Over the years, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have engaged in a series of nerve-wracking battles, spurring what is considered one of the most intense rivalries of all time. Hence, more often than not, one could acknowledge the sense of bitterness in Alonso watching his arch-nemesis winning championship titles with Mercedes while the Spaniard was lurking at the near-bottom of the field with McLaren.
Such was the contrast between the two racing giants, and to this very day, Alonso remains one of the fewest drivers to refrain from lauding Hamilton’s achievements in the 2010s; the Briton clinched a total of five world championship titles in the entire decade, portraying himself as one of the most successful drivers of all time.
And yet, Alonso has continued to reckon that the credit doesn’t always go to the driver, but instead, the team and the car they managed to build. However, interestingly enough, the two-time world champion had an almost similar suggestion following the weekend in Italy. Only this time, it wasn’t just Hamilton on the receiving end, but also the Briton’s rival Max Verstappen.
Alonso opined that neither Hamilton nor Verstappen deserve the praise they’ve been receiving in recent years for one good reason.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen don’t deserve all the credits
According to the Aston Martin driver, neither Hamilton nor Verstappen built their respective teams like Michael Schumacher did with Ferrari. Instead, it was indeed the regulation changes that somehow routed the element of luck in their favor.
“When Hamilton went to Mercedes (2013 season), he didn’t build anything to be champion. It was just a change of regulations (hybrid engines) that changed everything on the grid and pushed Mercedes to the top,” Alonso said according to Marca. “I feel the same with Max. When he joined Toro Rosso and Red Bull, Hamilton was still winning everything.
Red Bull is not a winning team because of him, it’s just that another regulation change in 2021 has meant that they now win every race. When we say that we can ‘build’ teams around us, I don’t understand it. This is a sport where technical decisions, regulations, or the inspiration of the design office make more of a difference than your input, your comments, your personality, or your driving.
“You just have to be in the right place at the right time. Because a lot of success still depends on luck.” Overall, Alonso doesn’t seem too pleased with how his journey in Formula 1 has played out so far. All the Spaniard needed was a bit of luck, which hardly ever arrived. However, with the latest Aston Martin move, did Alonso finally make the best decision of his motorsport career?