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fernando alonso agrees with verstappen busy calendar formula 1

Alonso echoes Verstappen's statement: 'That drains my battery'

13 December 2023 at 07:00
  • Ludo van Denderen

Max Verstappen never makes a secret of the fact that he does not want to be active in Formula 1 into his forties. Not only does the three-time world champion want to try other racing options in life, he is also not keen on being away from home for months on end. Fernando Alonso does want to be active in Formula 1 until he is 42 - and beyond. The Aston Martin Spaniard recognises the reasons Verstappen gives for quitting F1 at some point.

"I said many times, even before 2018, the day that I will stop racing is not because I feel not motivated for driving or I feel slow," Alonso told the media which included GPblog. "If I feel slow one day, I think it will be noticeable, and I will not be happy with my performance, I will be the first one to raise my hand and say, OK, this is this is time, but I don't think that that time will arrive. I have extreme self-confidence in my performance."

Alonso denounces busy schedule in F1

So when will Alonso consider quitting? "But it could be that with the calendar and with the demanding schedule and things like that, one day I will feel that it is time because there are other things in life. It has been a very demanding season only with 22 races, with two cancellations next year with 24, the proper calendar."

"We have to see how it feels. Even Las Vegas, I saw today that is a triple header. I don't know why I thought that Vegas was alone next year and then Qatar and Abu Dhabi was together, so I just found out now, like 10 minutes ago, that it was three races together. These kind of things will drain my battery, not driving," the Spaniard said.