Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Bahrain International Circuit

Alonso: I will keep racing until I face someone quicker than me

2019 F1 season

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Fernando Alonso says he’s never shared a car with a driver who was quicker than him and he intends to keep racing as long as that is the case.

The two-times world champion retired from Formula 1 at the end of last year but has returned to test McLaren’s MCL34 at the Bahrain International Circuit this week. He is also preparing to tackle the Indianapolis 500 next month, the latest in a series of major races he is bidding to win.

Alonso says his goal is to prove he is “the best driver in the world.”

“I think I am,” he explained. “I think everyone thinks that [they] are the best. But it’s difficult to prove because especially in Formula 1 [either] you are with the right package that season or you cannot prove it.

“I’ve been very competitive over many years in Formula 1, lucky enough to win championships. Even my last season probably was my strongest with 21-0 [in qualifying] to my team mate, something I’ve never done in my career.

“Now with winning 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning Daytona, winning Sebring, hopefully being competitive in the Indy 500 and some other things that I can do outside maybe the asphalt, it’s something that probably has no precedence in the sport. I am looking for that, for challenges.”

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The 37-year-old said others wrongly assume he is merely looking for entertainment by exploring other forms of motor racing. Alonso said he has much to learn about other categories of racing, such as during his recent test in Toyota’s Dakar rally-winning Hilux.

Fernando Alonso, Toyota Hilux Dakar test, 2019
Tests in other cars are ‘not just for fun’
“Sometimes I read when I am testing something that ‘we are happy that you are having fun but please come back to Formula 1’, like ‘please come back to the real job’ [and] this is fun. I’m not having fun, when I try one of those cars I have no idea.

“They have to tell me how they do. They do full throttle and brakes at the same time in rally style – we brake with the left foot but either we press the throttle or press the brake, never at the same time. You need to learn from zero, you need to read the bumps, you need to read things.

“So definitely there is a lot of effort that I put behind every challenge that I take and a lot of stuff behind. I’m not doing it for fun, I’m doing it for the difficulty, for the challenge and just to hopefully to be better as a driver.”

Alonso has set himself the target of winning the Indianapolis 500 to clinch the ‘Triple Crown’ of motorsport. But beyond that he’s set no end date on his plans.

“As long as I have the power to do it and I feel competitive [I will continue]. Maybe one day I jump in a Formula 1 car and there is one guy with the same car that is quicker than me. Or I jump in another car and one guy is quicker than me with the same car. As far as I know it’s never happened so far so I will keep still driving.”

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2019 F1 season

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99 comments on “Alonso: I will keep racing until I face someone quicker than me”

  1. So why didn’t he stop in 2007 then? 😀

    1. Simply put, and as is clear from simple deduction, because Hamilton was not faster than Alonso in 2007. What people seem to forget is the massive prejudice Alonso suffered at McLaren during 2007. His own team sabotaging him by meddling with his tyre pressures during qualifying for the US Grand Prix is a prime example. Remember that by season’s end, the FIA installed an observer in the McLaren garage to try and ensure the equal treatment of drivers that McLaren was positing.

      1. And the prejudices suffered by the likes of Fisi, Vandornne, Trulli, Massa et al?

      2. Hamilton was quicker. The rest is just excuses. Peter Windsor comments on this in passing in his latest video. Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc are just quicker drivers. But Vettel and Alonso (who he cites) will never accept that and look intensely for the mysterious reasons why their team mate is quicker. It’s easy to spot which is which. The faster drivers are usually quicker. The slower drivers have lots of weird explanations.

      3. Alonso at McLaren had a first driver contract, infact the team gave him the best strategies and in Melbourne and Monaco Hamilton was forbidden to attack him.
        Since Montreal, almost halfway of the season, Dennis simply stopped giving him privilege.
        Hamilton clearly outperformed Alonso that season. Period.

        1. From Montreal on, Alonso beat Hamilton 7-5. And, after Hungary, when Alonso was now the great betrayer, Alonso beat Hamilton 5-1.

