Fernando Alonso opines on his return to F1, dubs criticism as 'blessing'

Alpine's Fernando Alonso had spent two years away from Formula 1 in 2019 and 2020 before he was signed by the Alpine F1 team for the 2021 and 2022 seasons alongside Esteban Ocon with Renault having rebranded the team under its new name. On his return at his first Grand Prix of the season, Alonso ended up retiring and after that, he managed two points scoring GPs at Imola and Portimao, he finished 17th at home in Spain and 13th in Monaco.

Soon after those races, some changes were made to his Alpine A521 which have now helped him hit a six-race scoring streak. Recently, Alonso said he had expected his return to F1 to be easier given that he had already raced before and that it would just come naturally to him.

“I knew it was a process of adaptation. I thought it would have been faster, because Formula 1 was a natural thing for me compared to the WEC, the Dakar Rally, or Indianapolis (500), and I thought I would be at 100% quickly," he told SoyMotor.com.

Monaco GP was one of Alonso's worst finishes at the GP

He then mentioned the Monaco GP where his P13 finish was his worst ever Grand Prix finish (excluding DNFs) in the Principality and explained that while it was disappointing he knew it was just a matter of time. He said he was criticised for it and that while he did not like that he said it was a blessing.

“Take Monaco as an example: I was hoping it would be a good circuit for me, but I missed out on Q1. This was disappointing for me. I knew it was a matter of time. The criticism and the comments that were made… It’s not that I liked them, but they were a blessing,” he said.

"They were a blessing because I knew that it was only a matter of time before people started to appreciate if I finished a race in 10th place,” said Alonso. “Had I always been in front of Ocon, had I always been in the points, they (the critics) would have said what they’ve said throughout my career, which is that my teammate was not at the same level and that the car had more potential, but that I was missing out."

'Criticism was a blessing'

He then explained why the criticism was a blessing finding a silver lining it all that, adding that after those below-par performances people started to appreciate the better ones

“Then, if suddenly they think I am done, anything I accomplish is appreciated much more. Some races were not great, like France for example, where I finished ninth. It was a good race, but nothing special. But it was considered to be a super performance because I was starting to do good races again. It was a good thing.”

(Image Credits: Fernando Alonso Instagram)