Fernando Alonso will make his World Endurance Championship debut this year as he chases the Le Mans’ segment of the Triple Crown, and, as we explain, it demonstrates the turnaround in his perception by the wider motorsport community, prompting a desire to see him succeed
The news that Fernando Alonso will participate in this year’s World Endurance Championship is surely the final piece in the puzzle of his transformation from divisive Formula 1 driver to an all-round racing legend.
Throughout the bulk of the mid-late 2000s, and even into early-2010s, Alonso – while still harbouring a legion of fans – was often plagued by controversy: some comments while with Renault, his toxic year at McLaren, Crashgate, and a few incidents at Ferrari. They were not all his doing, but his reputation as a sportsman was so-so.
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But over time attitudes toward the Spaniard have changed, ostensibly fuelled by his lack of success, creating the pervading theme that his talent has not been rewarded. There is a sense of unfulfilled achievement, through (bad) luck and (bad) judgment, meaning a World Champion has been consigned to the status of paddock joker, more known for deckchairs and snarly radio messages than winning. He has not triumphed at a Formula 1 race since 2013, and the last of his two titles came in 2006. It is a mind-bogglingly long run. It is not a unique phenomenon that sportsmen become more appreciated over time – perhaps it is because we realise that we will not be witnessing their exploits forever, or perhaps it is heightened because the sense of unfulfilled achievement grows ever more likely with each passing year. It has happened to several drivers, it happens in other sports, and it happens in life itself. Music albums, for example, frequently gain an increasingly iconic status as the years pass; an appreciation of artists gathers pace after their death.
Alonso has flourished into an old-school driver, a throwback to a time when top-level racing drivers launched themselves into multiple categories, and confirmation of the worst kept secret – that he would join Toyota in the WEC – was met with universal acclaim. He has been permitted the opportunity through a combination of factors.
For several years, the idea of a Formula 1 driver competing in another major category was off radar, heightened by Bernie Ecclestone’s near-pillorying of other series, frequently ensuring events (such as Le Mans) clashed. Nico Hulkenberg broke ranks in 2015, taking a stellar – if slightly unexpected – triumph with Porsche, and it was not coincidental that 12 months later the French classic again clashed with a Grand Prix. Liberty Media has already taken a different approach; last year it outlined its desire to avoid date clashes – where feasible – with the WEC and Formula E, while Ross Brawn suggested it also made sense to consult MotoGP officials. The FIA spoke of “harmonising” calendars, where possible. Chase Carey even acted as the official Le Mans starter in 2017. Lo, and behold, there was life outside of the F1 bubble.
Alonso, too, has wanted to compete at Le Mans for several years; he pushed to compete with Ferrari in the GTE Pro class during his days at Maranello, but his bosses were not keen on the idea. It was a situation which repeated itself in 2015; Alonso was linked to Porsche but McLaren management, under Ron Dennis, did not share the Spaniard’s enthusiasm. And then Hulkenberg, who co-piloted the No. 19 car reportedly touted for Alonso, went and won the thing.
Consequently, another crucial factor in Alonso’s non-F1 adventures has been McLaren’s fortunes, ironically working to his favour. Had McLaren-Honda rekindled its dominant partnership of the late 1980s, then Dennis may not have been ousted, while Alonso would not have been able to skip Formula 1’s jaunt to Monaco last year. As it was, Dennis was unceremoniously shown the exit door, in favour of Zak Brown, who was not only open to non-F1 activities but a key facilitator in Alonso’s Indianapolis challenge, itself prompted by Honda’s early season malaise.
It was that Indianapolis run last year which was one of motorsport’s biggest stories of 2017, as Alonso ran competitively before retiring due to an engine failure. His oval deeds were fanatically tracked, and he earned huge respect from various communities for leaping out of his comfort zone to take on a new challenge. That he was rapid throughout the month of May only served to enhance his reputation further, and any notion that he was going there for a bit of fun, or would be underprepared or unable to keep pace, was quickly quashed.
With Indianapolis put to one side – for now – and the clash still unfortunately present, ruling out a 2018 tilt, attention has switched from open-wheels and ovals to tin-tops and Le Mans.
Despite the then-current Honda links, Alonso was able to sample Toyota’s TS050 HYBRID during November’s WEC rookie test in Bahrain, and made use of Brown’s co-chairmanship of United Autosports to link up with the squad for the Daytona 24 Hours. While multiple setbacks derailed any hopes of a top result, the experience of endurance competition – albeit with several differences to Le Mans – will prove hugely beneficial, and remove some doubt that will have inevitably formed in Alonso’s mind. For example: working as part of a three-driver team, coping with a day-long race, and dealing with traffic and night-time driving.
The move is surely a win-win-win scenario for the involved parties; Alonso gets to satisfy his hunger to battle for Le Mans honours, McLaren gets a happy, motivated driver, Toyota gets one of motorsport’s greatest racers to spearhead its tilt, and the WEC gets a box-office driver for its Super Season, even if the event becomes more ‘24 Hours of Alonso’ than ‘24 Hours of Le Mans’.
It means a busy 25-race schedule (allied to the one already completed) alongside tests, factory visits and simulator duties – not to mention maintaining fitness and other off-track activities – in 2018, but that’s just what suits Alonso, whose ‘true racer’ attitude has been fully displayed in recent years.
“I like how he just wants to race every weekend,” Brown explained towards the back end of last year. What a lot of people don’t know is he’s racing in a go-kart most weekends he’s not in a Formula 1 car. That’s how it used to be in the Mario Andretti days and it’s great to see Fernando has that kind of attitude.”
It has been stressed that leading McLaren’s (anticipated) Formula 1 revival remains the Spaniard’s priority in 2018, but if he is standing atop the podium at the Circuit de la Sarthe just after 3pm on June 17, then the entire motorsport world will stand and applaud in admiration.
This feature originally appeared in issue 251 of our sister publication Motorsport Monday – our weekly free magazine published every Monday – to read the latest issue, click here. To subscribe, head to www.motorsportmonday.com
