Fernando Alonso has dismissed suggestions that his victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours was straightforward, on account of Toyota’s superiority in the World Endurance Championship, believing it was achieved at a "higher level" than previous years.
Toyota was left as the sole LMP1 hybrid entrant for the 2018/19 season, following the withdrawal of Audi at the end of 2016, and Porsche’s exit last year.
Alonso joined Toyota for the WEC Super Season, ostensibly with the ambition of taking another step towards achieving motorsport’s Triple Crown, and the No. 8 car beat the sister No. 7 machine to victory at the 24-Hour classic.
Alonso, along with team-mates Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi, had a 12-lap buffer back to the quickest privateer entrant, with Toyota controlling the event.
When asked whether his win would have felt more valuable if achieved with other OEMs in the field, Alonso shot back: “It feels great. Last year were only four cars, this year there were 10.
“I think there was much more opposition [in 2018].
“This year we had the only hybrid system I think with 49 per cent more efficient than any other car, and it was a great challenge.
“I put this victory in a higher level than any other victory in Le Mans.”
Alonso also expanded on the differences between Le Mans and Formula 1, and again saw an opportunity to criticise the latter, lamenting its “unpredictability”.
“I think in Le Mans, it was different because the race is so hard and so demanding,” he said.
“Whatever package you have, you still need to fight throughout the race and still deliver the perfect execution of the race, in terms of driving, in terms of mechanical failures, in terms of pit stops, the whole team has to work together and execute the race.
“We see in other categories, LMP2 and GTE, even the favourite ones, at the end of the race, it’s not so clear, it’s not predictable.
“The team of our [McLaren] boss [United Autosports], Zak Brown, was third at the end of the race, and I think in qualifying it was 14th. That’s how hard Le Mans is and how unpredictable it is.
“In Formula 1 definitely we are missing that. We are all sitting here, and we know we could fight maybe for seventh in qualifying and for seventh in the race. That’s the biggest problem with Formula 1.”
