“If you think about it, yes, Fernando is correct,” Emerson Fittipaldi backs Fernando Alonso’s Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton title worth claim
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Emerson Fittipaldi (L) [Original image taken from Flickr / Palácio do Planalto) | Fernando Alonso (R)
Late in October, Fernando Alonso had come under fire, especially on social media, for claiming that Max Verstappen’s titles are worth more than Lewis Hamilton’s titles. The reasoning he gave for this was that Hamilton (primarily) won it against his teammates, saying that it’s ‘different’.
While he later clarified it, saying: “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.” But the damage was rather done, with many feeling that he was just backtracking.
While the backlash against the Spaniard was massive, he did have a few supporters. With his recent statement, it could be said that two-time world champion (same as Verstappen and Alonso) Emerson Fittipaldi is one of them. In his column for Vegas Insider, the racing legend said that Alonso’s point ‘has merit’.
Fittipaldi said that now (when Verstappen has won his titles) it’s much more competitive than it was when Hamilton did: “Very difficult to analyse but the point that Fernando (Alonso) mentioned has merit because now it is extremely competitive. Much more than when Lewis was winning the championships, that was against his teammate.”
Emerson Fittipaldi lies the current ‘very close’ field in F1
The first part of the season was definitely incredibly competitive, with Max Verstappen’s lead being supplemented by errors from Ferrari, and even their drivers on a few occasions. Since the summer break, the races have really been anything but competitive, and Verstappen towers above the rest. He’s even broken an all-time wins record. But even after, at the very least, the Dutchman has been challenged in qualifying.
Emerson Fittipaldi further explained why he agrees with Alonso: “Now, you have Max who is against a lot of different people. If you think about it, yes, Fernando is correct. The level, the gap among the top five cars in any qualifying this year is very close. Much closer than when Lewis and Nico or Lewis and Bottas were there. They were quite superior to the field. Now the field is very close. I like it now.”
Qualifying certainly has been close: If Max Verstappen takes pole in the last two races, he would still fall short of Charles Leclerc’s season total of 9. But especially since the summer break, the races have really not been close at all. While he has been dominant since the summer break, it’s possible this wouldn’t be the case without Ferrari’s tyre degradation issue. It’s been a ‘What If?’ season for them.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)