Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul admits he’s feeling tense watching Fernando Alonso compete at the Indianapolis 500.
The Spaniard is back at the Brickyard for the third time in a bid to complete motorsport’s Triple Crown, but the first week wasn’t easy as he crashed in practice on Thursday and only qualified 26th of 33 cars for this Sunday’s race.
After Indy, Alonso’s focus will then switch to his returns to Formula 1 next year with Renault, but until the chequered flag falls, Abiteboul is watching from behind the sofa.
“Very straightforward, the answer is that actually I’m hardly breathing until next weekend, when he is stepping out of his racing car in Indianapolis,” he said on Fernando’s exploits across the pond.
“But I can be very clear that once he’s with us, that’s for good, and for a while. So no distractions.”
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Renault’s decision to sign Alonso is seen by some as a snub of the next generation of drivers, particularly as they have two academy prospects, Guanyu Zhou and Christian Lundgaard, competing in F2.
However, both of them downplayed the missed opportunity by citing the uncertainty caused by Covid-19, while Williams driver George Russell offered this view.
“I was quite pleased about it,” he said of the double world champion’s comeback last month.
“Formula 1 is about having the best of the best drivers. Fernando is absolutely one of the best.
“There’s arguments that people feel like he’s depriving younger drivers of an opportunity but I think as things currently stand it makes complete sense for Renault, for Fernando.
“I think he will come back and do a great job.”
And as for any possible perils of ageing, having turned 39 last month…
“In terms of weight and physical shape, he is back at the level of 2009 to 2011,” Alonso’s physio Edoardo Bendinelli told Marca.
“We made a training schedule so that he would be as he was at his peak, as he was in 2010 when he went to Ferrari.
“We compared all the parameters of the past with those of today and have started with the goal of getting back to the level of ten years ago. He wants to have the body and the head to do what he wants with a car.”