F1 | Brundle: “Enthusiastic about Alonso's return, but I would have preferred to see a young player in action”

Interviewed by the English press, Martin Brundle analyzed Fernando Alonso's return to Formula 1, underlining how the Spaniard's presence on the starting grid will make the next championship more "spicy", especially when it comes to battles in the middle of the grid .

Equally, however, the British commentator believes that Alpine should have offered a chance to one of their youngsters, given that the Academy has churned out several interesting talents over the last three seasons including Christian Lundgaard and Guanyou Zhou. A choice of this type would have justified the enormous investments made in the Academy and motivated young people to give their all to earn a place in Formula 1.

“Speaking as a commentator, I am excited about the return of Fernando Alonso, but I am also convinced that he has already had his chances and that Alpine could have tried a young player,” said Martin Brundle. “I think he is a rider who in some way has wasted his talent. It's a hard thing to say and I hate to see headlines written about it, especially because I think it's worth more than 'just' two world titles, but I think that over the years it has ended up at the center of too many internal skirmishes within the various teams and I think that this has compromised a large part of my career."

“We don't know if he learned and if he came back to put together a car capable of winning the championship,” he continued. “Overall, however, I think he is good for the sport and personally he fascinates me a lot, so I can say I am happy to see him return. He is an undisputed talent. Now we have to see how much dedication and speed he will be able to bring to the track, but I believe that with Fernando certain things are not in question."