Pressiteade
In just sixmonths following his two-year sabbatical from Formula 1, Fernando has shownequal measures of race craft, guile and speed. His season-best fourth placefinish at the Hungarian Grand Prix was not only his best result in Formula 1since 2014 but a display of resilience and skill, which contributed richly toensuring the team took its first win in Formula 1 under Alpine colours.
Furtherstill, Fernando put in a stunning demonstration of overtaking acumen in therace restart to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with a similarly skilful performancerepeated just a month later in Formula 1’s first ever Sprint Qualifying inSilverstone.
With itsconfirmed driver line-up for 2022, the dynamic driver pairing offers a balanceof youth and experience, with Fernando now ranking second on the sport’s alltime race starts list with 322, featuring 32 wins, 97 podiums and two worldchampionship titles with the team in 2005 and 2006.
Coupled withgreat togetherness and a fighting spirit that has already reaped such rewards,Alpine F1 Team can enter next year with confidence as it aims to seize the newregulation changes.
LaurentRossi, CEO, Alpine: “We are very pleased to confirm Fernando for next season,partnering with Esteban. For us it is a perfect driver line-up, amongst the strongeston the grid. It works in a hugely complementary way, with both offering rawtalent and speed, yet impeccable team spirit that delivered our first win inHungary. Fernando has impressed us all since he returned to the sport at thebeginning of this year. His dedication, teamwork and focus to extract themaximum from the team is incredible to be a part of and certainly special towitness. His performance in Hungary was another example of his racing pedigreeand reminded everyone how skilled a driver he is. I am convinced we can benefitstrongly from Fernando’s insight and experienceas we enter the final development and optimization phase of the 2022 chassisand power unit. He is just as hungry as we are for success and is putting inevery effort to translate it to performance. For now, however, we now need tofocus on delivering a strong second half of the year, extract the maximum atevery race and ensure we finish as high up in
the constructors’ standings as possible. Thiswill put us in a golden position for next year and the significant opportunityit brings.”
FernandoAlonso,Alpine F1 Team Race Driver: “I’m very happy to confirm the contract extension with Alpine F1Team into 2022. I felt at home the moment I returned to this team and have beenwelcomed back with open arms. It is a pleasure to work again with some of thebrightest minds in our sport at Enstone and Viry-Châtillon. It’s been a trickyseason for everyone, but we’ve shown progress as a team and the result inHungary serves as a good example of this progression. We’re targeting morepositive memories for the rest of this season but also crucially from next yearonwards with the new regulation changes coming into Formula 1. I have been abig supporter of the need for a level playing field and change in the sport andthe 2022 season will be a great opportunity for that. I am looking forward tothe rest of this year and racing alongside Esteban in 2022 for Alpine.”
