Holiday over, it’s time to get back to the race track. This two week break has been very useful for me in terms of recharging my batteries after a really busy July. It was nice to spend some time at home, with family and friends. I didn’t do anything special, although I did tackle a little tour of Asturias by bicycle: it’s now become something of a tradition among my group of friends and this year we were joined by some of the guys from the team, including our sporting director, Massimo Rivola. It was good fun as well as being a useful way to do some training in preparation for the final part of the season. You know how much I love cycling and so it was great to share it with friends and I was pleased to discover people within Ferrari who share this interest. Who won? I did, but only because I’m fitter!
I arrived in Belgium this afternoon as I had an event to attend for my personal sponsor, Silestone and this evening I will get to Spa. I can’t wait to be back on track to continue with this run of positive results which goes back to Valencia. We will have some new parts on the 150º Italia which we hope will allow us to improve our performance a bit more. I am well aware that the championship situation is what it is, but that does not mean we have thrown in the towel. We always set out trying to win every race and, as I’ve been saying for a while now, we will do the maths at the end. These past weeks, I have spoken a few times to Stefano [Domenicali] and I could tell he is very motivated: I like that sort of spirit as it’s mine too.
It will be important to bring home some good results because the team has put in so much effort to get back on terms after a difficult start: all our guys and the fans deserve it.
Tomorrow is the start of what is a very special weekend for one driver who has played his part in the history of Formula 1 and Ferrari in particular: Michael Schumacher. It’s not for me to say he is the greatest of all time as usually, it is the numbers that do the talking: seven world titles, 91 wins, these are incredible records. I hold Michael in very high esteem and I feel honoured to have raced alongside him. When I came to Maranello, I realised even more how close are the ties that bind him to Ferrari and that is why I was particularly pleased with what Stefano had to say at the Wrooom Summer event, immediately before this break. I don’t know if in 2021 I will still be in Formula 1, it’s hard to say and this is a further confirmation of what an extraordinary career Michael has had. For my part, I want to take this opportunity to send him my very best wishes for this incredible landmark: twenty years is really an amazing achievement!
From Fernando Alonso’s blog on ferrari.com