Fernando Alonso says he feels “no special responsibility” in the lead-up to his home grand prix next weekend.
F1’s reigning world champion is credited for almost single-handedly transforming the popularity of formula one in Spain, with an unprecedented sellout crowd of 145,000 countrymen expected at the Barcelona circuit next Sunday alone.
But 25-year-old Alonso shares a notoriously awkward relationship with the Spanish press and has in the past expressed frustration at not being able to live normally when he returns to the country from his home in England.
Speaking to the news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Barcelona this week, he said: “I always try to drive a normal race.
“My goal is to win. When I race here, I want to win. When I race in Bahrain, I want to win. The same for Monaco.
“I know that thousands of fans come to the circuit to see me, but when I am driving in Bahrain, five million Spaniards are watching me on television anyway,” Alonso insisted.
