Fernando Alonso was equipped with the confidence to take on even Michael Schumacher from the start – things where he could lose, he prefers not to
From the past 22 years, Formula 1 fans will have noticed that Fernando Alonso has a healthy dose of self-confidence. But that is also a kind of self-protection for him, as he reveals. Because then he would be able to get more out of it, and that would also relieve the pressure that weighs on him.
Self-confidence also characterised the Spaniard in his younger years, when he joined Minardi in 2001 at just 19 years old, and he was not afraid of big names: “When I came to Formula One, Michael Schumacher dominated the sport, but I never thought I was slower than him”,
“Maybe it was just a kamikaze approach at the beginning of my career, but I never doubted that I could challenge him at some point when we had the same car,” says Alonso.
In fact, it was to be the Spaniard who not only won his first Formula 1 race two years later as the youngest driver at the time, but also ended the dominance of Ferrari and Schumacher with his two World Championship titles in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, he even kept the upper hand over the record world champion in a direct world championship duel.
While Alonso says he doesn’t have many self-doubts, there is also the other side to the Aston Martin driver. The side that hates losing so much that he does everything he can to avoid it – even if it means simply avoiding the fray.
“I like to know everything about what I’m doing when I’m not in my comfort zone,” he says. He is usually in his comfort zone in the car, but that is not always the case in his private life.
For example, when playing tennis: “I treat a tennis match like a Formula 1 Grand Prix and I have to know everything about who I’m playing,” Alonso says. “And if the person is too strong, I might skip tennis that day because I hate losing.”
“And if he’s too weak, then maybe I’ll do some extra sport beforehand because then the tennis match won’t challenge me so much physically,” he explains. “Every day is pretty well organised in my head. “
Alonso knows his limits and tries to avoid doing things he’s not so good at. What those things are? “Many things,” he says. “For example, I can’t cook, and I don’t know how to play golf. There are a lot of things that people around me do, but then I avoid them.”
“I leave those things out because I know I’m not good at them and I don’t want to compare myself to others because they are better at them,” the Spaniard said. “If I train someday or take a cooking class someday, then maybe I can cook for someone.”
“But I just do what I know I can do. “