      4. Spotted the flat-earther.

    2. Exactly haha

    3. Cause he can blame Ron dennis for favouritism over his team mate. & he finished equal on points to his team mate that year i think (who was it again?) so technically he wasnt beaten

      1. Oh stop it! He was beaten, the FIA standings have him in 3rd

        1. They tied in points. And if Alonso wouldn’t have been penalized by robbing him from pole position to 5th – which was caused by golden child wasn’t penalized, it wouldn’t have been close.

          https://www.statsf1.com/en/2007.aspx

          1. “golden child” is oft used coded reference to the Eddie Murphy movie lol you’ve shown your hand there nudge, wink, say no more.

      2. Points aren’t speed. Your argument is flawed at a basic level.

        1. Indeed. He was beaten on speed, fair and square.
          And you can’t appeal that verdict.

    4. @optimaximal Are you aware that Alonso finished ahead of Hamilton than the other way?

      https://fulltimeflag.wordpress.com/2016/12/07/stat-battle-lewis-hamilton-v-fernando-alonso-part-1-2007/
      Unlike their qualifying head-to-head, the score was 10–7 in Alonso’s favour, the Spaniard perhaps utilising his greater experience and his traditionally brilliant race-craft to earn solid race results.

      Of the 7 races in which both McLarens stood on the podium, Alonso defeated Hamilton in 5, confirming the Spaniard’s superb ability to really get the most out of the machinery he is given.

      https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/f1/hamilton-vs-alonso-vs-vettel-f1-statistics

      Alonso 6-5 Hamilton 54.5% (1 season)
      Alonso 15-11 Button 57.7% (2 seasons)
      Alonso 10-3 Trulli 76.9% (2 seasons)
      Alonso 56-8 Massa 87.5% (4 seasons)
      Alonso 20-2 Piquet 90.9% (2 seasons)
      Alonso 10-1 Vandoorne 90.9% (1 season)
      Alonso 22-2 Fisichella 91.7% (2 seasons)
      Alonso 14-1 Räikkönen 93.3% (1 season)
      Alonso 4-0 Grosjean 100% (part-season)

      1. Finaly FIA standings

        Raikkonen 1st
        Hamilton 2nd
        Alonso 3rd

        No amount of ifs, buts etc can’t change that.

        1. 2016 ditto. Not to mention 2011

        2. Why doesn’t that scan for 2016 too?

        3. How many points did HAM and ALO end up with?? Thank you..

      2. Hrm. 2007 F1 season.

        Poles: Hamilton 6, Alonso 2**
        Wins: Hamilton 4, Alonso 4
        Fastest Lap: Hamilton 2, Alonso 3
        Podiums: Hamilton 12, Alonso 12
        Retirements: Hamilton 1, Alonso 1

        **Hungary: Alonso gets +5 grid spot penalty for being a massive @$%* in response to Hamilton being a bit of a @$%*. Hamilton gets official pole.

        I would say they were pretty well matched, but Hamilton gets a slight edge due to pole positions. Mark Hughes’s article is interesting, because he claims Alonso out-qualified Hamilton by a small margin (0.016%, but he’s highly selective in his numbers), and I’m not sure why he lists Hamilton v. Alonso at 5-6, and the official standings list them tied at 4-4.

        I admit, I started watching in 2009, so wasn’t following closely in 2007.

        1. And due to being a rookie!!

      3. That 10-7 score needs context.

        How many of those races that Alonso finished ahead did something happen to Hamilton? It is a fact that in Australia when Hamilton was leading Alonso, McLaren gave Alonso the race winning strategy and Dennis admitted it straight after the race. It was all about fuel and they short fueled Hamilton to make sure that Alonso would go further on his remaining light fuel and gain a bunch of time when Hamilton rejoined with heavy fuel. It worked and Alonso took the lead. Nobody ever mentions this but it is 100% true.

        Germany Hamilton had a tyre failure in qualifying so started 10th and then in the race had a great start to get from 10th up to just behind Alonso before the two colliding BMW’s clipped him and gave him a puncture completely ruining his race which later fell even further off the rails when half the grid including Hamilton slid into the gravel. After that he had nothing to lose but his gamble on strategy didn’t pay off either.

        Monaco Hamilton would have beaten Alonso in qualifying if he wasn’t held up by Webber even though he had more fuel than Alonso. In the race it was much like Australia where Mclaren decided to favour the reigning 2xWDC on strategy only this time it was Hamilton with the heavy fuel (longer stint strategy) yet McLaren made him do a short stint so he couldn’t challenge for the win which led to Hamilton’s incendiary comments after the race and an investigation by the FIA. Dennis admitted Hamilton was fuelled for a 1 stopper but that he took the decison not to let his drivers drivers race. This decison handed Alonso the victory

        In Turkey Hamilton was leading Alonso before he got a puncture.

