French Grand Prix – Fernando Alonso believes he will have no problems with fatigue following his 24 Hours of Le Mans triumph last weekend.
The McLaren driver made his Le Mans debut last weekend, only the second 24 hour race of his career, claiming overall victory for Toyota alongside Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.
The victory was even more significant as it was the second ‘tick in the box’ in his quest to claim the triple crown of motorsports; the Monaco Grand Prix, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indy 500.
Speaking just four days after his victory, Alonso brushed off any suggestions of tiredness heading into this weekend’s French Grand Prix.
“I’m more or less okay now. Ninety percent. Still recovering,” said Alonso.
“It was definitely demanding physically. Every time you jump in the car you do two-and-a-half Formula One Grands Prix and then you don’t have two weeks to recover, you have four hours to recover and then you go back to the cars.
“It was demanding but it was fun at the same time and the adrenaline keeps you awake basically all night. I think I slept for an hour and a half, more or less. I was half asleep because I was controlling the times all the way through the night.
“Obviously I did Daytona 24 Hours in January to get an experience and practice on how the twenty four hour races were in terms of physical demands and mental demands. Everything was under control.”
When all drivers in the press conference were asked about the demands of completing three Grand Prix weekends in a row, Alonso responded; “I have nine, so these last three are okay!”