Alonso speaks about Formula 1 return: "I want a winning car right away"
F1 News
Fernando Alonso has once again spoken about a return to Formula 1 in 2020. But he admits that will need one condition: a winning car.
The 37-year-old has recently completed his Le Mans double having missed out on the Indy500 race because of a bad qualifying session. His former F1 boss Zak Brown has told Alonso he'd need a third car at McLaren because he wouldn't remove Carlos Sainz or Lando Norris.
Having admitted earlier in the week that he had talks with Mercedes, the now three-time FIA world champion says he'll need either Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull to make his comeback.
"If F1 becomes an attractive option again, there is no doubt that I would go back. In the future, I am open to interesting proposals. If I decide to return to F1 it is only if there is a real chance of winning the world championship," Alonso told Italian magazine Man in Town.
"I had contact with Mercedes in 2016 when Nico Rosberg decided to retire. I talked to Toto Wolff but in the end, we did not reach a definitive yes. I was at McLaren and it was not easy to find a solution. I am not interested in projects that start from scratch. I want a winning car right away."
That might be hard to come by as the only winning car in 2019 has been either Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas. And those two drivers have been dominating their rivals, Ferrari, giving Sebastian Vettel just a sniff of a race win in Canada last time out.
For the rest of the interview with the Italian magazine, Alonso gave some simple advice to Ferrari.
"Patience. It's not easy when you are expected to win every weekend. Now the car is very competitive but the climate of excessive pressure does not help. And then the Mercedes is very strong," Alonso concluded.