"Everyone is always amazed" - Fernando Alonso on question reporters keep asking him

Fernando Alonso claims the press always believes he is happier in the present than in the past. The Spaniard says he is confused as to why people believe he is happier now.

Alonso won the world championship with Renault twice in 2005 and 2006 and dethroned the great Michael Schumacher, ending his reign of dominance in the sport. The driver has since moved teams a number of times and even left the sport to focus on other forms of motorsport. The driver returned with Alpine F1 for the 2021 season and is still speculated to be happier now than he was in the past.

Alonso says he is somewhat confused as to why people keep asking him this. He said:

“When I came to Ferrari, I got exactly the same questions. I still remember: ‘Why are you happy now? Is it because it’s an Italian team and you’re Spanish and it fits better?’ And I said, yes, maybe that’s why. We have the same sense of humor and the same southern character."

The F1 veteran was asked similar questions when he participated in the World Endurance Championship, Dakar and IndyCar series.

Although the Spaniard is not sure why people have this opinion of him, he has a theory as to why he is perceived as somewhat universally unhappy. He said of his days at McLaren next to Lewis Hamilton:

“When I fought Hamilton in 2007 on a British team, in a British environment, people got the wrong impression of me and spread the wrong message.”

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Fernando Alonso says "time for excuses is over" ahead of 2022 F1 season

Despite having an excellent debut season in the sport, Fernando Alonso believes there is massive room for improvement within the Alpine F1 team. Alonso and team-mate Esteban Ocon challenged the well-established Alpha Tauri team, beating them in the constructors' championship by placing fifth.

The 40-year-old driver believes Alpine has a working formula and needs to capitalize early on regulation and car changes for the 2022 season. He said:

“Nobody knows the destination. In a normal winter, we would have said that we had to find eight tenths. But we don’t know what the new benchmark is. Nobody knows. There is only hope that it will be enough. We have the right people, the necessary things, budget, sufficient resources, and the support of the executive suite. It is now up to us to make something of it. The time for excuses is over.”

Fernando Alonso appeared on the podium at the Qatar Grand Prix while teammate Ocon achieved his first victory in the sport at the Hungarian Grand Prix.