Fernando Alonso open to race with Max Verstappen beyond F1

Fernando Alonso has said that he's open to racing with Max Verstappen in other racing categories beyond F1.

The two drivers share a great camaraderie and have expressed respect and admiration for each other. In an interview with De Telegraaf, Alonso was asked if he would be interested in racing alongside Verstappen, to which the Spaniard said:

“I know Max wants to do some endurance one day and I know he’d like to do the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I’m certainly open to doing that together. I think we should give the idea a chance if we can drive for a competitive team."

When quizzed if the LeMans team could feature Verstappen's dad as the third driver, Alonso joked that he would rather have the junior Verstappen behind the wheel. He said:

"His father for Le Mans? At the moment, I prefer Max. But I also have a lot of respect for Jos. He could develop the role of team principal!”

Alonso was also asked whether Verstappen would emulate the seven titles of Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. He said:

“It will be difficult for him to reach the seven titles of Lewis and Michael Schumacher. Certainly Max has the talent to get there, but you have to have a car that is very competitive for many years and you never have that guarantee. Now, it’s easy. Everything points to Red Bull dominating in the next few years, but we don’t know for sure. Let’s see if Max is that lucky.”

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Fernando Alonso's frustration after another DNF in Mexico

Fernando Alonso was having a very strong race in Mexico. He was on his way to finish the race as the best of the rest, but a late race power unit issue meant he had to retire. The Spaniard was very frustrated with that, saying:

Car #14 stops and it always seem like there is reliability issues for Car #14. 20 laps before the end, I lost one cylinder, so I was running with five cylinders, so I had 20% less power. I was 20 seconds in front of the McLaren and my teammate [Esteban Ocon] - so I think until that point, the race was exceptional. Here and Austin, I did my best races in terms of pace. I think I lost 60 points [already] this year, so we add another six [for seventh place], so it is 66. Obviously, everyone else then scores two more points than what they should.”

Alonso will move to Aston Martin next season from Alpine.