"Can you imagine Fernando winning in Madrid?": Stefano Domenicali excited about the prospect of Fernando Alonso winning the Madrid GP in 2026

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali recently painted a picture of how magnificent the upcoming Madrid GP would feel if Fernando Alonso managed to win the race. The moment the Spaniard wins a race, he will break the record for the longest gap between two race wins for any driver in F1 history, with his last win coming in 2013. Hence, many Alonso fans are eagerly waiting for the 42-year-old driver to clinch the top podium soon.

Speaking recently to a small group of media at IFEMA, where the Madrid GP was announced, Stefano Domenicali lightly joked (as per AS.com):

"Can you imagine Fernando winning in Madrid? I can only think that this can happen here in Madrid."

Domenicali also praised the Madrid GP project and expressed his thoughts on how the new circuit would help F1 grow even more in Spain and Europe. He said:

"Already in the presentation, we see the intensity, the energy, a project thought of in the experience of the fans. It is a project that will allow F1 to grow at a time of great attention in Spain. It will be able to grow even more in Spain and Europe, it will raise the sports level, and as others have done, they will raise the level of the show."

The Madrid track will arrive in F1 in 2026, when the F1 cars will undergo major changes based on power units and aerodynamics.

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Fernando Alonso on how difficult it is to give feedback on modern F1 cars

Fernando Alonso is one of the very few drivers who have raced in several eras of Formula 1 from 1999 to 2023. Hence, he has massive experience in how he should give feedback on the car. In recent times, he finds giving feedback tougher than before, mainly because of the complexity of modern machines.

In an exclusive interview with Auto Motor und Sport, the Spaniard said:

"These cars are more difficult to understand because the driver's feedback is no longer so clear. Sometimes the balance of the car isn't right and you end up third. Other times you feel like you're in the car well and ended up in 14th place. It has become much more complicated to filter out individual factors for a certain driving behavior.

"In the past, you could say much more precisely whether the problem came from the aerodynamics, the chassis or the tires."

Fernando Alonso was the surprise driver in 2023 as he moved to Aston Martin and instantly started bagging podiums. At one point, he was the third-fastest driver on the grid, after the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.