"I'm probably not the strongest man in the world"- Fernando Alonso agrees with Alpine boss' claims that a 30-year-old female could be a better driver than him

Fernando Alonso is in agreement with Alpine F1 CEO Laurent Rossi about the possibility of an athletic and fit woman at 30 being better than him in his present condition.

The Spaniard began his F1 career back in 2001 and since then has gone on to become a two-time world champion with 32 wins and 98 podiums. Should he complete 44 laps at the 2022 F1 British GP, the 40-year-old will overtake Kimi Raikkonen for the most distance driven in the history of the sport.

Alpine recently launched an initiative to try and get more women into motorsport and subsequently in F1. In a recent interview, team CEO Laurent Rossi pointed out that women are jet fighter pilots and astronauts, before suggesting that a perfectly fit woman at 30 could perform better than their veteran driver.

When asked to weigh in on the Frenchman's comments in the pre-race press conference at Silverstone, Fernando Alonso said:

“Probably they do!. Yeah, there should not be any reason why not? I feel okay to drive Formula 1 cars, but I’m probably not the strongest man in the world. And yeah, I think the team is doing a lot of initiatives in the last few years, to be more inclusive.’’

He continued:

“Now, in Alpine road company, 12% of the company are women; in the Formula 1 team is 10 per cent. So still a long way to go. But definitely things are moving in the right direction. So yeah, I’m proud of all these initiatives and about the comments: yeah, probably he’s right.”

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Fernando Alonso P2 start for 2022 F1 Canadian GP 'a good boost of motivation' for Alpine

Fernando Alonso felt his superb performance during qualifying for the 2022 F1 Canadian GP was a good source of motivation for Alpine.

Speaking at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve after claiming his first front-row start since the 2012 German GP, the Spaniard was asked what this meant for the team. Alonso said:

“I mean, they are very happy now. So they are drinking a few beers, I guess. So that’s always a good boost of motivation for everyone and I think they’ve been working flat out like everybody to bring new parts to the car. In Baku, we introduced a new significant update on the side pods and rear wing as well so to get a nice result is obviously a bonus for later in the year because they are working day and night for this.”

His race did not go to plan, however, after a slow start off the line and missed pit-stop windows. The two-time world champion even dropped behind teammate Esteban Ocon in the race.

After finally crossing the line in P7, Fernando Alonso was penalized for a collision with Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas, demoting him to P9.

Despite that decision going against him, Alonso managed to extend his run of consecutive races with points finishes to four. Heading into the 2022 F1 British GP, he is P10 in the World Drivers' Championship standings with 18 points.