Fernando Alonso Braced For 'Difficult' F1 And WEC Schedules

Fernando Alonso is bracing himself for what will be the most hectic part of the season as he manages his commitments in Formula 1 and the FIA World Endurance Championship in the coming months.

The Spaniard will begin the first of his eight races in the next nine weeks at the Russian Grand Prix this weekend and admitted it will be a little more difficult than when he raced for eight consecutive weekends earlier in the season.

Alonso has committed to a full season in the WEC along with his drive with McLaren in F1 which has seen him constantly traveling the world to compete in the two motor racing series. The double F1 world champion start his hectic schedule with a F1 double header in Russia and Japan before travelling to Fuji for the six-hour WEC race.

The former Renault and Ferrari driver will then resume F1 duties with another double header in the United States and Mexico before he gets a one week breather with no racing. He will then travel to Brazil for the penultimate F1 race of the season before heading to China for a WEC race and complete his schedule with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.

The race at the Yas Marina Circuit will be Alonso’s last race in F1 at least for the foreseeable future after the Spaniard confirmed he will be leaving the sport at the end of the current campaign. Alonso is bracing himself for the hectic schedule and believes it will be even harder than when he did it earlier in the season as the travel involved between races is much more this time around.

“I think this is going to be a little bit more difficult, just because the races are not that close,” Alonso told Crash.net talking about his upcoming schedule.

“When I did eight consecutive weekends, they were Silverstone, Paul Ricard, Austria, Le Mans… so they were all in the same place in Europe,” the F1 double world champion explained. “Now in Japan, Austin, Brazil, China, Abu Dhabi, I think it’s going to be a little bit more demanding.”

“It’s going to be tough, but I’m hopefully prepared, and I’ll try to do my best,” the McLaren driver added.

Alonso is keen to continue racing after he quits F1 at the end of the ongoing campaign, but is yet to reveal his future plans. He is contracted to drive another full season in the WEC in 2019, but that is unlikely to be enough.

The IndyCar Series in the United States looks a real prospect as the Spaniard is keen to win the Indy500 and become only the second driver to complete motorsport’s fabled Triple Crown — as he has already won the Monaco Grand Prix and this year added the LeMans 24-hour race.