Can Alonso help Alpine to podium? 'Not suffering from accident anymore'

Fernando Alonso will make his return to Formula 1 next season after being absent for two years. After 2018, he parted ways with McLaren to explore other racing classes and for next season, the Spaniard returns to Formula 1, but with Alpine. Marcin Budkowski, Alpine's frontman, explains what the Spaniard brings to the French team.

"When he was in the car, you could immediately see that he is fast and reliable and that he gives great feedback to our engineers. That's also what you can expect from him," Budkowski explained in conversation with Marca. "He was immediately back on top form."

Last season Alonso was already at a number of Grands Prix and according to Alpine's top man, that knowledge helped.

Where does Alpine stand next season?

"Fortunately, he came along a number of times at the races last year and we were able to let him test a number of times in an old F1 car. Also, he was in last year's car during the test in Abu Dhabi, so he was already in his place within the team." Alonso drove almost 4,000 kilometres in a Renault F1 car last year to expand his capabilities.

"In addition, he has also spent time in the simulator and to be honest he is not suffering at all anymore from his accident". Alonso ended up in hospital because of an accident while cycling, but the Spaniard managed to recover well. Alpine is expecting a lot from the two-time world champion next season. "We are no longer driving in the midfield, but in the normal field," he said.

"We still expect Mercedes up front. They had some problems and will have some difficulties in the opening phase of this season and Red Bull Racingwill also be very strong. But behind them it's close and it's still very difficult to say well where we stand. I hope we're fast, but McLaren and Aston Martin look really fast too," Budkowski concludes.