D-4: Can Alonso be after being?

In 2016, it was a studious and very committed Spaniard who we saw at work and who did not miss the all too rare opportunities that his machine offered him to fight to remind all those who had perhaps forgotten a little that he remains this modern-day samurai.

This year again, Fernando Alonso will take it upon himself to build a future which must be promising as he knows that the clock of time is working against him. Today, if it is perhaps not the fastest in pure speed, it remains a reference – if not THE reference – in risky conditions. There are few drivers whose aggressiveness goes hand in hand with safety, and Alonso is one of them.

However, the pair McLaren-Honda did not give encouraging signs to its locomotive during the last tests in Barcelona, ​​with recurring Power Unit problems, and mileage well below its rivals.

Time matters nothing, nor the frustrations endured. Over the past few seasons, and not only at McLaren, the double world champion has given a lot from this point of view. And he hasn’t seen the years go by either. Even if his debut in 2001 seems like yesterday, he also knows that, unlike Honda who gave himself another eight years to achieve a new world crown, time is against him.

How much does he have left at the highest level? Two or three seasons at most to manage to win this third title which has been slipping through his fingers for ten long years. For the moment, his choice to return to Woking to finish work that was too quickly abandoned at the end of 2007 does not seem to be the most inspired, and nothing says that he will be, this year again, in a position to even play the podium.

Find all the challenges of the 2017 season in the Guide F1 CARhebdo, always available in digital version and on newsstands.