        In China Hamilton was leading Alonso by 20s before he needed a new set of tyres and instead of pitting him McLaren decided it was a great idea to leave him out on tyres worn down to the canvas for two laps in which he lost 10s per lap to Alonso before ditching it into the gravel.

        Hamilton was beating Alonso by 12 points with two races to go when a victory used to be worth 10 points. It took Hamilton having a disastrous last two races for Alonso to catch up and I didn’t even mention Hamilton’s gearbox randomly selecting neutral for 30s in Brazil. Hamilton should have been the 2007 champion. Alonso is extremely fortunate that it didn’t happen.

      4. @T3r That 10-7 score needs context.

        How many of those races that Alonso finished ahead did something happen to Hamilton? It is a fact that in Australia when Hamilton was leading Alonso, McLaren gave Alonso the race winning strategy and Dennis admitted it straight after the race. It was all about fuel and they short fueled Hamilton to make sure that Alonso would go further on his remaining light fuel and gain a bunch of time when Hamilton rejoined with heavy fuel. It worked and Alonso took the lead. Nobody ever mentions this but it is 100% true.

        Germany Hamilton had a tyre failure in qualifying so started 10th and then in the race had a great start to get from 10th up to just behind Alonso before the two colliding BMW’s clipped him and gave him a puncture completely ruining his race which later fell even further off the rails when half the grid including Hamilton slid into the gravel. After that he had nothing to lose but his gamble on strategy didn’t pay off either.

        Monaco Hamilton would have beaten Alonso in qualifying if he wasn’t held up by Webber even though he had more fuel than Alonso. In the race it was much like Australia where Mclaren decided to favour the reigning 2xWDC on strategy only this time it was Hamilton with the heavy fuel (longer stint strategy) yet McLaren made him do a short stint so he couldn’t challenge for the win which led to Hamilton’s incendiary comments after the race and an investigation by the FIA. Dennis admitted Hamilton was fuelled for a 1 stopper but that he took the decison not to let his drivers drivers race. This decison handed Alonso the victory

        In Turkey Hamilton was leading Alonso before he got a puncture.

        In China Hamilton was leading Alonso by 20s before he needed a new set of tyres and instead of pitting him McLaren decided it was a great idea to leave him out on tyres worn down to the canvas for two laps in which he lost 10s per lap to Alonso before ditching it into the gravel.

        Hamilton was beating Alonso by 12 points with two races to go when a victory used to be worth 10 points. It took Hamilton having a disastrous last two races for Alonso to catch up and I didn’t even mention Hamilton’s gearbox randomly selecting neutral for 30s in Brazil. Hamilton should have been the 2007 champion. Alonso is extremely fortunate that it didn’t happen.

    5. Thats cute mate. Go and learn the full story.

      “We were racing Fernando” – Ron Dennis, China 2007

      What was the reason for the FIA independent observers in Brazil again?

      1. China was the second to last race of the season. So how does that statement applies to the entire season?

        1. No one said its applied to the whole season, apart from you of course.

          Point being, with two races left in the season with both drivers still in the hunt for the WDC the team principal openly acknowledges he was favouring one driver.

          Whats not to understand?

          1. Maybe because at the time Alonso was his closest challenger in the championship. I mean, it can’t be that hard to understand

          2. Nope. With two races left in the season, Alonso was 12 points down in the standings and has yet received a lesson from rookie Hamilton about how to drive in the wet.
            Alonso only had the chance of being “in the hunt” because McLaren (not Hamilton) failed to pit Lewis in China.
            Otherwise, Hamilton would have been champion, despite Alonso first driver contract.

      2. What was the reason for the FIA independent observers in Brazil again?

        Who found nothing.
        Alonso turned himself into enemy the moment he threatened to blackmail his team. The hugeness of that mistake was realized by himself soon after cooling down and he told his manager, the disgraced Briattore, to patch things up but Dennis had already done what anyone sensible does when threatened with blackmail, he’d gone to Ecclestone. McLaren paid a big price. Alonso announced he was off. Of course they were ‘racing Alonso’. His actions were appalling. But that doesn’t mean they did anything to his car. That’s just weak excuses for being outdriven by a rookie who has since shown ample proof he’s a faster driver.

