Alonso not interested in retirement: 'Why shouldn't I be racing in 2023?'

Earlier this season Fernando Alonso extended his contract with Alpine for another year, and the Spaniard has no intention of leaving Formula 1 for good after next season.

The experienced driver says he still feels good about himself and doesn't feel he has to stop after this season already. This he says to Motorsportweek.com.

"Next year, if I see progression and keep improving, why shouldn't I keep racing? If I see that I'm not up to speed or not doing well, I'll be the first to raise my hand and say that maybe a new face will be better for the team, but I hope not. I hope I can raise my hand and say I'm ready for the challenge in 2023."

In addition, he sees plenty of room for improvement in himself. "From my side, I need to keep improving. As I've said so many times, I'm probably not 100 percent yet, and days like qualifying in Belgium show me that I need to improve in some areas."

Alpine sees competition getting stronger

According to Alonso, expectations were pretty high after Renault's season last year. However, these expectations, apart from the Hungarian Grand Prix, have not quite been met.

"I think Ferrari has improved, AlfaTauri has improved and McLaren has taken a step forward with the Mercedes engine. So we are between eighth and twelfth place and we want to improve on that next year, that will be the target."

"Hopefully next year we will have a package that will allow us to fight for competitive positions, a step better than this year. That's the goal," continued the Spaniard. "We had some expectations this year after Renault's podiums last year that we could fight for three or four podiums in the season, but we're probably not going to achieve this."

For Alpine, next year, with the new regulations and cars, could be an ideal time to make this move from the competition.