Fernando Alonso has been in the headlines recently, primarily because of a U.S. Grand Prix penalty debacle that was eventually reversed. But during the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend, an article was published in which the Spaniard compared the titles of Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher to Max Verstappen’s.
Alonso said to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that Verstappen’s titles held more value than those belonging to Hamilton and Schumacher, who often faced their stiffest competition from teammates. The Spaniard, though, did make it clear he has “a lot of respect for Lewis.”
Hamilton and Schumacher have won seven titles each. Schumacher won five straight with Ferrari from 2000-04, and Hamilton won four straight from 2017-20 before losing the ’21 title to Verstappen.
Comparatively, the young Dutchman had a close battle for his first title last season and cruised away with the world championship this year after an early battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
“I also have a lot of respect for Lewis. Still, it’s different when you win seven world titles, when you’ve only had to fight with your teammate. Then I think that a championship has less value than if you have fewer titles, but you have had to compete against other drivers with equal or even better material,” Alonso said to De Telegraaf.
“In 2005 and 2006, I had a good start to the year and I was able to create a lead. Then others may have had a better car, but I was able to manage that gap. I never had to fight with my teammate Giancarlo Fisichella to win the title.
“I also didn’t see Max fight [Sergio] Pérez or [Alex] Albon to win races. But Schumacher mainly fought with his teammate Rubens Barrichello to become champion five times in a row and Hamilton with Nico Rosberg and [Valtteri] Bottas. That’s different, I think.”
After his remarks were published, Alonso took to Twitter to clarify his comments while also clapping back at the media. He shared, “Please, all the titles are amazing, well deserved and inspiring. Incomparable to each other and let’s enjoy champions and legends of our current time. Tired of the continuous search for headlines. Let’s enjoy them.”
Hours later, Hamilton himself took to Twitter and shared a cryptic post that only had the thumbs up emoji and a photo of him and Alonso in 2007 with the Brit standing above on the podium.
This is the second time this season that tension has risen between the former teammates. The two collided on the first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix, which sent Hamilton’s car in the air and forced the Mercedes driver to exit the race early. Alonso could be heard over the team radio broadcast saying, “What an idiot! Closing the door from the outside. We had a great start, but this guy only knows how to drive and start in first.”
Alonso later said the remark was made in the “heat of the moment” and expressed respect for Hamilton. The pair later stood together with a signed cap, which was gifted to the Alpine driver.
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