This will cause Alonso to have a disadvantage early into 2021

With the return of racing legend Fernando Alonso to Formula 1, many fans are wondering to what extent his temporary absence will have affected his racing. His new technical director, Marcin Budkowski, has also expressed his opinion on this; he predicts that Alonso will have some start-up problems next year.

Fernando Alonso may have a tough start early next year because of his absence from Formula 1, Budkowski says. In a conversation with Motorsport.com, he explains: "You have to take into account the disadvantage he has, because he has not driven for two years. I understand that for Carlos [Sainz] or Daniel [Ricciardo] changing teams next year and getting used to a different one is difficult.

"They have many things to learn, different ways of working, different engineers, but in Fernando's case he has not driven for two years."

Despite not touching a Formula 1 car for two years, Alonso has participated in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indianapolis 500.

Test days

The smaller number of test days can also work to the disadvantage of the Spaniard, argues Budkowski. “It will be difficult for Fernando to get used to the car in a day and a half of testing, but I think even more because he has not driven for so long.”

It is for this reason that Renault tries to give Alonso as many chances as possible to revive his feeling for the Formula 1 car. For example, he has already made a number of test drives in the RS18 and RS20, as well as taking part in the Young Driver test at Abu Dhabi, which subsequently gave rise to controversy on the rest of the grid.