In light of a certain four-time F1 champion’s Hypercar test, Motorsport Week reflects on the last time a multiple F1 champion debuted at Le Mans and the WEC.
Sebastian Vettel made the headlines over the past week after he participated in a 36-hour testing session at Motorland Aragon with Porsche Penske.
With every possibility the German four-time Formula 1 champion could step into sportscar racing, it is worth looking back on when two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso came to play at Le Mans and in the WEC.
After the 2018-19 campaign, he secured an LMP1 championship title and two wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his Toyota co-drivers Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. Despite the dominance of Toyota against a lack of realistic competition, this did not overshadow Alonso’s efforts during the eight-round WEC ‘Super Season’, which had two Le Mans races in it.
Motivated by the pursuit of the prestigious, unofficial triple crown of motorsport, in which he had secured one part thus far – the F1 Monaco Grand Prix – thus Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500 on his mind.
In the wake of his impressive Indy 500 2017 debut, the Spaniard participated in the annual WEC ‘Rookie Test’ towards the end of the year in Bahrain with Toyota GAZOO Racing. He described it as “a great day” after completing 113 laps around the Sakhir International Circuit in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1.
On January 30 2018, Toyota confirmed their driver lineup for the Super Season as 36-year-old Alonso was set to debut at the 2018 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and embark in the WEC’s first winter calendar which did not clash with his F1 commitments at McLaren.
With his first-ever international sportscar race – the 24 Hours of Daytona – just days before this announcement, where he’d be racing in LMP2 with United Autosports, Alonso’s preparations for Le Mans were already underway.
Making his WEC race debut
The 6 Hours of Spa served as a crucial event for both his WEC race debut and part of his preparations for his first-ever 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Alonso had not ever claimed victory at Spa since 2000 in Formula 3000, and so it was his chance to stand on the top step of the podium in a long while.
At the time, qualifying required two drivers of each entrant to set their quickest lap time, and the average produced by each car would determine the grid order. Alonso and Nakajima both took on qualifying duties for the #8 Toyota which led to them taking pole position, with the latter driver setting the quicker time.
The #7 crew had their laps deleted and were forced to start the race from the very back – from the pitlane – after Toyota incorrectly declared the fuel flow meter.
The #8 Toyota already had the upper hand over the sibling car, although the #7 climbed back to finish second in the race.
Alonso conducted a double-stint after Buemi begun the race before Nakajima did the same, before the Spaniard took the #8 to the chequered flag.
He set competitive times and apart from one half-spin at Pouhon, he managed a smooth race and lapped the LMP2 and GTE traffic without issue.
Unlike an F1 race – or rather any single-class race – it is the responsibility for the quicker class car to make a safe move which can become challenging when the lapped traffic are engaged in their own battles.
Fortunately, this was not a notable issue for the rapid LMP1 Toyota, although lapped traffic at Le Mans would be the greater challenge with the circuit’s long straights prompting close fights and a significantly larger grid to run around it.
“F1 is all about attacking and finding every millisecond,” described Alonso.
“In WEC it is about efficiency and driving to economy to get to the end of the race in good shape.
“… In endurance, maybe one lap you find two GT cars, one lap is at night, one lap is 30°C.
“Every lap is different so you have to adapt.”
Alonso’s first Le Mans
Technically speaking, Alonso had already been to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, when he was honoured with waving the French tricolour to start the 2014 edition of the race.
“I was very close to competing at Le Mans on a couple of occasions,” he said, ”when I was at Ferrari but they were not keen on sharing with other brands.”
His debut brought the spotlight from his loyal fanbase to the historic event, with the other famed Spaniard being Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia in the substantial 17-car GTE Pro category.
Alonso experienced the ‘magic’ of Le Mans from the free practice and qualifying build-up, to the Friday parade in the city, and the atmosphere with approximately 256,900 spectators.
Nakajima set the best time of 3:15.377 in the final of three qualifying practice sessions. His margin was 2 seconds over the sibling car in P2.
In the race, the #8 Toyota followed the driver rotation of Buemi-Alonso-Nakajima until Nakajima, having been part of the Japanese manufacturer’s tireless efforts to win Le Mans, finally took a long-awaited victory for the Japanese manufacturer.
Alonso was a thrill to watch early on when he cut through the traffic whilst racing Jose Maria Lopez in the #7.
Alonso said: “We know how important and iconic Le Mans is in the world of motorsport and as a team we achieved an amazing result.
“Every moment was a reminder of how tough and long this race is [the #8 completed 5,286.36 km], anything can happen so we tried to execute our race and stay calm.
“Happily everything worked well,” with previous woes averting Toyota’s winning chances over the years.
The last drivers who won on their Le Mans debut were Nico Hulkenberg and Earl Bamber for Porsche in 2015.
