year as it is impossible to predict. It is just about the sport.“When you see again the grid in Canada there were two Mercedes, two Ferraris, two Red Bulls, two Force Indias and two Renaults in Q3. It is a constructors’ world championship and not a drivers’ world championship so it is something I need to decide.”"

Given Alonso’s mounting frustration, it has been heavily rumored that the 2018 Formula 1 season is the final season during which Alonso will compete in Formula 1. In fact, it was already revealed that his most likely replacement is 18-year-old McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris, who was approached by Scuderia Toro Rosso to replace Brendon Hartley starting in the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, July 1.

McLaren blocked the move, further adding to the speculation that Norris will replace Alonso starting next season.

But in regard to Alonso’s frustration within the sport that has led him to being in this situation at this point, it would make sense if he became frustrated at the end of his tenure driving for Ferrari in the 2014 season since he failed to win any of the final 33 races in which he drove for the team.

It would especially make sense if Alonso became frustrated during his second tenure with McLaren, as he has yet to finish a race in a position higher than fifth place since he returned to the team in the 2015 season.

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However, the fact that Alonso says that he has not had a car capable of winning the championship since the 2007 season, which was one season after he won his second career and second consecutive Formula 1 championship and the only season during which he drove for McLaren prior to the 2015 season, is quite interesting.

The reason that this is quite interesting is because of the fact that Alonso finished in second place in the championship standings in three of his five seasons driving for Ferrari. After he ended the reign of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, who had won five consecutive championships from the 2000 season to the 2004 season, by winning the championships in the 2005 season and the 2006 season when he drove for Renault, he came within only a few points of preventing four-time champion Sebastian Vettel from becoming a four-time champion on multiple occasions.

After finishing in second place just four points behind Vettel in the championship standings in the 2010 season, Alonso finished in second just three points behind Vettel in the standings in the 2012 season. He also finished in second behind Vettel in the standings in the 2013 season, but he finished 155 points behind him.

While it is hard to believe that Alonso has not been in the position to win a Formula 1 championship since the 2007 season given what the statistics show, it is certainly not hard to understand why he is frustrated to the point that he is currently frustrated.

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Is the 2018 Formula 1 season the final Formula 1 season during which Fernando Alonso will drive for McLaren, and is it the final Formula 1 season during which he will drive in the sport at all? Will he end up driving full-time in IndyCar next season like a lot of people expect him to?

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