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Alonso's 7-week mad dash was 'as tough as expected'

From Monaco to Silverstone, and including Le Mans, Fernando Alonso's intense seven-week schedule was as tough as expected for the Spaniard but he was well prepared to take it all in.

Alonso seamlessly blended his McLaren F1 duties with his Toyota sportscar programme which included a weekend of testing at Le Mans, right after the Monaco Grand Prix, and the grueling race itself slotted in between Montreal and Paul Ricard.

The Spaniard admitted it his month and a half mad dash of driving and traveling had been a challenge, and was looking forward to recharging his batteries during the short break between Silverstone and Hockenheim.

"It was demanding. It was not easy, as we expected," Alonso said.

"It was Wednesday to Sunday travelling, unpacking on Monday, packing on Tuesday. It was like this for seven consecutive weeks."

The two-time F1 world champion said the most energy-consuming period was his six-day stint at Le Mans, although it was well worth the effort following his outright win I the endurance classic with Toyota.

"Especially the Le Mans week was intense, with the test, the drivers parade and then the 24 hours. It’s like 40 hours in total on track with the warm up.

"It was demanding, but we'll try to enjoy now the next ten days, going back to a training routine and get a little bit more relaxed.

"I think the next time will be September, October, November where I have the same thing with eight races in nine weekends in different timezones.

"It was tough but it was well prepared."

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Michael Delaney

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