Alonso Steals the Show as F1 Season Begins in Bahrain

Fernando Alonso started his 20th season in Formula One with a strong opening day of practice at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

As reported on Gazette Times, Alonso was fastest in Friday’s second practice in his new Aston Martin ride, following up on the morning session when the 41-year-old Spaniard was second fastest.

At the end of the day, he joked he has another decade left of racing in him.

“Maybe three, maybe five, maybe seven or whatever years (left),” Alonso said. “There are no secrets. You dedicate your life to your passion, you know your body better as well, so you train better, you eat better. You make your career longer.”

Alonso split the Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and two-time defending world champion Max Verstappen in the first practice, then led Verstappen and Perez in the second session.

A truer indicator of Alonso’s speed will be in Saturday’s qualifying session. The season-opening race Sunday finishes under floodlights in Sakhir.

The two-time F1 champion has 32 career wins but none since a victory for Ferrari in 2013. The second of his two titles was with Renault in 2006 — when Verstappen was a nine-year-old racing karts.

But Alonso could at least have a strong chance of adding to his 98 career podiums at his new team, which he joined this year after Sebastian Vettel’s retirement. He is teammates with Lance Stroll, the son of Aston’s executive chairman.

So far, relations are harmonious, which hasn’t always been the case with Alonso.

He parted on bad terms with Ferrari and endured a miserable four-year spell without a single podium at McLaren, where he was critical of the car’s performance and its engines.

He spent two years out of F1, winning the 24 Hours Le Mans endurance race again and twice raced the Indianapolis 500, before returning to F1 with Renault-powered Alpine in 2021.

His third place at the Qatar GP in late 2021 was his first podium since 2014. But he then stunned Alpine last summer when he announced he was joining Aston Martin to replace the four-time champion Vettel.

Alonso, who finished ninth in the standings last season without a single podium, is dreaming big again.

“We want to have a good baseline, a good platform to develop the car during 2023 and maybe fight for something bigger next year,” he said. “But step by step.”