      3. You’re the one who’s “cute”.

        Alonso fanboys throw around the ” we were racing Alonso” comment without even realising that this strategy that Ron is referring to actually helped Alonso and Ron’s response here was his defence to a hounding media who wanted to know how and why he messed up Hamilton’s race. The insinuation from the media was that Ron sabotaged Hamilton’s race and when yiu look at the last 2 races in China and Brazil you can understand why so many people think thus is a possibility, theory being that its an extra agreement between Mosley and Dennis regarding Spygate.

        Anyway the “we were racing Alonso” strategy involved leaving Hamilton out for 2 extra laps when his tyres were down to the canvas while his 20s lead over Alonso was reduced to nothing at a rate of 10s per lap for those 2 laps. Please can you explain how the “we were racing Alonso” strategy helped Hamilton? It absolutely destroyed his race. He was completely obliterating Alonso in China with an easy 20s lead and by the time he reached pit entry Alonso was right on his gearbox before he beached it in the gravel. Then of course we have the mysterious gearbox shut off for 40s in Brazil that Helped Alonso catch Hamilton in the championship standings.

        Please can someone tell me how Hamilton was favoured in China and Brazil when McLaren’s action’s absolutely destroyed what should have been an easy championship win for Hamilton?

        Alonso is lucky as hell not to have list the title to Hamilton in 2007, he really is.

      4. Ron’s “we were racing Alonso” comment came in a media briefing after China where he was defending himself from insinuations that Hamilton was sabotaged!

        The “we were racing Alonso” strategy consisted of McLaren completely destroying Hamilton’s race by throwing away his 20s lead over Alonso when they kept him out on tyres down to the canvas 2 laps longer than they should have done instead of pitting him. Alonso was a clear beneficiary from this strategy that saw Hamilton lose 20s in 2 laps so what are you talking about? Then in Brazil it was Hamilton’s gearbox that had a bizarre 40s shut off while Alonso’s car was fine.

        Hamilton clearly did not have preferential treatment in China and Brazil at all and the independent observer in Brazil was actually requested by Spanish officials who bought into Alonso’s nonsense propaganda that the team didn’t support him.

        Marc Priestley has stated for over a decade that all of Alonso’s mechanics and engineers were 100% loyal to him all the way through the season. Your claims are not based on facts at all

      5. @Masher Ron’s “we were racing Alonso” comment came in a media briefing after China where he was defending himself from insinuations that Hamilton was sabotaged!

        The “we were racing Alonso” strategy consisted of McLaren completely destroying Hamilton’s race by throwing away his 20s lead over Alonso when they kept him out on tyres down to the canvas 2 laps longer than they should have done instead of pitting him. Alonso was a clear beneficiary from this strategy that saw Hamilton lose 20s in 2 laps so what are you talking about? Then in Brazil it was Hamilton’s gearbox that had a bizarre 40s shut off while Alonso’s car was fine.

        Hamilton clearly did not have preferential treatment in China and Brazil at all and the independent observer in Brazil was actually requested by Spanish officials who bought into Alonso’s nonsense propaganda that the team didn’t support him.

        Marc Priestley has stated for over a decade that all of Alonso’s mechanics and engineers were 100% loyal to him all the way through the season. Your claims are not based on reality at all. Alonso was not mistreated at McLaren

      6. @hamish Ron’s “we were racing Alonso” comment came in a media briefing after China where he was defending himself from insinuations that Hamilton was sabotaged!

        The “we were racing Alonso” strategy consisted of McLaren completely destroying Hamilton’s race by throwing away his 20s lead over Alonso when they kept him out on tyres down to the canvas 2 laps longer than they should have done instead of pitting him. Alonso was a clear beneficiary from this strategy that saw Hamilton lose 20s in 2 laps so what are you talking about? Then in Brazil it was Hamilton’s gearbox that had a bizarre 40s shut off while Alonso’s car was fine.

        Hamilton clearly did not have preferential treatment in China and Brazil at all and the independent observer in Brazil was actually requested by Spanish officials who bought into Alonso’s nonsense propaganda that the team didn’t support him.

