F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso - “Michael Schumacher didn’t come back 100 percent; I couldn’t say if I’d be fast”

Schumacher had a three-year hiatus after winnin♕g seven titles but couldn’t challeng🅠e for an eighth in a spell with Mercedes before retiring.
Alonso is a two-time champion who quit for the 2019 and 2020 seasons before returning with Alpine - he will be in the 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:F1 2023 driver line-up with Aston M🌊artin where he hopes to return to competing for the title.
"I returne💎d to the sport without knowing how competitive I would be,” he told AS.
“I remember Michael, who maybe didn't come back one hundred percent, and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Kimi Raikkonen ♐wasn't entirely motivate🐭d in the last two or three years.
“I couldn't say for sure if I would be fa✤st enough to get back to the highest level, but I'm happy with these two years.
“This season I have seen myself practically one hundred percent and that gives me confidence, it is a good trend for the future. I 💮will always be grateful to Alpine for this opportunity."

The 41-year-old is ninth in the168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: F1 standings as he enters the168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix: "I think after 2022, I will📖 be immensely lucky next y𒆙ear.
“I know there is a lot of talk from Mexico, there are five retirements due to engine problems but there are also four races in which I finished without a battery, or t😼he car did not start at the start, or I lost a wheel in a pit-stop. They are problems almost in the middle of the races.
"I should be ahead 🅘of anyone else in the middle z෴one.
“We are simi🍎lar to last year and McLaren has taken a step back, that's why we fight for fourth. Although if you don't fight for the ti🔴tle, the final position doesn't matter much.”

Alonso expects his new team to outperform Alpine next se👍ason: “This year is what it is, nobody at Aston Martin is looking much at the results. It's good to see improvements, but Aston Martin is not here to finish fourth, fifth or sixth in the constructors' championship, it's here to win the world championship and that's what we'll try to do in 2023 and 2024."
Alonso will test the Aston Martin on November 22: "It is imp𝔍ortant. Not so much in terms of performance, because the car will be very different next year for everyone.
“But as for being comfortable, the steering wheel, the buttons, the s🦹eat, all those things that I can change so that they are tailor-made. It will be good to have a day in the car and I'm looking forward to it."

James was a spo💟rts journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering ev🌼erything from American sports, to football, to F1.