Third place in the Qatar Grand Prix brought the attention of the entire Formula 1 world back to Fernando Alonso. The Asturian is unanimously considered one of the best drivers in the history of this sport and certainly one of the absolute reference points of his generation. However, compared to other great champions he has competed against, from Michael Schumacher, to Sebastian Vettel, up to Lewis Hamilton, the Oviedo native has won less. His showcase features two world titles – not four or seven – although on three occasions Alonso has come within a handful of points from the final success.
Especially during his Ferrari adventure, the current Alpine driver has built up a reputation as a talent capable of extracting the maximum possible speed from a single-seater, managing to compete on par with overall superior ‘packages’, such as that of Red Bull in those years. Alonso also has the choice of teams for which to race is often wrong, as evidenced by his second spell at McLaren, between 2015 and 2018, studded with misfortunes and failures. Taking stock of his career during an interview with the F1 podcast Beyond The Grid, the Spanish veteran also addressed this topic, not giving up a bit of irony.
“Me on the best car? I was there once, in the two-year period 2018-2019, in Toyota “ joked Alonso, referring to his spell in the WEC, which culminated in two victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and an Endurance world title. Referring to the Circus instead, the 40-year-old from Oviedo focused above all on the vintages of his two championships won. “I think I’ve driven the best car three times, probably. I would say in the first half of 2005 – has explained – while then subsequently Kimi and McLaren were faster, but they did not have the reliability. I think that even in 2006, for the first half of the championship or in any case in the first six or seven races, we had the best car. Then Ferrari and especially Bridgestone, not just Ferrari, arrived with a very fast package “.
Finally, the third season is the ‘notorious’ 2007, the year in which Alonso left Renault to join McLaren, alongside the then rookie Lewis Hamilton. “In 2007 I think it was more or less even [tra Ferrari e McLaren]. There were ups and downs. I don’t think we had a clearly faster car. In some races, McLaren was faster – concluded Alonso – in others, Ferrari. In those years we had great opportunities to win championships. We won two out of three, so that’s okay“.
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