        Marc Priestley has stated for over a decade that all of Alonso’s mechanics and engineers were 100% loyal to him all the way through the season. Your claims are not based on facts at all

    6. Just look at how he beat Lewis after Hungary. When he stopped sharing data Lewis wasn’t able to beat him. But that doesn’t fit the fairytale…

      1. @fons Yh just look at Japan and China got a hammering by the.rookie in the wet ham was In another league in both or the 9 podiums in 9 races at the start ham like leclerc now was on wc pace from start also alonso lost in qually to a rookie lol so tell me again who was faster?

      2. @fons was Japan in the wet afet Hungary? I forgot. Or what about China in the wet Hamilton absoloute hammerd Alonso if he just played it safe Alonso would lost the title that day. If you guys feel Mclaren favourd Hamilton why not just leave Alonso out the team lakst few races and get an easy title with Hamilton? But nope silly Mclaren thought if we let both stay we have a better chance. Alonso should of been sacked after Hungary. Hamilton would of been Worldchampion. Or they should have backed Hamilton sooner afterall he was the quicker car in qualifying. No DRS back then either. If you think qualifying behind youre teammate is a good thing back in them days and being stronger in the race is betetr i got news for you it is not. Hamilton made Alonso look silly really. Remember Alonso started all this stuff in USA he was weaving down the straight telling Mclaren to make Lewis let him pass. Pretty damning having that huge straight and not being able to overtake the rookie.

        1. I’m sorry but your English is so bad that I gave up half way through. One note though: since when is “should’ve” (short for “should have”) being substituted by “should of”?

          1. It’s very very typical in written english, go search anywhere on the web, “should of, could of, would of”, read it a lot.

          2. @esploratore: Still wrong, though.

      3. Wrong. After Hungary Alonso was only faster in Spa and Italy. Hamilton was faster in Turkey but a puncture got Alonso ahead of him. He was faster in Japan where Alonso crashed into the wall. He was faster in China where he was obliterating Alonso by 20s before McLaren’s unbelievable call to leave him out on tyres down to the canvas for 2 laps and he was faster than Alonso in Brazil when his gearbox magically came back to life after crapping out for 40 odd seconds and taking him out of title contention.

      4. @fons Wrong. After Hungary Alonso was only faster in Spa and Italy. Hamilton was faster in Turkey but a puncture got Alonso ahead of him. He was faster in Japan where Alonso crashed into the wall. He was faster in China where he was obliterating Alonso by 20s before McLaren’s unbelievable call to leave him out on tyres down to the canvas for 2 laps and he was faster than Alonso in Brazil when his gearbox magically came back to life after crapping out for 40 odd seconds and taking him out of title contention.

    7. @optimaximal

      Alonso has never been outscored by a team mate unlike Lewis.

      1. Button finished ahead of Alonso in the dreadful 2015 McLaren.

      2. Outscored by Button in 2015, outranked by Hamilton in 2007.

    8. The simple answer because Alonso was and still is a better race driver. During 2012, 2014 seasons Alonso finished 2nd and ahead of Hamilton with a car only 3rd fastest. On the other hand new talents like Max and Charles may be better than all.

  2. actually, wasn’t trulli faster in 2004?

    1. Yes up until trullis monaco win. After that flavio & trulli fell out for some reason or other & alonso improved. Flavio brigatore was Alonso’s manager at the time but im not reading anything in to that

    2. In total Trulli winning head to head qualifying also.
      I think he just making political headline like when he laugh at Kimi’s car broke down in the final lap to victory.

  3. I’m torn between grabbing popcorn and a seat, or earplugs.

    1. Popcorn in your ears – problem solved.

      1. Hahahsha!

      2. And what about the seat? Should I snack on that instead?

        1. yes, and the earplugs…well you know…

          1. @johnmilk
            It worries me that I know exactly …

  4. GtisBetter (@)
    3rd April 2019, 8:34

    “I think I am,” he explained. “I think everyone thinks that [they] are the best. But it’s difficult to prove because especially in Formula 1 [either] you are with the right package that season or you cannot prove it.

    I like this quote.

    1. There are many interesting quotes of a dedicated racing driver.
      Overall it doesn’t read as cringeworthy as the title suggests.

      1. @coldfly

        Overall it doesn’t read as cringeworthy as the title suggests.

