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Fernando Alonso has revealed his astonishing win-at-all-costs attitude.
The two-time F1 champion returns to the sport this year for a remarkable 20th season after a winter move from Alpine to Aston Martin.
At the age of 41, Alonso still possesses a remarkable innate determination to be successful, even though it is 10 years since his last grand prix victory and 17 since he won the second of his two titles.
Alonso’s ability has surprised many since returning to F1 two years ago after a two-season sabbatical.
Whether an Aston Martin team on the rise can sate his hunger to win again remains to be seen but the will is still there.
“Whatever you do in life, you have to have this competitiveness inside you,” said Alonso.
“You have to have this hunger to be the best. I’ve had this hunger since I was a kid. I’m always trying to beat everyone at anything I do.
“Whether it’s a race, a tennis match, a card game, or whatever, it’s about winning.
“It’s about taking advantage of your strengths and using your opponent’s weaknesses against them.
“If I can’t beat them with plan A, I go to plan B. If plan B doesn’t work, I go to plan C. I have to always beat whoever is in front of me.”
Alonso motivation not an issue
Explaining what differentiates him from other drivers, he said: “There are drivers who are in incredible form right now and I respect all of them.
“Every driver on the grid is very talented, but I’m also in that group and everyone in that group has different strengths and weaknesses.
“It’s how you use those strengths and weaknesses that sets you apart.”
As to whether he is the best driver in F1, Alonso rightly states that “nobody knows the answer to that question”.
It is a subjective view he feels changes “every season” as statistics can only ever tell part of a story.
“We thought for many years that Michael Schumacher was unbeatable and had maybe reached a level that no one had in the history of Formula 1,” assessed the Spanish driver.
“But, throughout the history of the sport, we’ve seen different drivers dominating. It’s impossible to compare them.
“What I do know is that I always try to give my maximum. I’m never demotivated.
“It doesn’t matter whether I’m fighting for fifth or 15th, for me, it’s like fighting for the win because I have to make sure that I give 100 percent on every lap of every race.”
Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll will pull the covers off Aston Martin’s latest F1 car, the AMR 23, on Monday.
Following a shakedown, the team will then head to pre-season testing in Bahrain from February 23-25.
