Spaniard will achieve feat during Mexico award

When the red lights go out for the start of the Mexican Grand Prix, this Sunday, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the experienced Fernando Alonso will become the first driver to reach the milestone of 400 races in his career. The 43-year-old Spaniard praises the record and defines longevity in the sport as his love for the track.

Alonso makes no secret of the fact that traveling to 24 races a season is demanding, but he “makes all the sacrifices worth it” by getting behind the wheel. “It’s a way of demonstrating my passion for sport and Formula 1”, he says, celebrating the feat he will achieve.

“Knowing that no one has reached that number in the past, maybe someone will in the future, but not many, let’s say a group of five or 10 at most, just demonstrates my love for racing, for Formula 1, how much I enjoy this lifestyle , of motorsport in general.”

That 19-year-old young man who started at Minardi today has two world titles and another year on his contract with Aston Martin to continue seeking significant achievements in the sport. Alonso does not hide, however, that he never thought of going this far in Formula 1

“Reaching 400 races now is a big number. I didn’t have a clear roadmap for my career. And I didn’t know exactly what the next race would be, who my next team would be. I was improvising and every weekend was a new adventure” , he admitted, this Thursday.

“What I would say is that when I won the championship in 2006 and then joined McLaren, I had a three-year contract for 2007, 2008 and 2009, and I was 99% sure that 2009 would be my last Formula 1 season. 1. That was my plan very clearly in my head”, he admitted.

And he explained. “When I signed that contract, in my head at the time, it was like a long-term contract and three years seemed like a long time. I thought I was on my last leg, with my dream come true. It was beyond my wildest imagination to be a Formula One champion. 1, so what else could I do? There’s a different life out there and I was thinking I would have a family, do normal things, normal days.”