Fernando Alonso has raced through eras, regulations and generations of rivals – yet even he has been left stunned by the passage of time.
As the new Formula 1 season unfolds, the two-time world champion has admitted it “blows his mind” to realise that 2026 marks 20 years since he last lifted the sport’s biggest prize.
Back in 2006, Alonso stood atop the F1 world with Renault for the second consecutive time, having dethroned Michael Schumacher the year before after five years of Ferrari dominance.
At just 25, he appeared destined to rule the sport for a decade. Instead, history took a far more twisted route.
Twenty Years On, Still Chasing
“Even though you don't think too much about these things, if you stop a little bit and you reflect, for sure, it blows my mind,” Alonso said in an interview with The New York Times.
What followed his glory years was a career defined as much by near-misses as brilliance. A combustible season at McLaren alongside rookie Lewis Hamilton in 2007 cost him a third crown by a single point.
After another two-year stint with Renault, Ferrari came next, and with it three runner-up finishes in four seasons – each time beaten by Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull juggernaut.
And yet, Alonso insists the gap between then and now doesn’t feel as wide as time suggests.
“It doesn’t feel that long ago, because I kept fighting for the championship in 2007, 2010 and in 2012,” he said.
“It’s the same with my last race win in 2013. It doesn’t feel that, from 2013, I was not in a condition, or I didn’t have the feeling, that I was able to win a race again, even if I haven’t come that close.”
The Fire Still Burns
Now 44 and entering his fourth season with Aston Martin, Alonso remains one of the grid’s sharpest competitors – a rare constant in a sport that has evolved around him.
His blistering start to the 2023 campaign, which yielded six podiums in eight races, served as a pointed reminder of his enduring class.
“The 2023 podiums were confirmation, and a reminder for everybody, that I'm still here,” Alonso said.
“That I will perform when the car is there, and the seasons out of Formula 1, winning the World Endurance Championship, Le Mans, these kinds of things, were another.”
Those successes – including a World Endurance Championship title and two Le Mans 24 Hours victories – helped fill the void left by unfinished business in F1.
“They’re maybe not the same feeling as [I had in] Brazil 20 years ago, winning the Formula 1 world championship, but they are the closest moments and feelings,” he reflected.
“For me, the last big satisfaction was maybe a few years ago. It was not 20 years ago. That’s why it doesn’t feel like 20. That’s the perception I have.”
Two decades without a title would have broken many drivers. Alonso, remarkably, is still fighting – and still believing – that one more miracle might yet be possible.
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