If Lewis Hamilton was impressed by the domination of Red Bull at the start of the season, believing he had “never seen such a fast car”, Fernando Alonso does not share this opinion. For the Spaniard, the Briton has “a short memory” and forgets his years of domination at Mercedes.
Between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, it’s an old story that continues to be written. In an interview at The Team this Friday, the 41-year-old Spaniard did not hesitate to attack the Briton following his remarks on the current domination of Red Bull. For the Mercedes driver, never has a car been so dominating as the RB19.
On the third step of the podium during the first two Grands Prix of the season, Fernando Alonso affirmed his disagreement with his old rival. “Last week (during the Saudi Arabian GP, editor’s note), I finished twenty seconds behind Checo (Sergio Perez) and Max (Verstappen). He and Rosberg stuck to the rest of the field for a minute in 2014 and 2015, the two-time F1 world champion noted. And in addition, following having slammed two or three fast laps, they protected their engine and lowered the performance.
“He has a short memory, he is getting old, Alonso had fun. To win titles, you need dominating cars like Lewis had them.” At Mercedes since 2013, Lewis Hamilton has won six world championship titles (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), adding to his first crown obtained with McLaren in 2008.
“I think I’m in the right place today”
Deprived of the title of world champion in 2021 by Max Verstappen during the last round of the season, Lewis Hamilton lived a season without a win last year. His goal, to become the only driver with eight individual world titles, necessarily seems very complicated in the face of Red Bull domination.
As for Fernando Alonso, his arrival at Aston Martin allowed him to have a competitive single-seater, enough to fight for the first places. The Spaniard is not closing the door to a future collaboration with Lewis Hamilton, even if it seems unlikely: “Why not? But not sure that will happen. I don’t want to change teams. I think I’m in the right place today.”
In 2007, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were teammates at McLaren, for a rivalry that marked Formula 1. Sixteen years later, the two veterans are still present and should battle several times during the season. The next meeting will take place this weekend in Australia. This Friday, Alonso has already dominated the second free practice session.