Alpine: Fernando Alonso is the best in the world right now

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi is certain that Fernando Alonso is still the finest driver in Formula 1 at the age of 41.The Spaniard, who won the drivers' championship in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, will join Aston Martin after this season is over.

In an interview with MARCA, Rossi discussed Alonso's departure, his complaints about Alpine's issues this season and the reason why the team couldn't offer him a lengthy contract.

Alonso called the 60-point deficit due to mechanical issues unacceptable. Do you agree?

"I agree that it is unacceptable to lose such a good position because of these problems, it is totally true. He is right. At this stage of the season, we cannot be happy with these problems. At the beginning you can admit it, it's life, but now you get angry. I understand his frustration."

From the beginning, reliability has been a bit of a weak point for Alpine in 2022?

"At the beginning of the year, we lost points for another reason: the car, the engine... they were new. We finished the development very late, just before the Barcelona test, but it turned out well because the car is faster thanks to those extra weeks of development. But we couldn't validate everything, and that's why at the beginning he had a lot of problems with the fuel pump, which is bad luck. But, at the same time and in a wider perspective you have to see that Ferrari or Red Bull also have a lot of problems. They have also abandoned races and we have scored points because of that. I don't think it's really 60 points, because 20 or 30 we have gained because of other people's problems, so really Fernando should have at least 20 or 30 points more. I don't think it would have changed our position as a team in the championship. We would be fourth anyway because the gap to Mercedes is huge, but from a driver's point of view, I understand it perfectly."

"It's what he feels and I'm not the one to judge that. It's often said that people remember you by the way you make them feel. If he feels that way, it's possible that we are responsible. We probably didn't do enough, we may be guilty, and so am I, that we underestimated the needs that a two-time world champion has for attention. Maybe we thought he didn't need to hear that he was the best, because we all know it and he knows it. Maybe we didn't do it enough. That on the one hand."

And on the other?

"I personally believe, quite frankly, that he's one of the best, if not the best driver in the world right now. Even if he is going to leave, I still believe that and I value him. In the history of Formula 1, if things had gone a little differently for him for some reasons, he would have multiple, multiple, multiple titles. But maybe he was asking for that affection in the form of a longer contract and, to be honest, we couldn't do that. It was made clear to both him and Oscar [Piastri]. We had two years of exclusivity with Piastri and if I hired Fernando for more than two years, we lost Oscar. And as CEO of a brand my mission is to think about the future as much as the present... if not more. Fernando may not have long left, although I could be wrong because he is exceptional. But it's too big a gamble for a whole organization. We discussed it a lot with [team principal] Otmar [Szafnauer], who was also very important in making the decision. Because of the academy and the investments we made in that part of Alpine's future, it was not convenient to offer him more than two years, see Oscar for those two years and then evaluate. Maybe he wanted three years. To be honest with you, it's very likely that in two years he will be performing like he is now, but we couldn't do that. Having said that, we are all very sad that he is leaving, very sad. I have said it to him and now I repeat it. Fernando is the greatest champion we have ever had at Renault, period. And it is very sad to lose the best, period."

How do you think he will do at Aston Martin? It looks like they are going to have to start something similar to what Alpine has been doing for a few years now?

"I think so. There are things that we couldn't offer that Aston Martin gives him and it's normal for him to consider them. They are going to be facing the same challenge as us, but we are in a better position than them at the moment. We are a factory team, we have the engine, we are ahead in progression. For him it's clear that contract length was key, but I don't think it's just that. Contrary to what people think, I think Fernando knows that it takes at least three or four years to aspire to a title in F1. It took the mighty Red Bull seven years to come back, and they were already a super structure and had won titles, so they were more advanced then than we are now. I think Alonso knows that with that perspective Aston Martin are further away than us, but he has looked more at the challenge, the conditions and the length of the contract. His job won't be much different: to help a team grow, as he has been doing with us."