Alonso pines for old-school F1 elements despite ‘best-ever’ place

Fernando Alonso has revealed the elements of F1 from previous eras that he misses on the current grid.

Alonso currently holds the achievement as F1's most experienced driver, taking part in his 400th event in Mexico City last month.

The Spaniard made his F1 debut in 2001 and has been present for various regulation cycles including the V10, V8 and current V6 hybrid engines.

When asked what he misses in F1 that he previously experienced, Alonso told media including RacingNews365: “Refueling. Fast cars on Sundays. 

“The sound of the engine. Bigger sponsors. Grid girls. Grid boys. It was different marketing. 

“Now it’s all about social media. Before, it was more into the real world.”

Despite the vast changes that he has witnessed, Alonso acknowledged that F1 is in its healthiest-ever position.

“I think we’re in a good place now,” he said. “F1 is very popular around the world, especially in the US. This is thanks to Liberty Media and all the actions that they are making.

“Teams are now very professional, a lot of discipline, budget caps. So I think we are probably the best moment of F1.

“It's true that in the past, especially the pit stops, gave you a lot of strategy possibilities, starting with higher fuel, lower loads, going for three stops or one-stop. We didn’t have to manage as much as we do now.

“And the races, because we race with 30 kilos [of fuel] on board… the qualifying versus race pace was one second slower or something like that.

“Now between the battery and the fuel load, sometimes in races, we are seven seconds slower or something at the beginning of the race and that’s a little bit less motivating. But the best moment of the sport is right now.”