Fernando Alonso has once again faced one of the questions that has been asked the most throughout his career: Would he be fighting for the World Cup if he were in another category? The Asturian rider has no doubts and has acknowledged this in the last interview he gave. I would bet on him against Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen if he raced in Mercedes or Red Bull.
“It is difficult to answer that. But, yes, he would trust me to fight for the title . But Lewis and Max do a great job on their teams. Therefore, there is no clear answer to it ”, it indicated in F1-insider .
Fernando Alonso thus justified putting himself ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen: “ Mainly because I have more experience . I know better what a car needs in the race to be fast. I can better manage the pressure today. Even today, I know much better how to optimally prepare for a racing weekend . Not only on the race weekend itself, but also in all the moments before it ”.
“An almost perfect year”
Even so, the Alpine rider admits that he is not yet one hundred percent, although he hopes to be so that 2022 is “almost perfect”. “It is also important how to get 100% out of the car and the team. This has a lot to do with experience. In my return year, I learn something new every weekend . For example, I’m still not perfect in qualifying when it comes to feeling the optimal grip from the tires. Maybe I’m eighty percent right now. Next year should be almost perfect ”, added Fernando Alonso .
Precisely in 2022 the man from Oviedo could compete face to face with both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen . Next season the regulation change will come into force that is called to open the range of victories to more teams and that is precisely what has encouraged Fernando Alonso to return to Formula 1. “ For 2022 dreaming is free, of course you work with that illusion . The rule change can cause the cards to be mixed in the sport, why not us? We would not be here now if we think that next year we cannot be up there ”, he acknowledged.
“ The car that is born well, leads the decade of that regulation. If you are in those cars, you win four or five titles ”, added Fernando Alonso . So being able to compete against Hamilton and Verstappen in 2022 will depend on the car Alpine can build for him. “I am very proud of the progress . We are building a very strong team and looking to next year , I hope the package is competitive in the factory, but the competition team is ready to fight ”, he assured after the Russian Grand Prix. For his part, after Turkey, he declared with a wide smile: “You have to believe in the plan .”
Fernando Alonso’s statement that the whole planet was waiting for
“You have to believe in THE PLAN” 💙
Now you can start popping the RT button @alo_oficial @ AlpineF1Team # TurkeyDAZNF1 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/uxFcrOiBqR
– DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) October 9, 2021
Alonso and Verstappen together at Red Bull?
Fernando Alonso believes in the plan and that he can be champion with Alpine. It is true that he thinks he could be fighting for the Red Bull racing title right now, but he has also admitted that he would not like to meet Max Verstappen in the Austrian team. “ Right now he is the only one I would not like to compete with . I respect Max a lot, so right now in the Red Bull environment with his team, with his experience there, I don’t think that many drivers can join Red Bull and beat Max, ”he confessed.
Verstappen, for his part, does not rule out having Fernando Alonso as a teammate, but not at Red Bull. ” Companions? I think it could happen in the future, but not in Formula 1. Maybe in endurance and at Le Mans ”, he said when asked about it.
Your happiness for the successes of Hamilton
Fernando Alonso has also had to answer in this 2021 if he is better than Lewis Hamilton. “ It is difficult to compare times and drivers even in it , because you have to have all the ingredients together to have a fair answer. It is true that having the same car and the same team in a year is a good opportunity to compare drivers. In the end, the score was 109-109 . That is one answer. A lot of people remember that it was their debut year and that it wasn’t mine, but I can say that I switched to Bridgestone which was a GP2 tire at the time compared to the Michelin ones we used. My first three or four races and the winter tests were very difficult on these tires because I had to readjust my riding and so on. This was never something public, because it has no interest. But it’s true: it was his rookie year, the Bridgestone change… ”, he began answering.
“ The luck factor is very important . I think Lewis got into the Shanghai pitlane in the penultimate race, it was a bad moment for him. I had two problems with the gearbox. I started 10th in two races. I had one of the most unfair penalties in Hungary, with a pitlane lock, as they called it at the time. From pole you come tenth in Hungary. And if you lose the championship by one point, that hurts, when it’s because of something like that . It was 109-109, but now I’m happy to see Lewis’s successes . As we said, in Formula 1 it is difficult to compare eras, Senna, Schumacher, Lewis… They have all been huge in their times, but you need a complete package with the car. Lewis has had it so far and he is showing it ”, concluded Fernando Alonso.
