Fernando Alonso will make his return to F1 in 2021 as he will race for the Renault-powered Alpine. It will end a two-year self-imposed exile which saw him sample various other Motorsport series. However, his preparation for the upcoming season was hampered by a bike accident. In the aftermath of this, he feared whether he would be able to race in 2021.

As part of his training regimen, the Spaniard was cycling in Switzerland when he was hit by a vehicle. The 39-year-old was immediately taken to the hospital and surgery was performed on his jaw during which titanium plates were inserted.

Fernando Alonso feared missing out on the 2021 season altogether

In an interview with CNN, Alonso was asked about whether he was fully recovered from the accident. He answered positively and said, “I’m fine. I’m ready to go. We have some days that I was worried after the accident on the bike. Then the doctors, they were very sure that the start of the season was not compromised.”

The Spaniard was asked whether he feared he would miss testing in Bahrain. The 39-year-old replied, “Absolutely, I’ve been waiting all the second part of last year, to get some tests happening. And then now, one month before the start of the season when you find yourself in the hospital after the bike accident.”

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The Spaniard was anxious while awaiting the news. He said, “You are just waiting for news regarding how long it’s going to take to recover completely. There are some thoughts about why it happened, this thing.”

“And if it has to happen, better any other time of last year, but not now. At the end, it was a very short bit of recovery. I was lucky.”

Will the Spaniard get a great Alpine car to mark his comeback?

From the early indications from pre-season, the Alpine car, the A521 will be a very reliable car as it ran close to 400 laps at the recently concluded Bahrain testing.

But the Spaniard thinks the team can do better with regard to the race pace. That will be something they will need to work on in the next week or so. 

Fernando Alonso, however, will do well to keep whatever lofty expectations he has in check, as this is a team that has not won a race since 2013. So, they’ll need to take baby steps in the form of podiums and race wins first. The team will also need to come to terms with the change in the structure behind the scenes. 

Alonso should look to guide the team to a few podiums and maybe race wins in 2021. Based on that, they could look to compete in 2022 with the new regulations.

Hopefully, the former double world champion enjoys a relatively successful return to F1.