Fernando Alonso has been known to be a tempestuous presence behind the scenes at all the F1 teams he’s been part of. While most would perceive this as a red flag, Alpine Racing Director Davide Brivio loves the fact that Alonso is a demanding driver on his team.

During his previous stint in F1, Alonso was known to be impatient when the standards of the team didn’t meet his lofty demands.

He left McLaren in his first stint after a single season there because he didn’t like the preferential treatment for Lewis Hamilton. Then, even though he was very close to winning titles at Ferrari, he left the team in 2014.

Alpine Racing Director loves the fierceness of Fernando Alonso

In an interview (translated via Google), Brivio doesn’t expect there to be any difficulties with Alonso. “No, I don’t think so. We have only had a few initial discussions so far, and he looked like a completely normal guy, simply extremely motivated, extremely willing to find and put together everything necessary to get the best out of the car and the team.”

The Italian was very impressed by Alonso’s passion to return to F1. He said, “He’s not coming back just to ride, but to get some good results.”

The Italian also addressed the reported friction that the Spaniard causes behind the scenes. He said, “Yeah, he’s pretty demanding, but that’s what I like. We need these types of pilots who really want to give everything to achieve the maximum.

“That’s why I welcome his attitude and approach, and of course we have to work together as well as possible in order to use his skills and potential.”

How will the French team perform in 2021?

Alpine’s rebranding from Renault in the offseason was an interesting move. The name change wasn’t the only switch that came about; the management has also been changed with former team principal Cyril Abiteboul stepping down. 

Even though the name has been changed, the team will still be powered by Renault engines. And since they don’t have any customer teams this season, they will be able to bring about improvements to the power unit without the added pressure of supplying it to another team on the grid.