Why Michael Schumacher's return to F1 failed but Fernando Alonso has succeeded

Drivers like Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso always come to mind whenever we talk about legendary racers making a return to F1. However, both had extremely opposite journeys in their careers after returning to the single-seater racing series. It was surprising to see the seven-time world champion fail at Mercedes back in 2010, while it is shocking to witness the 41-year-old Spaniard flourish and stand on podiums in 2023.

Speaking on The Race F1 Podcast, Glenn Freeman interestingly compared Schumacher's second stint in the sport to that of Fernando Alonso. He speculated on how Schumacher's hunger had somewhat died down after winning so much with Ferrari. Hence, that could have played a role in his not being able to perform with Mercedes. Freeman said:

"One of the differences between Alonso and Michael Schumacher...Schumacher's CV was phenomenal by the time he came back. So when he came back, it didn't quite click. Perhaps he didn't have the same hunger Alonso has now."

He further dove deep into how their lives panned out after they left F1. While Schumacher enjoyed life and relaxed, Fernando Alonso almost always had F1 at the back of his mind.

Furthermore, the Spaniard kept racing in different series to keep himself sharp. Hence, when he returned to the sport, he still had the hunger to perform at a high level. The F1 pundit concluded:

"To make another comparison to Schumacher, Michael Schumacher went away, basically thought he was done. He rode around in German superbikes really just for fun. Whereas Alonso went away to do other things, but clearly he always had F1 in the back of his mind."

"So I think, wanting to be at the highest level possible should he ever come back to F1 was in his mind wherever he went. Whether he is doing sports cars, the Dakar, going back to the Indy 500. It was not a post career thing. It was kind of interruption to his F1 career."

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Fernando Alonso happy with the result despite a lonely race in the 2023 F1 Miami GP

Fernando Alonso was quite pleased after finishing on the podium in the 2023 F1 Miami GP. The Aston Martin driver explained how he had a lonely race since he was simply unable to catch the Red Bull drivers while easily keeping the rest of the pack behind him. He said:

"The car is amazing and it was a bit of a lonely race today. Nothing really to do with the Red Bulls in front of us, and the Ferraris were a little bit worse than expected today. It's never easy, but it was a lonely race. Everything was fine, we take the podium, and going into Imola, Monaco, and Barcelona, we hope to keep going. At the beginning of the year, a podium was amazing, but now we want more."

Fernando Alonso expressed his delight to stand on the podium once again but is hungry for more in the coming races.