One of the notable aspects of Alonso’s Le Mans debut was his impressive pace during the nighttime.
During the first 10-hours, the #7 car asserted better pace before Buemi put the #8 at the benchmark; Alonso’s quad-stint after him from approximately 2-4pm local time kept them in the lead owing to strong, consistent lap times whilst managing the traffic.
Apart from the permanent section from the Porsche Curves to Tertre Rouge, La Sarthe is primarily unlit which challenges drivers to manage the traffic whilst not letting a lack of visibility or fatigue impact their pace.
A lap record at Sebring
After Le Mans came a trio of races Silverstone, Fuji and Shanghai. In Britain, the winning #8 Toyota was disqualified when the front part of the skid block measured 9mm under the required 2500 Newton load.
Alonso enjoyed a return to Fuji, having last raced the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix.
After Shanghai closed the year, before officially retiring from F1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he claimed a record for the history book at the 1000 Miles of Sebring.
He started 2019 by winning the 24 Hours of Daytona alongside his Wayne Taylor Racing teammates, and showcasing great instinct in the wet conditions with his late braking manoeuvres.
The WEC’s eight-hour Sebring race gave Alonso his first taste of its notoriously bumpy track surface.
Himself and Nakajima took on qualifying duties in the #8, though the Spaniard emerged quicker between the pair with a 1:40.124 lap time – one which still remains as the outright fastest ever around Sebring International Raceway.
What made the lap so spectacular was the onboard footage, which demonstrated the brutality of the bumps – despite the TS050 Hybrid’s sophisticated suspension – as Alonso fought against the g-forces, and applied his swift reflexes to the exhausting affair.
“I enjoyed it a lot,” he said with low fuel and fresh tyres.
“At night this circuit is very challenging as it’s not easy to see all the reference points but I had a good lap.
“I thought a 1:39 lap might be possible but I lost a couple of tenths here and there so didn’t quite make it.”
Weather-struck Spa-Francorchamps
The penultimate round of Alonso’s WEC season was approaching its conclusion but not without a unique challenge at the 6-hour Spa race.
Throughout the main race, a varied weather pattern gave drivers a race to remember.
Shortly after the race start, heavy snow hit the track before the skies transitioned into a spell of bright sunshine, then a hail storm hit during the final two hours, leading to the race ending slightly prematurely due to the treacherous conditions.
The #7 Toyota asserted better pace than the #8 having started on pole.
Unfortunately a sensor issue nulled their strong lead at the halfway point with an 11-minute repair job, and so Kobayashi gave the lead to Nakajima.
The #8 crew survived the ordeal of weather-related disruption to win at Spa once again.
His second Le Mans victory
In the past, the #7-numbered Toyota seemed to hit reliability woes or misfortune which prevented it from succeeding.
The #7’s pole was accomplished by Kamui Kobayashi and regrettably, their lead up until the closing stages was taken out of their grasp.
In fact, Mike Conway demonstrated the #7’s pace with a record fastest race lap time of 3:17.297.
Lopez led over two minutes on the #8 and in-car data identified a puncture on Lap 367.
A sensor issue meant the wrong tyre was identified, causing Lopez to exit the pits still with a puncture. Another stop was made after he slowly made it around the 13.6 km circuit.
The pit crew changed all four tyres but nothing could be done to alleviate the consequences of the issue.
Alonso candidly reacted to his second Le Mans win highlighting luck as a deciding factor that day.
“I feel for my team-mates who are actually more than team-mates, they are friends.
“They would have deserved the victory, but the race chose us to win it.”
What Alonso’s WEC stint meant to motorsport
Alonso’s passion to learn a new discipline reminded spectators and critics that the hailed F1 seat does not guarantee a status of being the best across the whole of motorsport.
Without any doubt, a modern F1 car drives unlike any other racing car on the planet as their drivers push themselves to the limits of physical and mental strength to race ultra-fast machines which generate great amounts of g-force.
Alonso, however, made little to no mistakes, and had many if not all exceptional WEC outings alongside his more experienced teammates – even if Toyota were realistically and only competing with themselves.
He may not have been the first and will certainly not be the last F1 driver to delve into sportscar racing and the demands of endurance motorsport, but Alonso’s keenness to continue in top-level competition reminded the world on how adaptable some of our top racing drivers can be.
The WEC serves as a vital centrepiece within motorsport which brings different types of drivers together for one common objective such as completing the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Aside from those raised in sportscars, names stretch far and wide from single-seater champions, to the world of rallying, and champions out of touring cars and NASCAR.
For this year especially, motorcycle legend and nine-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi adds another discipline to the WEC.
Vettel’s delight after his Hypercar test adds reassurance that the WEC and Le Mans may add yet another legendary champion into the fiercely competitive field with nine Hypercar manufacturers competing for glory in 2024.
