Alonso: Lack of action forced F1 exit

Fernando Alonso says that the lack of on-track action during Formula 1 races prompted his exit from the sport. The Spaniard announced on Tuesday that he would be departing the series after 17 years, in which he amassed two world championships.

Alonso is regarded by many as one of the most talented drivers to have raced in F1, despite not having a competitive car for a number of years. The 37-year-old has not won a race since 2013, while it has been four years since he last stepped onto the podium.

But he says that it is not the lack of competitiveness that has influenced his recent decision: "The action on track is not the one I dreamed of when I joined F1, or when I was in different series, or the action on track that I experienced in other years,” he said.

“I stopped because the action on track in my opinion I feel is very poor. In fact, what we talk about more in F1, is off track. We talk about polemics. We talk about radio messages. We talk about all these things, and when we talk so many times about those things, it is a bad sign. 

“It is because the on-track action was very poor on that weekend, and that is what I feel in F1 now, and I think there are other series that maybe offer better action, more joy and more happiness, so that is what I try to find,” he added.

Alonso has called the sport's current predictability tough on young, ambitious drivers as it is not possible for mid-field teams to make a leap to the front of the grid in a short space of time.

"When I was in 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011, I was not winning [many] races in those years," he stated. "But it was difficult to predict [then] what could happen in Spa and Monza. Now, we can write down what is going to happen at Spa and Monza. We can put the first 15 positions with maybe one or two mistakes. So how predictable everything became is tough. 

“We go to Barcelona and we test the first day of winter testing and you know what you will do until November in Abu Dhabi and it is tough. For me, it is not too much of a problem because after 18 years, as I said before, I achieved more than what I dreamed of. 

“But for young drivers or different drivers, it is tough because they just hope that next year the team does an unbelievable step or they receive a call from one or two teams. It became difficult for ambitious drivers. [For] a driver with some kind of ambition, it will be tough for the future if things don’t change.”

With just over a week to go before the F1 season resumes at Belgium, Alonso has his summer break cut short this weekend. He will be racing in the third round of the 2018/19 World Endurance Championship at Silverstone with Toyota, aiming for a third consecutive win. 

Fergal Walsh