        Nowhere near, innit? But, this site and accurate titles … phew …

  5. I’d love to see him back in a Ferrari so see how he goes against LEC!!

  6. alonso a true racer… blind self belief bordering on delusionalism. thats what every racer should be like. be 1st or come 2nd and be the 1st of the last…

  7. I loved his sentence (not quoted in this article) saying that McLaren this year was better in every aspect. I agree. Even on the driver lineup.

    1. he also had good things to say about Mick Schumacher and Leclerc.

  8. 2 rookies. Lewis was definitely faster then Alonso in his rookie year which caused Alonso to completely lose his cool. I bet Lando is faster too.

  9. Out-qualifying his team-mate every single time, and considering that as the best season is a bit of a superficial look on things, it wasn’t that big of a deal, just look back at the 2017 season. Hulkenberg did exactly the same against a driver more or less of the calibre of Vandoorne…Palmer. He was even shown the door by Renault, something that McLaren didn’t had the balls to do when clearly their driver was under-performing for almost two seasons.

    1. @johnmilk
      Vandoorne was highly rated as a rookie unlike Palmer. Alonso has made a hobby out of it throughout his career called “destroying your teammate”. I think the only one that stood against him is Lewis who proved to be one of the greats and to be fair he was quite protected by Ron Dennis at the time.
      Even today, I don’t think any driver how fearsome is he including Lewis and Max wants to be teammate with Alonso, the guy is a Samurai.

      1. @tifoso1989 change “highly rated” for “over-hyped”

        1. @johnmilk

          Name a race he was a let-down? Over a season he was miles ahead of Lewis who went off the boil in every one. Lewis should have been taking Vettel to the wire when he was at Red Bull, not Alonso in the slower car.

          1. Wait, what? Are you talking about Alonso @bigjoe?

      2. Hamilton was not protected by Dennis, Alonso was.
        For at least half of the championship.
        In Melbourne and Monaco, for example, Lewis was ordered to stay behind Fernando or had been given the wrong strategy.

        1. Hamilton & Trulli were both faster than him over 1 lap

        2. @liko41

          Hamilton was protected by Dennis. He told Alonso to ‘be nice to Lewis’ after Monaco and that’s the straw that brokes the camel’s back. Dennis stiched Alonso up from the begining, only to see McLaren go down hill and get beat by Massa and Alonso the following season

  10. He sounds a bit like Jean Girard in Talladega Nights….

    1. Thanks for that:)

  11. Wasn’t Kobayashi setting faster times on average in that Daytona 24 Cadillac?

  12. W (@vishnusxdx)
    3rd April 2019, 11:48

    Oh do shut up, Fernando.
    Over the last 10 years he made life impossible for his teammates, putting incredible amounts of pressure on the entire team to favour you and you alone. Throwing a fit when it didn’t happen. His last stint with Honda was a very very sad showing of what kind of person he was. Radomly retiring (2017) when racing behind Stoffel (engine engine engine, – engine’s fine, – no i have no power) or talking himself up all the time whilst he KNEW the other guy had a dreadfully inferior machine. He did it before with Massa and Piquet.
    The only times he was clearly better than his team mate (equal machinery/chances) was with Kimi.

  13. It’s a click bait title, near the end of the title alonso says he would carry on doing what he does as long as he feels competitive, if he gets an F1 seat and his teammate is faster than him, then he would consider retiring permanently. This seems entirely logical.

  14. These are not facts. The facts are that there were too many situations where tire pressures and things like that don’t matter as much where Hamilton was faster. Fuji 2007 was the best example. Alonso crashed trying to match Hamilton’s pace in the wet. That is the exact thing that happened to Vettel. Vettel saw that Hamilton can go that quick so he tried to match it and crashed. What about Monaco when Hamilton was much quicker but they told him to stay behind. There are many more but it isn’t necessary to post. If at this point you are still denying it then I don’t know what to tell you.

