Mexican GP: Can Fernando Alonso Get Lucky With Number 13?

There is a symbolic value and sentiment attached to the number 400. If you were to refer to the Biblical references, then it is said that God waited for 400 long years before sending his son down to the earth to save us. 400 is also the number of years between the Old and the New Testament. In the realm of wildlife, it is said that there are somewhere around 400 different horse breeds in the world.

Located on Australia’s North-east coast, The Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s most visited sites of natural wonder and scenic beauty, is known to have no fewer than 400 different types of Coral.

In the excessively competitive sport called Cricket, only one man happens to have touched an individual Test score of 400 runs. That being Brian Lara. But where it comes to Formula 1, the pinnacle in the world of Motorsport Grand Prix racing, only one man has come to put his name next to 400 races.

That man is Fernando Alonso

The moment the Spanish racing legend enters the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, which is in the next few hours, Fernando Alonso will have scaled a landmark that is as monumental as it is paralysing in terms of the effort and sheer re-markability of the number.

There are racing drivers out there who wish to debut in Formula 1. Just somehow. And this is a fact. Then there are some who wish to race in, at least, one single season in the sport. And then there are some who wish to race for icons of modern Motorsport racing such as Mercedes, or Ferrari or McLaren.

And then, there is a certain Fernando Alonso, who in addition to having raced with each of these legends of the sport, has not only won the world championship on two separate occasions, but even reached that stage in his life where he’s about to become the first in F1 world to appear in 400 races.

The enormity of the number is mind boggling and inspiring at the same time

During this time, Alonso has lost, won, been defeated, thrashed, conquered self-doubt, driven fans to the edge of their seats, rediscovered lost form, converted dire form into Midas touch, raced with iconic marquees, won everywhere whether at Spain or Hungary, Singapore or Australia, discovered newer F1 venues that once were mere ideas, such as Qatar and Abu Dhabi and despite all these years, hardly seems to have broken sweat.

But having said that, a thing must be said for certain.

The Oviedo-born Spaniard, loved and respected around the world, has blazed a trail for countless many

The word genius does, at times, find itself being used far too casually but in the case of the man from Asturias, Northern Spain, it could be said, the term finds true meaning.

Fernando Alonso, world champion on consecutive occasions, circa 2005-2006, has become a symbol of perpetuity in F1’s dizzying heights.

He is the very literal example that if you put your mind and focus to your dreams, you can actually go quite the distance. For someone who was born into F1 at Minardi and found as one notes, a home at Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso is what you get when you combine the raging fire to succeed with an iron-will to demonstrate pure dominance.

Several of his past rivals have, quite simply, become a thing of the past.

Yes, their endeavours and records warrant the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel a place among the all time greats of the sport, but there’s no stopping or slowing down Fernando Alonso.

Here is a man who can be found pushing drivers half his age, such as Tsunoda, Gasly and Albon to a corner of self-doubt.

With much due respect, Fernando Alonso is the mirror that can be held to the likes of his teammate Lance Stroll in a bid to make the talented Canadian get some true self examination.

Alonso, an idol to many, has been the yardstick against which many in the contemporary annals of F1, have improved their craft; his biggest fan being Carlo Sainz jr, the 2024 Mexico GP pole sitter.

There is a thrill, an energy about the 43-year-old driver that endears him to both achievers and beginners in Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton regards Fernando Alonso’s tenacity, while Vettel has complimented the Aston Martin driver for being one of his fiercest rivals in the past. While the likes of Verstappen have found solid competition on the grid at the behest of the man associated with steely nerves, famous F1 pundits such as as Martin Brundle and David Croft title him as a lion of the sport.

And surely, the lion isn’t ageing or doesn’t seem to be ageing. In his most recent visit to India, the former McLaren driver shared candidly that he still harbours the dream of picking a third world title.

At his peak, he gallantly fought-and put forth- a firm defiance to none other than Michael Schumacher. He brought to Renault a streak of relentlessness. He won his maiden race with Ferrari by clinching the 2010 Bahrain GP, thus sending countless Tifosi into a tizzy. Today, he’s constantly improving himself.

In the middle, he endured winless runs, and dry patches, most noticeably at McLaren that often compelled him to criticise his car running on a “GP2 engine”.

And yet, it was Alonso magic that brought a once heavily damaged McLaren at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix of 2018 into the pits albeit contesting on two wheels, the other two being punctured. It was pure skill. It was sheer daring.

The phrase, “Alonso is faster than you,” hurled at Felipe Massa in the 2010-11 run, has today become an iron fisted expression of sheer dominance. It’s far from being whimsical. And yet, beginning his 400th Grand Prix will be the tireless man at Mexico City who will be slotted on thirteenth on the grid.

From that point on, the big question will be what can the man who drivers like a show-stealer do in what could be a hard-as-nails fight for 71 laps?