The Enstone-based squad had been on the verge of a recent deal with the two-time world champion earlier than the Spaniard made a shock name to affix Aston Martin earlier this week.
One of many key components on the coronary heart of Alonso’s choice to maneuver groups was that Aston Martin was keen to supply him a a lot longer-term dedication – which is believed to be so long as three years together with choices.
Alpine, nonetheless, was solely able to decide to a one-plus-one deal because it wished some flexibility in case Alonso’s velocity exhibits indicators of waning.
Whereas Alonso, who’s 41, felt that such a priority was unfounded, as he says he’s displaying no indicators of his type dipping but, Alpine insists that there comes some extent when issues do flip.
Reflecting on what Alpine was prepared to supply Alonso, workforce principal Otmar Szafnauer mentioned that age couldn’t be discounted, and that’s the reason it wished to guard itself.
“It is arduous to foretell the longer term,” defined Szafnauer. “Like, I at all times say, if I might predict the longer term, I would not be right here. I would be at Vegas.
“We provided a one-plus-one deal. And we mentioned with Fernando that: look, if subsequent yr right now, you are performing on the identical stage, after all, we’ll take you. And that would have carried on.
“However I feel he wished extra certainty, unbiased of efficiency: I need to keep for longer. And I feel that was the crux of the going one-plus-one versus two-plus-one or three-plus-one or three years.”

Otmar Szafnauer, Workforce Principal, Alpine F1, Pat Fry
Picture by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Szafnauer mentioned even the best drivers like Michael Schumacher weren’t pretty much as good on the finish of their careers as they had been once they began out.
“There does come a time the place one thing occurs physiologically to a driver, and you do not have the identical skills you probably did if you had been youthful,” he mentioned.
“I feel it occurred to Michael. I feel it is honest to say Michael Schumacher at 42 was not the identical driver he was at 32 or 35. And it occurs to different sportsmen too.
“For cricketers, it is not such a bodily strenuous sport. It is all about eye hand coordination, transferring the bat to the suitable millimetres such that you just defend [the stumps].
“However after 32, 33 or 34, the most effective batsman on this planet cannot do it any extra. And that is as a result of one thing occurs to them. And it occurs to race automotive drivers too.
“So we had been in favour of: sure, should you’re performing to the excessive stage, for positive we’ll hold you. However let’s do it one yr at a time and I feel he wished an extended length.”
Szafnauer additionally denied recommendations that Alonso had not taken kindly to plans being made for him to affix Alpine’s LMDh programme, at a time when he nonetheless felt he had loads extra to supply F1.
Talking about that challenge, Szafnauer mentioned: “We had conversations with Fernando and so did Laurent [Rossi, Alpine CEO]. It was regards, if you do end in F1, we might love so that you can proceed with the household and go do different racing with Alpine. So it wasn’t actually a shock to Fernando, as a result of he agreed to try this and thought it was a good suggestion.
“The query was, nicely, when will that occur? However when it does occur, going to Le Mans, he was completely pleased to proceed down that highway.”