By role
March 27 2003

On the official web page of Renault F1, Patrick Faure, President of the Renault F1 Team has complimented his driver after this weekend’s podium position at Sepang. For Faure, the determination that Alonso showed during the race was outstanding: “I knew he was a bit ill, so I was a bit worried. At Sepang, the heat is oppressive, and the humidity is awful. The lad was suffering but he is so determined, and has such will-powever that I think that whatever the weather, whatever his state of health, he concentrates for the full 100 minutes of the race.”

One of the things Faure has noticed of Alonso was the self-confidence the Spanish driver has: “He was test driver in 2002, so he spent the Grand Prix in the garage. I saw him and chatted to him a lot. At only 21 years of age, this lad has a great deal of self-confidence. It was as if, when he looked at the other drivers, he was saying, “I could do better than them.” You could tell, it was obvious.

For the president of Renault F1 the most impressive fact is that Alonso has had a tough life: “The impressive thing about this young man, however, is that he hasn’t had an easy life. He left home at only thirteen years of age for Italy. He has really earned his place in a Formula 1 car with a top team through his will-power, his strength and his energy. He clearly has only one aim at the moment. ‘I want to be world champion with Renault within the next three years,’ he says time and again. He reminds me of a driver who had an unlimited determination, right from the start of his career, and who never deviated from it : Ayrton Senna.”