Fernando Alonso claims Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen owe their success to regulation changes

The regulation changes in 2014 and 2022 were pivotal for Hamilton and Verstappen respectively.

Fernando Alonso claims Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen owe their success to regulation changes

Fernando Alonso, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Credits: IMAGO)

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso recently expressed his views on a driver’s contribution to his team in Formula One. Since the sport involves such a high level of technicalities, no single person can make a very big change, especially the driver, and it is the collective effort of the team that comes into play.

Alonso backed this point of view by recalling Lewis Hamilton’s run with Mercedes when the regulatory changes brought F1 to hybrid engines which immediately propelled Hamilton up to winning ways. Similarly, Max Verstappen has been with Red Bull since 2016, and while he could not end Hamilton’s dominance during that time, he now is overshadowing the entire grid due to the 2022 rule changes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9WZMnniNpQ&pp=ygUPZmVybmFuZG8gYWxvbnNv

“It’s something that has always been said, that there are drivers who build winning teams, but when Lewis arrived at Mercedes in 2013, he didn’t build anything. Max did not build a winning Red Bull. It is a sport of technical decisions and regulations that usually provide more than your data, information, or way of driving. You need to be in the right place and at the right time,” said Alonso, as reported by SoyMotor.

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Also read: Christian Horner is confident that FIA won’t introduce ‘draconian’ regulation changes to end Red Bull’s dominance 

Fernando Alonso reaffirms his faith in the Aston Martin project

Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso (Credits: RacingNews365)

Having finished at a low seventh position in the constructors’ championship last year, the team is at fourth place currently with a 102-point lead from fifth-place McLaren. It might be all down to Fernando Alonso, who is having an unexpectedly good season with Aston Martin this year. Though the team has faced several ups and downs this season, Alonso has always maintained his belief in the team’s project.

Alonso said that the team is looking to capitalize on the opportunity when Red Bull makes a mistake. He said that while the team had a good start to the season, they still need to improve and have already done a major development this winter.

 “We need a couple of bad decisions from Red Bull to make them deviate from the good direction they’ve found. We need to make several steps forward, but we already took one this winter. I have full confidence in this project,” said Alonso.

Alonso had returned to the podium in the Dutch GP after a streak of bad runs, but his last race at Monza again saw him drop down to P9. With just ten races remaining this season, it remains to be seen how high Alonso is able to finish in the WDC standings.

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