  15. We just gonna pretend that 2007 never happened. Got it.

  16. Thank you Alonso. You are a great driver. One of the greats. You made watching F1 exciting. But as a person I think you are a pain in the ass. However it drives you, so good for you…

  17. Its not complex. Alonso is a fantastic driver. But Hamilton is better. Hamilton beat him as a rookie. Enough said!

  18. Maybe if you kept you’re head in Canada and Japan you would of been 3 time champion by now. Lewis gave you a pasting in Japan in the wet made you look silly so you crashed. A rookie has an excuse of mistakes you do not. Dint Hamilton beat Alonso in qually that year aswell? Think he is only one to do that to Alonso im not sure. Also if Mclaren backed Hamilton from Hungary as many said he would of been world champion as they would have ade ALonso lose positions in the the races and Ham would been champion. Ferrari done it with Kimi and Massa, only reason Kimi won was because teamorders. Mclaren did not and they should. What about USA and Canada why could Alonso not beat the rookie there? Or you trying to claim Mclaren would slow Alonso down after 5 races of the season lol. Hamilton got robbed that year. Still finished ahead of Alonso, countback is ahead fia standings Hamilton 2nd, Alonso 3rd.

    Alonso started all this in USA weaving down the straight as he could not overtake Hamilton he wanted Mclaren to make Lewis run out of fuel and was weaving to make Dennis change the positions. It will be dejavu this year with Ferrari a multiple world champion being shown up by someone who is young. Like Hamilton, Leclerc was on a WC pace from pre season testing that is a sign of a great. I remember Hamilton in Aus qualifying in 07 being ahead till the very end when Alonso pulled a lap out the bag barely beating his teammate who always started with more fuel. That race i knew we had a star on our hands and it even more impressive as ALonso is much better than Vettel.

    I put Lewis and Alonso as the best two drivers so i am not hating on him but do not tell me someone has never been faster because Hamilton clearly was in 07. Just like in 08 maybe Alonso would of been faster. But Alonso took the easy way out and ran knowing his actions meant he would not be retained.

  19. Rosberg by far Hamiltons quickest teammate over a lap. Not just because 2014 even the years Hamilton beat Nico it was close. Rosberg is very underrated by many over 1 lap he pushed Lewis to the limit. Lewis was lucky he had drs in 2014. Alonso did not out qualify Lewis in 07 so i doubt he ever would have. And i higly doubt Lewis would have been overtakend much without DRS So if Alonso stayed teammates with Hamilton how does he beat him over a season cant remeber him overtaking him 07 on track dont think Lewis did either. But Lewis would had way more margin for error being on pole or ahead more. Alonso got beat by a rookie in qualifying. Also could not overtake Hamilton in USA which has a humoungus straight. So if he had DRS maybe Alonso could have beat Hamilton that race.

    1. Rosberg by far Hamiltons quickest teammate over a lap.

      Agreed.

    2. Exactly. Been saying this all along. Too bad Rosberg Retired

      1. A shame but I get it. He gave everything and achieved his goal, but then looked back and questioned whether it was worth it to do it again, and declined.

        It takes a very strong person to walk away at the top, especially as he’d likely have beaten Ham to a couple more titles by now!

  20. Winning Lemans was a goal because you was not in a competitive F1 car. You have said as much yourself you would still race F1 if you had a car to win the championship. Same as the triple crown talk it is all down to the fact you cannot win a championship in F1 it is the next best thing. Youre F1 carear is legendary as it is you are not gonna suddenly vault as the goat driver or in the convo for winning a few Lemans. Basically everyone on the grid could of done what Alonso achieved. Maybe they would not have had the stint Alonso did, who knows. But it is not 1 v 1, there is 3 of you. And was’nt the only competition the same car make. Would be a much bigger achievement if it was a 3 hour race and it was 1 vs 1 not 3 vs 3 and youre only competitiion is reliability. Just look at the drivers who have won it. Look at the teammates and rivals. If Nakajima wins 10 Le Mans he aint a better driver than Mika Hamkinnen let alone someone better.

    If i was Alonso i would push to get a good car in Indycar and driver 4 or 5 more years try and clean up. Far better achievement imo winning the actual championship. Imagine Alonso going there and dominating Indycar on ovals and roadcourses now that would be great.

  21. Go for a full season in Indy car rack a few championships up, try get a Penske or Gannassi. Alonso should dominate as the gaps are fairly even between them cars. Dixon wins many championships. Alonso would probabably dominate far more than Power on roadcourses then just grab what you can in the ovals. Id Love see him get 3 or 4 indycar titles. Would validate F1 as the best which it is. And would make people like Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti be quiet who are extremely overrated. Power, Alonso and Dixon would be great.

