After two seasons away following his “retirement”, two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso is officially back in Formula 1.
When two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso “retired” following the 2018 season, many fans speculated that we hadn’t seen the last of him.
Those fans were right.
Last summer, Alonso signed with Renault, team for which he won his two world championships back in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, to replace the McLaren-bound Daniel Ricciardo alongside Esteban Ocon beginning in the 2021 season.
The 39-year-old Spaniard signed a multi-year deal with the team, which have since been rebranded as Alpine for the 2021 season.
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Last month nearly threw a wrench into those plans, however. Alonso was involved in a road accident while cycling in Switzerland, and he was hospitalized as a result of the injuries he suffered in it.
Fortunately, those injuries were never life-threatening, and he was released from the hospital in only a couple of days. He underwent corrective surgery after sustaining a fracture to his upper jaw and continued to recover in preparation for the 2021 season, and now the start of the 2021 season is right around the corner.
It is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 28 at Bahrain International Circuit with the Bahrain Grand Prix after a coronavirus pandemic restriction-related schedule change, and Alonso is officially back, having taken part in both of the practice sessions held earlier today.
He last competed in the sport in 2018, which was the fourth and final season of his second stint with McLaren. The 2021 season is set to be his 18th overall season in the sport.
Through 17 seasons, he has competed in 312 races and earned 32 victories, including 14 in his two championship-winning seasons and a total of 15 during his first four-year stint with Renault from 2003 to 2006.
He most recently finished on the podium in the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring when he finished in second place driving for Ferrari. He most recently stood atop the podium following the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, his home race, at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya competing for the same team.
Tune in to ESPN at 11:00 a.m. ET this Sunday, March 28 for the live broadcast of the 2021 season opener from the 15-turn, 3.363-mile (5.412-kilometer) road course in Sakhir, Bahrain.