Alonso: Seven-weekend run as tough as expected

Fernando Alonso says his seven-weekend run across Formula 1 and sports car duties was as tough as he expected it to be, but felt well prepared for the challenge.

The break between the British and German Grands Prix marks Alonso's first rest weekend since the middle of May, having adding LMP1 duties with Toyota at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the pre-race test to his busy schedule.

Alonso admitted he'd found the run of races a challenge, and explained how he would be easing off during his time off ahead of the next F1 race in Germany.

"It was demanding. It was not easy, as we expected," Alonso said. "It was Wednesday to Sunday travelling, unpacking on Monday, packing on Tuesday. It was like this for seven consecutive weeks.

"Especially the Le Mans week was intense, with the test, the drivers parade and then the 24 hours. It’s like 40 hours in total on track with the warm up.

"It was demanding, but we'll try to enjoy now the next ten days, going back to a training routine and get a little bit more relaxed. I think the next time will be September, October, November where I have the same thing with eight races in nine weekends in different timezones.

"It was tough but it was well prepared."

Alonso will once again balance F1 and World Endurance Championship events through autumn, racing for Toyota at Fuji and in Shanghai to form a stretch of eight races in nine weekends, starting with the Russian Grand Prix on September 30 and ending with the F1 season-finale in Abu Dhabi in late November.