  22. Alonso has this huge ego/pride which prevented him from lot more success. He may be just may be better driver ‘overall’ than Hamilton and Max, but ask the experts of F1 and 90% of them will tell that Hamilton is just the quickest driver but that doesnt mean he cant be beaten.
    Alonso just never admitted this and left Mclaren abruptly at the end of 2007, if he had stayed he probably would have won 2008 Championship by not being faster than Hamilton but overall managing a better season with fewer mistakes than young Hamilton. Mclaren’s good form lasted till 2012 so Alonso was set at Mclaren till 2012 but who is to blame? none other than him
    Similarly he left Ferrari just before they started winning races and at Honda towards the end of his carrer was left a miserable man.

    It’s not talent where Alonso lacks, but the mind/ego/pride. And seems like he hasn’t changed.

  23. Gosh! I’m sure I recall a rookie team-mate who was faster then you, Fred?

    Let me try and jog your selective memory…..no, it wasn’t Piquet @ Renault.
    Hmmm. Could it have been an English team? McLaren with rookie Lewis Hamilton?

    Yes that’s the one. And you know what, you’ve never recovered from that have you….?

  24. Hamilton fans pretending the end of 2008 didnt happen, where Alonso outscored him in a dire car on a low budget. A car so down on power Renault got a repreive for the following season.
    Alonso back in his comfort zone it was embarrasing for McLaren.

    Let’s also pretend it was Hamilton taking Vettel down to the wire with Ferrari and not Alonso.

    It’s all very well Hamilton being a quick qualifier, but as we saw on Sunday, he relies on driving around inheriting wins (and 2nd places as per 2007)

  25. His last stint with Honda was a very very sad showing of what kind of person he was.

    Andretti and Toyota are both quoted as saying what a pleasure and nice guy Alonso is to work with.
    So what’s it to be? What Hamilton fans see in him? or what his bosses see in him?

    To this day not a single team has improved since Alonso left. Nor has his replacements done a better job in the car.
    Beating Hamilton in slower cars over several seasons is enough to show where he is superior. Hamilton’s superior qually laps currently amount to nothing with a dreadful 2 wins from the last 9 poles.

  26. Typical Fernando Alonso comments with self promotion as always.

  27. Wow, that’s a bold statement. Gotta love it.

  28. It’s quite revealing when every single person here trying to put down Alonso has to go all the way back to 2007 (11 years!) to attempt to prove Hamilton is better. As it happens, 2007 appears to be Lewis’ most consistant season (which he has alluded to himself, I will get the quote)

    But the following season Alonso driving the 7th best car (3 faster teams ahead)
    Last 6 races:
    Alonso 43 points > Hamilton 28 points
    (laugh at Singapore if you want, but there was later a 2nd safety car bunching Lewis up with him and Alonso pulled away again, 60hp down.

    Last race of 2008 season on damp track:
    Alonso 2nd
    Hamilton 5th

    2010
    Alonso driving the 5th best car
    Outscores Hamilton 252 > 240

    2011
    Alonso in 5th best car again
    outscores Hamilton 257 > 227 Hamilton also getting beat by Button 270>227 (Alonso has never been outscored by a team mate)

    2012

    Hamilton in the quicker car again 7 poles to Alonso’s 2 (but Hamilton only 4 wins from 7 poles, Button 3 wins from 1 pole)
    Alonso outscores him 278 > 190

    Lewis’ poles are always impressive but his current tally of 9 and only 2 wins from them, in the best team, is dreadful.

    1. Not putting down Alonso as he is and was one of the best, but Lewis done him over in 2007, in same machinery. 2007 was probably one of the best if not the best rookie season ever. The comparisons stop there regarding Alonso v Hamilton

      1. There’s probably not much between Alonso and Hams speed, but he does best him on consistency.

        I can’t recall a race weekend in the last 4/5 years that Alonso has had an off patch, whereas Ham has had many dips where he’s looked like he doesn’t even want to be there and looks out of his depth.

      2. Oh and Jenson Button done much better than Hamilton with the same machinery back in 2011 season with over 40 points difference.

  29. Bathurst, Fernando, Bathurst. Please :)

  30. 2010 LH 240 JB 214
    2011 JB 270 LH 227
    2012 LH 190 JB 188

    FA did much better than both mclaren drivers with a car which was average 0,5 sec/lap slower on single lap pace.

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