Fernando Alonso 'mind blown' by 20th F1 anniversary

Fernando Alonso has conceded that it 'blows his mind' that this season represents the 20th anniversary of him winning the second of his only two F1 titles.

It was 2006 that Alonso, then with Renault, beat Ferrari's Michael Schumacher by 13 points at the end of what was a titanic tussle between the duo to clinch back-to-back championships.

After five years of domination by Schumacher, Alonso's feat indicated he would go on to be the preeminent force in F1 for years to come.

But fate conspired against Alonso as a move to McLaren in 2007, partnering with emerging British rookie Lewis Hamilton, saw him become embroiled in internal politics and miss out on a third consecutive title by a point.

An immediate return to Renault garnered little reward before then moving onto Ferrari, where he was runner-up three times in four seasons to the new all-conquering powerhouse in Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

A further ill-fated switch to McLaren followed, then a spell in retirement from F1, but in which he won a second Le Mans 24 Hours and became World Endurance champion in 2019, before returning for a two-year stint with Alpine, and then on to his current employer, Aston Martin, with whom he enters a fourth season.

It is quite astonishing to think that 20 years after his last title success, Alonso is still in F1 fighting to secure a long-overdue third crown.

"Even though you don't think too much about these things, if you stop a little bit and you reflect, for sure, it blows my mind," he said, speaking to The New York Times.

"It doesn’t feel that long ago, because I kept fighting for the championship in 2007, 2010 and in 2012. It’s the same with my last race win in 2013. It doesn’t feel that, from 2013, I was not in a condition, or I didn’t have the feeling, that I was able to win a race again, even if I haven’t come that close."

Referring to his run of six top-three finishes in the opening eight races of the 2023 season with Aston Martin, Alonso added: "The 2023 podiums were confirmation, and a reminder for everybody, that I'm still here.

"That I will perform when the car is there, and the seasons out of Formula 1, winning the World Endurance Championship, Le Mans, these kinds of things, were another.

“They’re maybe not the same feeling as [I had in] Brazil 20 years ago, winning the Formula 1 world championship, but they are the closest moments and feelings.

"For me, the last big satisfaction was maybe a few years ago. It was not 20 years ago. That’s why it doesn’t feel like 20. That’s the perception I have.”