F1 chief confident in Fernando Alonso’s ‘fabulous ability’ to still win races
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Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso is generally considered to be one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time. While he has won two championships (2005 & 2006, both with Renault) many people also feel he could have achieved more. Or should have achieved more. The Spaniard came within hair’s breadth of winning the world title three other times in his career – 2007, 2010, and 2012.
His total of 32 Grands Prix wins is enough for seventh in the all-time wins table. However, he hasn’t been able to add to that since 2013 – when he won the 2013 European GP, held in Valencia. Since that, he’s driven in more than 100 races, but that win continues to evade him. He went from Ferrari to McLaren, then left the sport. He came back with Alpine – and played a crucial role in his return year for Esteban Ocon’s maiden F1 win. Many considered it a ‘winning performance’.
A ‘winning performance’ is not going to be enough for a two-time world champion, however. Now, he’s at Aston Martin on a multi-season contract, still looking for a race win and perhaps that third world title. Many would argue that he still has it in him, and Formula 1’s chief technical officer, Pat Symonds is among that pack. When asked at ‘Autosport International’ if the Spaniard could still win races, Symonds said as per GPFans: “If you put him in the right car, I’m damn sure he could still win races.”
Pat Symonds: Fernando Alonso ‘could have been’ five-time F1 world champion
Pat Symonds knows Fernando Alonso well – the two had worked together at Renault back in the day, before the ‘Crashgate‘ controversy in 2008 and the subsequent fallout led to his departure from the team (along with Flavio Briatore) and F1, until 2013. The Briton has been F1’s ‘Chief Technical Officer’ since 2017. A common theme in debates about Alonso is ‘what could have been’, and it comes up here again.
Symonds thinks Alonso has ‘fantastic ability’, and ‘could have been’ a five-time world champion: “He has fabulous ability and you’ve got to remember, yes, he’s ‘only’ won the world championship twice, but he’s finished second a lot [three occasions]. And any of those ones where he’s finished second, he wasn’t far off winning. He could have been a five-time world champion but for a little bit of fate.”
Time will tell if Alonso could in fact return to winning ways, but if he doesn’t, it’s not going to be from a lack of trying or skill. Despite his fortunes on the track, the Spaniard could stay at Aston Martin much longer – team principal Mike Krack has hinted at that earlier, and even Alonso has expressed his willingness to take up a ‘non-racing role’ if it doesn’t work out for him as a driver.
In case you missed it:
- “He’s going to push us in every area of the team,” Fernando Alonso’s arrival has made Aston Martin more confident about achieving their goals
- “We need to be able to handle this kind of character,” Mike Krack believes that Fernando Alonso will be a key figure in Aston Martin’s success
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)