A year since Fernando Alonso left Formula 1
It has been 12 months since the two time world champion left Formula 1. "If Alonso was here with a top car, he would be among the top three to win the world championship" said Max Verstappen.
One year, 12 months since Fernando Alonso drove, for the last time, a Formula 1 car.
A lot of fans will surely get emotional again, thinking of the last donuts Fernando did on the straigh in Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi, accompained by two other world champion, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.
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Despite conquering an 11th place during that last race, Fernando was, obviously, the star of the weekend: the love all the Formula 1 community showed him was incredible.
No matter the world titles conquered, no matter the trophies, no matter the numbers: incredibly, Fernando Alonso has left a mark on the sport. The one who ended Michael Schumacher empire, the one who brought back victory to Renault, the one who, despite a lot of unlucky choices, was still considered the best above all.
Yes, Fernando is not one of the easiest character, but he was fast, he was talented, and he is still showing it.
With 32 wins, 97 podiums, 22 pole positions and 23 fastest lap, Fernando wasn't satisfied: on his curriculum we can now find a WEC Championship title with Toyota and two 24 Hours Of Les Mans wins, a 24 Hours of Daytona win as well, and many others are coming.
His next challenge? The 2020 Dakar with Toyota Gazoo. The Spaniard is already working on it, training to be at his best for this next challenge.
What he still misses? The Indy500, which he almost got in 2017. The goal? The Triple Crown.
But still, the category he raced in for 17 years, still misses him. The community still talks about him, still hopes for him to come back, as Verstappen confirmed some days ago.
"He is one of the best drivers" said the Dutchman to the Spanish edition of AutoBild. "It is a pity that I never really raced against him, because he did not have a very competitive car at the time. But I think if Alonso was here with a top car, he would be among the top three to win the world championship."
And Verstappen is not alone.
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It has been one year already since Fernando retired, one year since he left McLaren: and now, the woking team has conquered its first podium finish with Carlos Sainz, the spaniard who has replaced Fernando. Timing sometimes is everything, as well as good choices, and Fernando didn't have enough luck in that. But still, his reputation is still strong. He always fought, until the very end, even with a car who wasn't enough for the F1 standard, blessing us with a lot of glorious team radio (GP2, remember?).
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Fernando already did some tests with McLaren, this year and also sat at the PitWall in some race weekends. Will he come back for good? Is the desire to win a third world title still strong? Who knows, but surely only a top team can really seduce the two times world champion.
