Alpine’s reliability issues were nearly their undoing in 2022, as the team struggled to hold off McLaren to keep fourth place in the constructors’ championship.
Esteban Ocon was forced to retire from two races over the course of the season, while Fernando Alonso’s shocking six DNFs saw the Spaniard grow frustrated with his team, even accusing them of favouring Ocon, hence his smaller number of technical issues.
The 41-year-old has spent a large portion of his career with Renault, who rebranded to Alpine ahead of the 2021 season, and won his two world championships with the team back in 2005 and 2006.
Despite a sour end to his time with Alpine, Alonso has insisted that he will always look back fondly on his time with the team, claiming that he owes a lot of his success to Renault.
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“The frustration of [a race DNF] is there, and [there is] nothing I can do,” began Alonso.
“But I’m very grateful, and I will always think [of] Alpine or Renault with good memories.
“We won the two championships, I spent nine years of my life in Formula 1 [with them], so I will be thankful always and wishing them the best of luck next year.”
The 41-year-old’s move to Aston Martin came as a shock to many when the announcement was made over the summer break, but Alonso has explained that he sees potential in the team, boldly claiming that he could win his third championship with Aston Martin within a couple of years.
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Alpine have replaced Alonso with Pierre Gasly for 2023, after their initial plan to promote Oscar Piastri to a race seat was blocked following a legal battle with McLaren.
Alonso finished 11 points behind Ocon in the 2022 drivers’ championship, however he believes that had he not had experienced so many DNF’s he could have been fighting for the best of the rest position, which was claimed by Lando Norris.
At 41 years of age, Alonso has begun planning for life after F1 racing, as he has suggested that he would like to put his experience to good use with Aston Martin, potentially staying on with the team in a post-racing role.