'The stopwatch is the only thing that matters, not the age,' insists Alonso

Although Fernando Alonso will be 39 when he returns to Formula One next season with Renault he feels his reflexes and racing craft will not weaken with age.

His widely anticipated F1 return became official on Wednesday when the French manufacturer announced that he will replace Daniel Ricciardo next year.

Alonso won both of his world titles with Renault way back in 2005 and ’06, but still looked sharp driving an uncompetitive car during his last season with McLaren in 2018 before walking away.

“The stopwatch is the only thing that matters, not the age," he said Wednesday during a media session. "I never had a classification on the race based on the passport, my date of birth. It’s always on the stopwatch. Hopefully, we’re still fast.”

Alonso, who will race alongside French driver Esteban Ocon next year, had quit F1 to focus on winning motorsport’s triple crown.

Having already won the Monaco Grand Prix, he then won the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race but not the Indianapolis 500.

Alonso won 32 F1 races and is widely considered one of the most talented drivers of his era alongside six-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso is sixth on the all-time win list but his last came at the Spanish GP seven years ago with Ferrari. He finished runner-up in the title race three times with the famed Italian manufacturer before joining McLaren in 2015.

McLaren struggled badly after switching to a Honda engine, and he failed to secure a podium finish in four seasons.

Image credits: AP