ONBOARD - Fernando Alonso Drives V8 Supercar - Albert Park 2022

Go for a ride with 2x Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso around Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit in the Castrol Racing Ford Mustang, normally driven by Thomas Randle.
This was Alonso’s debut in a V8 Supercar, hope you enjoy the lap!

[@Poyntlesss]

Imagine being able to instruct Fernando Alonso on how to drive. Absolutely wild moment.

[@ThomasRandle49]

Yeah they don’t come round often! Pretty cool to get the thumbs up a few times too haha

[@josvercaemer264]

Pretty sure Fernand knows his way around Albert park

[@blakebruce-clarke1215]

Doesn’t know how to drive a v8 around Albert park thought. You’ve got a lot less cornering grip in the supercar. Would be a completely knew beast for him to tame and no matter how good you are nobody gets into a car like that and knows it’s limits after a lap

[@AlonsoRules]

@@blakebruce-clarke1215 a 2 time F1 champ should easily be able to adapt

[@darrylmackie9184]

I would've give you a back hander grabbing the wheel.

[@harrydundee641]

He looks so incredibly calm and collected

[@pkspidermonkey]

takes him a heck of a long time to blink!

[@leonblittle226]

V8's are slow in comparison to his normal ride, but he's probably thinking it's a brute to drive looking at the steering wheel behavior

[@zesolodar]

yea any pro driver in any type of race car is going to look like that because their pros. lewis looked fine in a nascar, tony stewart and jeff gordon handled an f1 car no problem

[@derbigpr500]

Well this is like driving a go-cart for him.

[@derbigpr500]

@@zesolodar Not really, they never experienced more than 3G in an F1 car, meaning they weren't even close to pushing to the limits. Anyone can drive an F1 car slowly, my grandma could do it. Pushing it to the limits is what makes it hard. F1 drivers can sit into literally any race car in the world and push it the limit pretty much immediately, because literally everything else out there is much slower and nowhere near as violent as F1. Nobody could sit into an F1 car and push it to the limit immediately unless they're used to fast open-wheelers that come remotely close to the kind of forces felt in F1.

[@stevedavis7905]

In the limited laps he had it nailed...short shifting when needed...absolute pro.

[@Daniel-ld7xs]

how do you know when to short shift?

[@areskmn]

⁠@@Daniel-ld7xs I’m not a pro driver but I do quite a bit of simracing. I mostly short shift before/during corners which I know that carrying more speed into and stepping early on throttle would result in oversteer because of the car setup/vehicle characteristics. You usually short shift to minimize wheelspin (lower RPM usually means a bit lower power output = less or no wheelspin) to ensure a more stable rear end for cornering. The last corner of Albert Park as in the video, is typically a corner where I short shift, so I can apply throttle more safely and concentrate on the corner exit rather than trying to find the perfect throttle position. It’s better for consistency.

[@eatdirt13]

And also if a tricky corner would mean having to snatch a gear mid corner and invoke potential oversteer, it sometimes pays dividends to change early and have more control through that corner.

[@_JimS]

I still love pulling up Alonso's night stint at LeMans, talk about a master class!

[@llortbkwardsbmudtunc]

A man of culture I see

[@woffelled]

@@llortbkwardsbmudtuncah another man of culture

[@prohimself8282]

that never gets old and thomas good luck this season man

[@vagabond142]

You can tell how focused and in the zone he is with the car. Watch his eyes, they are constantly looking at the next apex, the next straight, the next corner, calculating all the time when and where to brake and turn. Also, listen to the throttle application, as he does what Senna used to do, which is dab the throttle to feel the grip and if it's good, apply more right foot. If it's not, he holds the revs until he feels the grip and then gives it some welly. No matter what Alonso drives, he can make it go fast.

[@melbguy1]

I thought Senna used to blip the throttle in the turbo cars mid corner to keep the revs up so the turbos kept spooling?

[@mars27970]

​@@melbguy1No, He did it with all F1 cars.

[@huracanmedia1661]

The amusing part going into a long left hander the supercar passenger signals him to slow-he does not lift and nails the corner perfectly

[@jps226]

Didn't hear Alonso using throttle like Senna at all. Nearly all inputs are as smooth as silk, and Senna's unique stylw was arguably ill advised, though he made it work.

[@mars27970]

@@jps226 ill advised and made it work??? Senna was a freak, a genius who was born for motor sport. A random guy like you is judging what most in the know in F1 rate him as the best, even young drivers of today who know enough about history and the skill it took to control it took to master an open wheeler. Get informed kid.

[@constantinosmallios]

What did Fernando say after his drive? Looked like a lot of fun!

[@ThomasRandle49]

He loved it! Said it understeers more than oversteers 😂

[@its_only_karma7440]

@@ThomasRandle49 he likes a understeery car

[@Switll72]

@@its_only_karma7440 No driver likes a under steering car !!! Some prefer more oversteer because you can manage it, something you can't do with understeer as you fix that with setup.

[@Switll72]

@@its_only_karma7440 No driver likes a under steering car !!! Some prefer more oversteer because you can manage it, something you can't do with understeer as you fix that with setup.

[@its_only_karma7440]

@@Switll72 history has proven you wrong bozo

[@shabaddahuha]

Probably the only time he's driven with his visor up

[@napalmhotdog4365]

Apart from when he raced in WEC. And Dakar.

[@shawnmoore4292]

Fernando goes hard. Awesome.

[@crossingthetee6733]

He didn't blink, once.

[@huskkyy]

He did

[@mpn304]

Amazing video, and amazing car. The V8 super cars is one of my absolute favorite. “Simpel” and brutal in the best way possible🏁❤️

[@yhelloh]

Fuck that is so awesome!!! Two goats in the same car, what an experience.

[@WacKEDmaN]

didnt miss an apex!... he could give some of the current supercars drivers a run for their money! :P

[@superjarri]

I'm just a simracer but for the sound and the cameras I think I can tell he was doing a very decent job here. Clean inputs, clean racing lines. Probably one of his first laps as well, because he seems to go early on the gas at 1:09 and looks like he's still finding his braking marks. It's very interesting to see how a top level driver adapts in real time to a new car.

[@FAfan0506]

Alonso one of the rare few to be able to drive any kind of car. Thinking back to Le Mans 2018 and Indy 500 in 2017.

[@tda024]

Also winning the 24 hours of Daytona in the pouring rain

[@Mushroomstamp007]

And Dakar rally . Fernando a legend . These drivers that tackle multiple disciplines will always be held in high regard when they retire

[@ALLRNDCRICKETER]

Man we need to get his ass in a car for the enduros before he totally goes cold turkey on racing. The talent & commitment he has right there in a foreign car to him is astounding

[@mars27970]

He is still the most talented driver in the world, even better than Max.

[@kristoffer3000]

@@mars27970 Nah bro, cmon. Alonso is without doubt one of the greatest to ever do it but Max is on another level, I'd say Alonso is the 2nd best driver in F1 atm

[@markhill9275]

​@@kristoffer3000nah, same car Alonso blows little maxie away.

[@kristoffer3000]

@@markhill9275 The same guy that didn't blow Hamilton away when Hamilton was a rookie? I somehow doubt it.

[@sultanabran1]

so smooth on the downshift with the heal and toe. awesome driver.

[@sik59rt]

Lol what heal and toe?

[@sultanabran1]

@@sik59rt they have sequential gearboxes but the downshifts are still heal and toe. they have clutch pedals still. this common knowledge if you have any knowledge of this series. clearly you don't. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6Wypp1-fdh8ras

[@LittleJimmyR]

@@sultanabran1 You can't spell that good.

[@sultanabran1]

@@LittleJimmyR fixed now. thanks little j

[@MaunoMato99]

Nice driving but more impressed on how his eyes don't dry out, the dude almost never blinks.

[@huracanmedia1661]

Total concentration was amazing and looking way ahead-incredible

[@MultiOMG23]

he almost never blinks during the lap! how does he do it?

[@tetraktys6540]

I know! Intense.

[@its_only_karma7440]

Focus

[@tetraktys6540]

@@its_only_karma7440 Almost like his ass is on the line. Must be sweet to drive different cars as a pro like him.

[@TheOneWhoMightBe]

Still waiting for that Alonso/Webber wildcard for Bathurst.

[@bagiroud1228]

Fernando looks great on a Mustang 🔥

[@twowongs8266]

Great vid! As always, the brutal V8 engine sound that puts hair on your chest. I love it.

[@432htz3]

God that v8 sounds awesome !

[@tralalaklak]

omg i love v8 supercars. that grip :)

[@FabianKinder]

He does not blink?

[@LuisMiguel-sm5hr]

Love those shifts !

[@lth1072]

There's only a couple of drivers who've been on Alonso's level. One from Germany and another from Brazil.

[@F1Kamel_1992]

Yes, Vettel and Massa I presume.

[@animal_blundetto]

@@F1Kamel_1992 I think he meant Sutil and Barrichello.

[@mars27970]

Senna was better than Alonso, he was abnormal, a freak. Michael was very talented and a hard worker, but Alonso has more natural ability than Michael and works extremely hard too,

[@Jmotwa87]

And he was already on the limit of the car. One of the most talented drivers to ever step into a race car.

[@jasonswift7098]

So you only clutch in on the down-shifts the upshifts are not clutch?

[@pauloferreira1350]

No hay auto que le resista a Fernando ! Pedazo de piloto

[@crazybird1649]

You should do a follow up video and talk about what Fernando said - would likely drive traffic to the channel as well.

[@ListlessSpectre]

These cars are just crazy fast beasts.

[@sik59rt]

What are you reaching for behind the wheel @:52?

[@ThomasRandle49]

Switched on the headlights

[@Bslattttt]

Love this

[@greglee7604]

What was passenger reaching on steering wheel

[@KelvinSharp-s5s]

His reaction times in a 1450kg Sedan compared to single seater are worlds apart...A Supercar is definitely not a knife edge for Fenando...

[@alejandroagudosilvente158]

Sea el coche que sea..... este tipo va rápido!!....

[@LGAustralia]

Very clean and very aggressive, he sure is good! Did you give him any tips? What were you saying to him with your hands?

[@shaytrueblueaussie]

What the hell is LG doin here? 💀

[@MMoura58]

​@@shaytrueblueaussie 💀

[@ForzaPolska06]

​@@shaytrueblueaussieforgot to log to his private account 💀

[@jaknohi1909]

Alonso is a Natural get in any race vehicle an be competitive

[@TheCarDoc1]

Awesome video Thomas!! I'm wondering how best to contact you to do a KZbin collab?

[@bearmarsh6579]

I wish the V8 Supercars would come to the states more often.

[@b.pmedia4539]

They havent gone there in many years

[@LordEthan2]

I know it was a bit of a PR run but he looked proper smooth and quick lol

[@danielfrostick9927]

Alonso looks like he on a Sunday afternoon drive!

[@Think_about_it777]

Fernando is a legend.

[@weburnitatbothends]

Let's see him at Bathurst paired with Thomas Randle

[@richardabell175]

those eyes, i'm certain he did not blink once!

[@bogged2theeyeballs695]

Ten times better than Bottas' attempt at Adelaide recently.

[@geoffdeller7747]

a touch drier don't forget.

[@bogged2theeyeballs695]

@@geoffdeller7747 Certainly was, but even taking that into account, Bottas was so much rougher on the equipment and seemed to not adapt to the car as well as Alonso. Having said that, I still like him.

[@geoffdeller7747]

@@bogged2theeyeballs695 Valterti is a good guy, agreed. Fernando is just so determined and competent, and he certainly showed that in the clip, and every other time he gets behind the wheel. I miss Mark W battling with him.

[@hillsideauto]

Keep in mind Valtteri was on his own! Had 5 minutes of instructions and off he went! Adelaide is better for spectators, too.

[@DriftNick]

@@bogged2theeyeballs695 Are one of those people that were upset that he was sliding around and hitting limiter?

[@432htz3]

Real driving . A bit of under steer and a bit of overs teer with plenty of horse power. All about driver feel and skill with what the tires are doing.

[@guitarherogirl124]

At 0:52 you touch the back of the wheel. What was that?

[@ThomasRandle49]

Turned on the headlights

[@johnm838]

Notice how rarely he blinks. His eyes are wide open and focussed hard.

[@alexmaksacheff8676]

I'd like to see Alonso in the V8 super cars full-time

[@user-jh2ts2eb4q]

Nando is a maniac but a smooth maniac....omg

[@obiemichaels9675]

Special moment Thomas

[@Synystr7]

My man blinks probably twice in this whole clip.

[@ionelchereja7650]

Is this “GP2 engine…GP2”?

[@jonathannewby8119]

I thought these cars had to clutch on downshifts?

[@jesusroldan4056]

Esos ojitos Nando 😎

[@justgjt]

Fernando should do a Bathurst 1000 one year. . . . 💯

[@JoelGahan]

Max got the shit scared out of him when he was the passenger This only proves more that fernando is the goat

[@mattcecil6692]

He looks a bit white knuckle there. No blipping on downshift either by the sound

[@exa-roli3954]

Are these cars fully manual?

[@alistairwhite2906]

@@exa-roli3954 throttle cut on up shifts, clutch on downshifts normally.

[@ThomasRandle49]

He was left foot braking so he was blipping but not using the clutch :)

[@damianwright3690]

@@ThomasRandle49 Yeah, do that (clutchless downshifting) a lot on my bike, relatively easy to do with sequential shift and ordinary clutch (absolutely bog standard). Started doing it after I noticed I wasn't even fully engaging the clutch on downshifts.

[@melbguy1]

Based on those laps, i'd offer the guy a seat in the main enduros.

[@GoofySmuf]

Notice how Alonso's head is unaffected by the gforces in this car compared to his passenger.

[@therealf.b.i9468]

His neck is so strong it doesn't even move

[@toy200sx]

Smooth

[@sullybiker6520]

He's probably not used a clutch pedal or gear lever in decades. He always had a semi-auto tranny in F1. He looks like he's having an absolute hoot.

[@derbigpr500]

You realize he lives outside of F1, right? You realize that F1 drivers are people and don't disappear after an F1 weekend, right? He's European, his car is probably a manual and he's driven them all his life.

[@sullybiker6520]

@@derbigpr500 I realize he's Spanish, because Europe isn't a country. I don't understand what point you are trying to make. He can drive a sequential dog box because he's from Spain? Okay. Very good.

[@cb7pwn]

As a driver I bet this is way more fun than driving modern f1

[@juanicoelmabonico1419]

VUELA COMO UN FORMULA 1

[@proxactual]

He don't blink

[@stephenhoward8433]

Give him a day practice and he would be right up there i reckon

[@gedhoughton9523]

Fernando looks like he didn’t need any guidance, just get in it and let him do what he does best.

[@SurviveTheDay]

Did 1/2 a lap before he blinked. Concentration.

[@DiscoStu65-sj6pu]

As Fernando was driving through turn6 you could see him thinking this would be a good corner to brake test a Mercedes 😂

[@stevedriver1476]

Italian and french race drivers can drive anything

[@thesausage351]

I’d argue Brazilians are also pretty handy.

[@VanessaMagick]

alonso is neither of those

[@l-zero1941]

Que grande padre

[@brinx07]

he literally blinked twice.

[@jrstudio07]

"Just brake just brake, jesus christ"

[@imetzl9340]

I dont think he blinked

[@AvantiFer]

What laptimes did he do? Was he close to you?

[@pmR32red]

👍

[@mpk33]

Goatnando. Do not EVER touch his steering wheel, you Philistine...

[@kimberleyanderson46]

All he's doing is giving him pointers. Bowie.

[@lukeharpman7675]

Did better than valttri, wasn't hanging about by the look of it

[@SceneArtisan]

These engines for the V8 Supercars sound WICKED-SICK, but heck, the current F1 engines sound shit; we miss the screaming V10s.

[@jps226]

looks like he's about to fall asleep...

[@kevinmelro2936]

The physical ability to deliver a car in pure violence around a circuit is best done by Australians and New Zealanders. This is a group of drivers who banded together to keep stuff like paddle shifting out of their series despite heavy opposition from the series itself. Randle is a right foot braking, three pedal driver. I would imagine he would not have a problem with a left foot braking two pedal configuration as many in the series do both for GT3 racing like the Bathurst 12hr. It's a little taboo to configure Randles car to two pedal for an F1 driver. If Alonso's world class than he should be driving it in Randles configuration, three pedals.

[@arconeagain]

'Then'. He likely has no problem with heel and toe, but I imagine it would be a fair bit extra to bite off for a first run. Also considering his muscle memory has been programmed for many years now. I would also suggest the car was not configured in two pedal on the F1 weekend just for Fernando. Judging by this very smooth and fast first run, he's world class, mate. The average person, maybe yourself, would have put it in the wall by a few corners trying to drive this aggressively.

[@kevinmelro2936]

@@arconeagain It just so happens the new car in Supercars is extremely difficult to drive in two pedal configuration. Every driver has been forced into a three pedal, right foot brake configuration for 2023. It's been pretty normal for the F1 guys to jump in the V8s during the Australian GP werkend, but not a single F1 driver sampled the brand new, current spec car this year in Australia. Maybe they were just all just too busy?

[@arconeagain]

You know what? I don't know about these latest cars, but V8 Supercars are notoriously difficult to drive, and drive fast. So for anyone to just jump in and produce a smooth and fast lap like this is astonishing to me. I spoke with Dale Wood for some time in his younger years, we built a house for he and his wife. It was early days, and he was just stepping into the Supercar from the Konica series. I quizzed him on what they're like to drive, and he expressed very difficult, even from Konica. The pressure required to brake alone. Alonso would have no problem with this, except for the very different seating position. Everything would be foreign to him in this car. I seriously hope you can drive, and drive well. You probably couldn't out drive me.

[@kevinmelro2936]

@@arconeagain That's great you have those relationships 👍. I opened the argument saying "The physical ability to deliver a car in pure violence around a circuit is best done by Australians and New Zealanders" and that seems to be where we seem to have gotten to. As a Canadian myself, it couldn't be more clear, especially now as the three pedal requirement precludes any F1 driver from even attempting to drive a current spec V8 SC with credit going to all the drivers who took a stand with their own teams and series defying their intention to implement paddle shifting. It wasn't so long ago F1 cars required the ability to right foot brake in three pedal configuration complete with a gated gearbox, although given the current speed of the cars, I don't necessarily protest the paddle shifting. It does however gross me out that the previous cars were being reconfigured just so "the best drivers in the world" could drive them.

[@arconeagain]

@@kevinmelro2936 anything to promote the category I suppose. It's a shame where it's at anyway. Can't really be helped because of the global economy and the inability for independent manufacture of cars in Australia. People hated it when it went to Supercars (previously touring cars). The category was supposed to be open to a variety of production cars. Those were the days. I still haven't ventured to Bathurst, but have watched a variety of motor racing at the Island. I don't watch much of the Supercar racing these days, but it would seem the Kiwis are some of the better drivers. They're proper petrol heads over there, with aggressive driving styles like Mostert and Van Gisbergen. Then you have the wet, Jim Richards. Per capita, they're smashing it worldwide. And they did way back, probably even more so for then. F1 world champion Denni Hulme and great drivers like Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon. You say you're Canadian, did you get into Touring Cars because of Allan Moffat?

[@rencelani-ty2sc]

I don’t think you would have to instruct Fernando to much he just be saying slow it down a little bit