Neither Fernando Alonso nor Sebastian Vettel, no matter how much he arrived with two more titles than the Asturian at Ferrari , were able to proclaim themselves world champions of Formula 1 with the Italian team. This is something that Alonso wanted to confirm in the last interview he gave.
Referring to Vettel, the Spaniard commented in F1-Insider : “ We both tried it at Ferrari , we got closer, but in the end we didn’t succeed. Maybe Ferrari was not ready to have a world champion in the cockpit when we raced there . “
“Now they have modified their plan. The expectations are not so high anymore and they race with young drivers. Now they tend to think in the long term, and not in the short term as before ”, added Fernando Alonso, emphasizing that Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are less pressured than he and Vettel in their day.
Alonso thinks they lacked a car at Ferrari
It is not the first time that the Spanish has spoken about it. Already in September of last year, when Sebastián Vettel was more questioned than ever, Fernando Alonso broke a spear in his favor. “Ferrari is the most legendary team in Formula 1. It is special to drive for Ferrari. Although I did not win the title, it was a very positive experience for me. I think Sebastian will also have good memories of Ferrari, even if he was not proclaimed world champion with them. I think we both lacked the right car and the technical skills at the right time, “he said then.
“When you sign with Ferrari, you assume that you can win the World Cup. After four titles, Vettel probably thought he could get another with Ferrari. But sometimes you are out of luck at the right time and opportunities slip away . That is why in my career I tried not to focus only on Formula 1 and, for example, I did the 24 Hours of Le Mans and I tried to win everything that can be won ”, added Fernando Alonso .
Vettel’s bitter farewell from Ferrari
Like Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel , who this season was relieved at Ferrari by Carlos Sainz , said goodbye to the Italian team regretting not having won the title: “ It is a pity that we have not achieved what we set out to achieve , but there are reasons for the strengths and for the weaknesses in past years ”.
“ We had the ambition and the goal to win the championship and we didn’t , so I think it’s just an honest reflection. I don’t think saying it out loud changes anything. We are probably facing a very strong team / driver combination, one of the strongest we have seen so far, ”he added, alluding to Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton.
“ But our goal was to be stronger than that and, in this sense, we have failed . There are many reasons why it didn’t happen, but in the big picture, I think it’s not unfair, it’s just the truth. There is nothing wrong with saying it out loud, ”concluded Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari removed Alonso from the title
In five seasons at Ferrari , Fernando Alonso was runner-up three times. Little could be reproached then since the dominating car was Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull. Of the three times he was runner-up, in 2010 and 2012, Alonso arrived with options in the last race, although he ended up losing the championship by 4 and 3 points respectively.
If so, it was more because of Ferrari than hers. This was admitted by the president of the Italian team, Luca di Montezemolo: “In terms of performance, Fernando was very good. For me, Alonso is at the same level as Hamilton and Vettel; and in the race he is very close to Michael. In the race, Alonso was and is a fantastic driver. He did not lose the championship because of his mistakes ”.
Éric Boullier, former McLaren boss, even said about Fernando Alonso when asked by Fernando Alonso. “It definitely should and could have had more than two titles . I remember Abu Dhabi 2010 because it was our car (Vitaly Petrov’s) that prevented him from being world champion , that could have been an opportunity for them ”.
“There was another one later and I think that when I use the word I could, it is always easy to give an opinion after something has already happened, but at that moment perhaps there was a lack of confidence from the team members in themselves, ” he confessed.
Vettel did not improve Fernando Alonso
Sebastian Vettel , meanwhile, spent six seasons at Ferrari and was only runner-up twice. ” Vettel is good, but he is not Alonso, ” said an anonymous employee of the Italian team in 2018.
“Alonso has denied himself opportunities for success, but it is no less true that Ferrari has denied himself two world championships by allowing Alonso to open the door, ” he added, referring to 2015, the year in which the Spanish Unhappy after Marco Mattiacci replaced Stefano Domenicali, he left Ferrari with one year remaining on his contract.
