Could F1 race at Le Mans? Alonso’s verdict after demo lap

Fernando Alonso believes there is potential for Formula 1 to race at Le Mans in the future, but says the circuit which hosts the famous 24-hour event would need to undergo changes.

Lewis Larkam

27 Aug 2021

Could F1 race at Le Mans? Alonso’s verdict after demo lap

The two-time Le Mans winner and double F1 world champion carried out a special demonstration run in an Alpine F1 car ahead of last weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It marked the first time in history that an F1 car had tackled the full 8.5-mile Circuit de la Sarthe. Alonso reckons an F1 race at the legendary French course would be “fun”, although he warned the venue is “way too fast and narrow” in places.

History made by Alpine today at Le Mans, for the first time an @F1 car is hitting the legendary French circuit with #WEC World Champion at the wheel, @alo_oficial.#LeMans24 @AlpineF1Team @SignatechAlpine pic.twitter.com/AufTNkRmGp
— WEC (@FIAWEC) August 21, 2021

“It could be fun for sure to race there,” Alonso replied when asked if he felt F1 could race at the FIA grade two rated circuit.

“I think it will not take too much in terms of preparation or engineering to go to tracks like Le Mans.

“Even with very short time I think our car was basically prepared to do that demo lap and it was close to a race situation.

“But I don’t know, at those speeds and talking about safety standards, probably they will have to change a few things about the track itself.

“It will be way too fast and way too narrow in some of the sections, on the straights.

“So potentially it would require some changes more on the tracks than basically from the F1 community.”

Alonso revealed Alpine’s simulations suggested that a sub 3-minute lap would have been possible in the F1 machinery had he pushed flat out but also admitted he was relieved he was only on a demo run.

“Unfortunately we could not complete the lap and see what times we could do and push a little with the car, it was more a demo lap, but it was very emotional,” said the 40-year-old Spaniard.

“I think the simulation said something under three minutes, but then you have to execute the lap, and honestly it was not easy with the F1 car, I felt the long straights were a little bit unusual for our tyres, our cars.

“The braking points after the long straights were a little bit tricky because the front tyres try to lock up and things like that, so if you really go for it and push, it would be quite stressful.

“So in a way I was happy that it was just a demonstration lap!”