F1 News
Alonso on Hamilton: 'Now you see it's about the car'
- GPblog.com
According to Fernando Alonso, the fact that Lewis Hamilton can no longer fight for victory shows what he has been claiming for years: in Formula 1, you are completely dependent on your equipment. 'Welcome to my world', Alonso says to his former rival.
Winning at Mercedes
Hamilton has been extremely successful with Mercedes over the past eight years. In 2013, the Brit made the switch from McLaren to Mercedes and in 2014 it proved to be the perfect move. The Brit won six of eight titles between 2014 and 2021, while his team won every constructors' title in those years. In 2022, however, Mercedes has an inferior car and Hamilton is no longer competing at the front.
''This year we see that the driver is very important in F1 but not crucial. Lewis is driving as good as he has been the last eight years. He was dominating the sport and breaking all the records and 100-and-something pole positions. And now he is doing a mega lap - as he said in Australia or somewhere like that - and he is one second behind. So, yeah - welcome,'' Alonso is clear about the sport to the BBC. According to the Spaniard, this is not an accusation against Hamilton, but shows a problem in the sport.
''This is F1. It is not going to be a fair sport in terms of numbers. It happened to me when I won the two championships [in 2005 and 2006 with Renault]. I was beating Michael Schumacher, but my car was more reliable at that time and had very good performance and you cannot praise enough that package because the headlines will still be the driver. And with Lewis it's the same. To have more than 100 pole positions in F1 is something unthinkable. You need to have the best car and package for many, many years.''
Pressure on Hamilton
Yet Alonso is not attacking his former teammate at McLaren. ''He deserves everything he's achieved in the past but this year is a good reminder that in all those records and numbers there is a big part on what you have in your hands as a package in the car.''
Lewis Hamilton is also under more pressure at Mercedes in 2022 with the arrival of George Russell. Alonso is not surprised that the Brit is doing well at his new team, but still sees Hamilton as the best driver. ''Eventually when things are more tricky or [there are] difficult situations, Lewis will still have more experience and maybe more talent."