Breaking news
WEC
Toyota: Working with Alonso "remarkably easy"
Toyota has described working with two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso in its assault on the Le Mans 24 Hours as being "remarkably easy".
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Jun 5, 2018, 9:08 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Alonso signed with the Japanese outfit for the full 2018/19 superseason of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which includes two editions of Le Mans, in his bid to conquer motorsport's unofficial 'Triple Crown'.
Last month the Spaniard won his first ever WEC race at Spa-Francorchamps alongside teammates Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, while on Sunday the McLaren F1 driver also finished on top of the timesheets at the official Le Mans test with the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.
Toyota is surprised by how quickly Alonso has integrated himself into the team and how he has embraced the endurance mentality, a far cry from the cut-throat environment of grand prix racing.
"Fortunately we don't even have to ask ourselves this question," Toyota technical director Pascal Vasselon told Motorsport.com when asked how well Alonso had integrated himself within the team.
"He's settled himself in the team in a way that makes things so easy. The guys know each other already. It's quite smooth. And he makes things smooth because he is coming with a pure and genuine motivation. It's remarkably easy so far."
Flashback: When McLaren conquered Le Mans
Despite Alonso's obvious wealth of experience, team director Rob Leupen believes Toyota has taken a risk by employing a driver with just one endurance race to his name.
The 36-year-old also contested January's Rolex 24 at Daytona with LMP2 team United Autosports.
"We did take a bit of a risk," Leupen told Motorsport.com. "Okay, he's a double world champion, but he's a rookie. He has to deal with traffic.
"We're not here with 20 cars on roughly the same level, there's gigantic differences. He needs to be able to judge that.
"At Spa we saw some really good moments of him. At one point he was stuck behind a GTE going into Turn 17 [Blanchimont] and he did that perfectly. That was really good and that gives confidence to the team that he can do it."
Leupen believes Alonso's contribution is even greater off-track, adding: "I believe Fernando has been able to add a lot to the team, partly because of his experience, but especially because of his personality.
"He's 100 percent professional, easy-going and open. It gives the engineers and the mechanics an extra boost, extra motivation. I think we can be very happy that he chose to race with us. In hindsight it's been a very good move.
"I hope he feels the same way and from what I observe and hear he's feeling good in the team and that's important. From the first moment it has been really nice working with Fernando."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Rossiter recommendation led to Button WEC drive
Next article Porsche set to make Nordschleife lap record attempt
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Filip Cleeren
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
9 h
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
More from
Fernando Alonso
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
Formula 1 12 h
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Who slept worst last night: Fernando Alonso
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
4 d
Who slept worst last night: Fernando Alonso
More from
Toyota Racing
The new records set by Toyota's Hypercar trio with WEC 2026 title
WEC
WEC
Monza
2 d
The new records set by Toyota's Hypercar trio with WEC 2026 title
Toyota “sad” WEC drivers' title was effectively decided before Monza finale
WEC
WEC
Monza
3 d
Toyota “sad” WEC drivers' title was effectively decided before Monza finale
Latest news
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
38 min
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 4 h
“I was getting beat up” – How Daniel Ricciardo burned out on ‘humiliating’ F1 return
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 5 h
Myers Riley Motorsports adds Andretti alongside returning Fraga for 2027 IMSA GTD campaign
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe