Yuki Tsunoda jabs Fernando Alonso’s age ahead of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The AlphaTauri driver brought up Alonso’s … experience when previewing the Spanish Grand Prix

As the grid heads to Barcelona for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, a new configuration awaits the F1 drivers this weekend.

That provided an opportunity for Yuki Tsunoda to take a playful jab at Fernando Alonso.

In AlphaTauri’s preview of the Spanish Grand Prix, Tsunoda talked at length about the changes to the track. Race officials have reconfigured the circuit, removing a tricky chicane at the end of the lap. Gone is the twisty right-left-right, and in its place is a single corner that drivers may be able to take at higher speeds.

Race officials added that right-left-right sequence in 2007, hoping to slow drivers down for safety reasons. Which opened the door for Tsunoda:

“I first raced here in GP3 in 2019 and the following year I finished fourth in both the F2 races,” said the driver. “I’ve driven the new layout in the simulator – I think Alonso must be the only driver who remembers it from the past!”

Tsunoda would be correct in his assessment.

2007 was Lewis Hamilton’s rookie season on the F1 grid, but it was not Alonso’s. In fact, speaking ahead of the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso had this to say about the new layout. “Although I have always really enjoyed the final two corners and their speed, the new chicane at the end of the track will hopefully lead to more overtaking during the race, which is great for the spectators,” said Alonso, who was driving for McLaren at the time.

However, Tsunoda’s jab also allows us to make this point.

Who was the driver who won the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix, under the old — now new — layout?

Fernando Alonso.

33 this week?