Ross Brawn raved about Fernando Alonso after his podium at the Qatar Grand Prix. Through his opinion column, the Formula 1 sports director regretted that the Alpine driver has only two world championships in his record.
On his third place in Qatar, Ross Brawn noted: “ It’s brilliant to see him up there on the podium and also to see Alpine do so well this weekend. Will it tempt him to stay longer? Who knows? I think we all love Fernando around for a long time . He drives very well. It deserves to be here, that’s unquestionable . It’s great for the sport, for the fans and for everyone ”. For now, Alonso will continue in 2022, the year until which he recently renewed with Alpine.
Despite the victory of Lewis Hamilton and the second place of Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso was chosen as the driver of the day by the fans. Ross Brawn shares this opinion due to his ability to adapt to a circuit like Losail, unprecedented in Formula 1. “ Fernando is my driver of the weekend . Like Lewis, he got the track very fast and made the car run well . That Alpine looked good all weekend. He just had a great time. He was in his element, ”he added.
Ross Brawn also alluded to the two world championships won by Alonso: “I am a big fan of Fernando and I have always been frustrated by the fact that only someone of his talent won two world championships . He’s my pilot of the day. He is a man who still loves Formula 1 and this shows it ”. “He has a huge talent . Perhaps the perspective he has now, after some time away from sport, may have helped ”, concluded the Formula 1 sporting director.
Ross Brawn and his soft spot for Alonso
It should be noted that Ross Brawn already praised Fernando Alonso in his opinion column after the first race of 2021. “ In Bahrain we could see the former Fernando Alonso , who showed those flashes of talent with which he won two world championships in his day . When Alpine develops its car a little more, Alonso should amuse us in the future. His return is great for Formula 1, I want to see everything he is capable of, ”he said.
The fight between Hamilton and Verstappen
Ross Brawn also spoke of Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the Qatar Grand Prix: “ It was a beautiful weekend for Lewis . He scored on the track very fast and delivered the kind of qualifying performance we’ve come to expect. On race day, he was not wrong and he deserved that victory very much . He has left the championship even better prepared than before ”.
On the difference between Hamilton and Verstappen, the Formula 1 sporting director added: “The good thing about this championship is that we have this ebb and flow. We had a period where you thought Red Bull was going to run away and then Mercedes came back . There are only 8 points with two races and a maximum of 52 in the table ”.
Nonetheless, Ross Brawn noted that Verstappen had a good run: “I had a feeling Lewis had this under control, but who knows? With Max’s start, if he had come from the front row of the grid instead of further back, we could have seen a tighter competition . “
“ These are the little things at this stage of the championship that are going to tip the balance . It was a damage limitation for Max and he did the best job he could have imagined from seventh place on the grid, after that five-place grid penalty for a yellow flag infraction, ”concluded the Formula 1 sporting director .
