A crazy calendar: Fernando Alonso and the key dates of F1 and Dakar to make the unthinkable a reality
It is not official yet, but as the journalist anticipated Gael Robicand as the ‘Soy Motor’ portal later completed, and which this newspaper can also confirm, Fernando Alonso has everything tied up to return to the Dakar and compete in the edition next January, in the Dakar 2027which still remains to be known in what way it will be carried out due to the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
That Fernando Alonso wanted to return to the Dakar, it is not news. He’s been warning about it for a while. He fell in love with the toughest race in the world on his first foray in 2020. In fact, when he reached the finish line of that debut edition, the man from Oviedo hinted that his desire was to return, and if he did, it would be to win. That goal is part of his objective of becoming “the most complete driver in the world.”
It is something that he has reflected on on several occasions and that he wants to carry out in the coming years, thus completing his work after more than two decades in F1 and two world titles, together with his two triumphs in the 24 Hours of Le Mansthe world endurance title, the previous karting world championshiphis victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona and how much it shone in some Indianapolis 500 which he led for many laps in his debut after only a month of preparation.
That Indy500 was a sign of Fernando’s will to make a reality what many consider impossible.. And now he will face a more complex challenge.
Seven years after competing in the Dakar in 2020, he wants to return with an even shorter and tighter preparationin a suffocating calendar, to compete in the Dakar and compete again in F1 in 2027 after that second participation in the desert, this time with Aston Martin with a Prodrive vehicle (until now Dacia, the winning car of the Dakar 2026 with Nasser Al-Attiyah).
What you thought you needed… and what you will have
Fernando already talked about it with Sports World before F1 Barcelona-Catalunya GP. There, MD asked him about the preparation he needed to return to the Dakar with the aim of fighting for victory. He had about 9 months of preparation for that first foray into a specialty totally opposite to track and asphalt racing.
It started with a test in South Africa in March 2019. Then, he carried out 4 days of testing in Namibia to prepare in dunes in August. In September 2019 trained on fast sand and gravel tracks in Poland.
He carried out another test in Spanish territory on dirt and in December 2019, another test in Abu Dhabi prior to the Dakar.. In between he also competed in four races: In September 2019 he competed in his first test, the Harrismith 400 in South Africa. Then the Morocco Rally in Octoberhis first major rally-raid. In October 2019 he disputed the Lichtenburg 400 in South Africa and in November, the Al Ula-Neom Rally in Saudi Arabia.
In total, nine months to take a top Rally-Raid category car for the first time, learn to climb and surf dunes and compete on all types of roads. But in this case, before his second appearance at the Dakar, he skips all previous learning because he has already assimilated it. Although he will have to adapt to a new car like the Dacia (now Aston Martin) and learn all its secrets. Thus, it will go from a preparation of nine months to one of only three.
In them, you will not only have to understand the behavior of the car on different terrains, also have knowledge of vehicle mechanics together with his co-pilot to cchanging wheels, losing as little time as possible and other repairs that are usually common in the Dakar.
More or less I would need what I did that time. There were two or three gravel tests, I did two tests in dunes, and then I did the Morocco Rally, a rally in South Africa and another in Saudi Arabia. So I would say five or six tests and two or three rallies minimum to go to the Dakar with confidence. But if you do more, the better
When MD asked Fernando months ago about the preparation he would need to return to the Dakar, Fernando said something similar to what he did in 2019: “More or less what I did that time. There were two or three tests on land, I did two tests in dunes, and then I did the Morocco Rallya rally in South Africa and another in Saudi Arabia. So I would say five or six tests and two or three rallies minimum to go to the Dakar with confidence. But if you do more, the better. Because reading the terrain and the dunes in the Dakar cars is essential. And I don’t have that, I’ve never had it. I was not born into rallying and that is going to take me time or even years. But I’ll have to do it.”
The preparation indicated Alonso to MD made me think that if Fernando returned to Dakar shortly, it would be in 2028. However, it will do so sooner than everyone could imagine. Fernando will have to face the Dakar 2027 with many fewer months of testing and racing. Although he had had this idea for months, he finally saw the Dakar train pass by, he saw that it was possible, and he did not want to waste it.
Perhaps, for this reason, the Dakar 2027 should be seen for Fernando as an opportunity to learn in the race and prepare for the goal of winning the Dakar in 2028. Although with Alonso, it can never be ruled out that he wants to go for victory from the start despite the multitude of Toyota T1+ of the highest category that is in contention, as well as the ford officers and those who are supposed to be his companions in Daciapilots of as high level and as experienced as the current champion, Naser Al-Attiyah and Sebastien Loeb.
A crazy and suffocating calendar
Fernando Alonso still has seven F1 races ahead of him to finish the World Championship. Seven races in the next nine weeks. The 2026 F1 season will end on December 6and in between, between so many trips, you will have to carry out several tests behind the wheel of your new frame for the Dakaralong with his co-pilot, who in the absence of official confirmation, is expected to be Marc Coma again, like in 2020.
After that December 6th, among the tests that must be carried out, if the plan of the Dakar 2027 remains unchanged on the calendar, the race will be held from January 3 to 17. That It means being several days before, on December 30 or 31, already in Saudi Arabia. And perhaps, compete in a nearby event during the month of December.
Normally, F1 drivers usually go to their Formula 1 team’s factory at the beginning of January to get their seat done, do the simulator and work with the team. On this occasion, he should leave Saudi Arabia on January 18 to head almost non-stop to Silverstone to work alongside Aston Martin. Then, from February 24 to 27, he must be in Bahrain to drive in the official F1 preseason tests. And two weeks later the first race of the F1 World Championship will be held on the same track in Bahrain.
Fernando Alonso thus faces a non-stop, stressful calendar, and with the need to recover everything he learned seven years ago with almost no time to attend the Dakar 2027 with the goal of being competitive again.
