Fernando Alonso of Spain and the Alpine F1 team prepare to drive in the garage during the final practice session before the US F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas on October 23, 2021 in Austin, Texas.
• Lewis Hamilton suffered a total of 25 starting place penalties at the Brazilian GP.
• However, the defending champion fought hard for victory with a strong car.
• Alpine’s Fernando Alonso believes Mercedes have an unfair advantage.
• For the latest in driving, go to Wheels24
According to two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, Formula 1 is perhaps the most unfair sport in the world.
“I was surprised on Saturday,” said the 40-year-old Spaniard after Mercedes-Lewis Hamilton overcame several starting penalties by finishing the entire field in fifth.
The seven-time world champion then won the main race on Sunday.
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“I mean, I think we were all surprised that a driver would have 25 penalty spots on the grid in one weekend and still win the race,” added Alonso.
“It is what it is.”
But the Alpine pilot, who has been racing in Formula 1 since 2001 and took a two-year sabbatical in 2019 and 2020, says the situation is actually nothing new.
“As a driver, it’s like playing basketball and there is one basket for you and one for the others. You (Mercedes) score with a bigger basket and you have to score yours with a smaller one,” said Alonso.
“So you always lose,” he insisted.
“I am fortunate to have won two championships and I was privileged to be in that position. I was also at Toyota in the WEC and had that superiority in the car.
“But I just imagine young children watching this sport and seeing one car pass two others straight ahead. We shouldn’t make them lose hope that they can become champions.”
“We are all committed to the sport,” Alonso continued, looking at the drivers. “We train a lot, we work in the simulator, we risk our lives every time.
“But we’re still one lap behind in every race and we know it before we even go to Qatar. It’s really the only sport where that happens.”
However, he said there was hope for the 2022 regulations with the intention of “making the sport a little fairer”.
“I don’t know if it’ll work,” Alonso admitted.
Interestingly, at least two of his rivals disagreed with Alonso – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
“I disagree,” said Ferrari’s Leclerc. “Of course Lewis has a very strong car at the moment, but I think he has managed to go beyond what this car can offer.”
Teammate Sainz added, “Yes, I saw this debate all over social media today.
“Why don’t we talk about a combination of both? A great driver, a tremendously talented driver, with a car that was really dominant this weekend.”
Meanwhile, Alpine has confirmed that Oscar Piastri will be the team’s reserve player in 2022, raising the prospect of Alfa Romeo signing his academician Guanyu Zhou.
The post Mercedes’ F1 rivals “always lose,” says Fernando Alonso first appeared on monter-une-startup.
