Fernando Alonso considers that his greatest contribution to Formula 1 goes beyond the two titles and many victories achieved throughout his career. After 25 years in the category, the Spaniard highlighted the transformation caused by the sport’s growth in his country.
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Alonso debuted in 2001 and reached 439 GPs contested, a mark that makes him the driver with the most appearances in the history of the category. During this period, he won two titles and 32 victories, but stated that the impact caused by the expansion of F1 in Spain is a source of even greater pride.
The Aston Martin driver recalled that, at the beginning of his career, the situation was very different. According to Alonso, his own family had to follow his races on RTL, a German channel, because broadcasts were not available in Spain.
“My start in 2001, my family watched my races on RTL, the German channel, because it was not broadcast in Spain. This shows how small F1 was in my country twenty years ago and how much things have changed,” Alonso said.
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For the Spaniard, this transformation is not limited to the number of people interested in driving. He also highlighted the growth of the presence of Spanish professionals working in different roles within the category, including mechanics and engineers.
“Not just behind the wheel. I think about 10% of the mechanics and engineers in F1 now are Spanish. So, that is probably another thing we changed in Spain, the desire to be part of F1 in different roles,” he added.
Alonso acknowledged the importance of his sporting results but assessed that they do not represent everything he has built: “I think the greatest legacy for me and for my career is the change in Spain, for F1 and everything, from Karting to single-seaters, different Spanish teams competing in single-seaters, to some extent also in Rally and other categories, my museum in Spain and all the visits we receive there. There are many things outside the car that perhaps make me prouder of my career than the results themselves,” he concluded.
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