Fernando Alonso says Lewis Hamilton had an ‘easier ride’ to F1 glory compared to Max Verstappen
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Fernando Alonso bizarrely claims Lewis Hamilton had it easy when he won his seven F1 world titles, suggesting Michael Schumacher and the Briton owed their success to ‘ONLY beating their teammates’
- Fernando Alonso says Lewis Hamilton’s championships aren’t worth that much
- The Alpine driver said Max Verstappen’s titles are worth more than Hamilton’s
- He claimed that all the British driver had to do was fight his teammates
- Alonso then went back on his claims, saying ‘all titles are well deserved’
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Fernando Alonso has argued that Lewis Hamilton’s world championships are not as valuable as those won by Max Verstappen.
Hamilton shares the record of seven titles with Michael Schumacher, but ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, Alonso, 41, said both men owed their success to only having to beat their respective teammates.
Alonso won consecutive championships in 2005 and 2006 with Renault – ending Schumacher’s era of dominance – while Verstappen defeated Hamilton in last season’s highly contentious title fight.
Fernando Alonso (pictured) spoke for the Mexican Grand Prix tonight
Alonso said Max Verstappen’s world title (pictured) was more valuable than Lewis Hamilton’s
The Dutchman followed that up by securing this season’s title with four laps to spare in his superior Red Bull machines.
Hamilton defeated Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and won his first title in 2008 with McLaren. He also beat Sebastian Vettel – in a Mercedes, which was sometimes not as strong as the German’s Ferrari – to win the 2017 and 2018 championships.
“I have a lot of respect for Lewis, but it’s different when you win seven world titles and all you have to do is fight with your teammate,” Alonso said in an interview with De Telegraaf.
“A championship has less value if you have fewer titles, but have had to fight against other drivers with equal or even better equipment.
Lewis Hamilton (left) has won seven world championships during his storied career
Alonso has since won two world championships, in 2005 and 2006 with Renault
‘In 2005 and 2006 I started the year well myself and managed to create a lead. Then others might have had a better car, but I was able to bridge that gap.
“I never had to fight with my teammate Giancarlo Fisichella to win those titles. I also didn’t see Max fight Sergio Perez or Alex Albon to win races.
But Schumacher mainly fought with his team-mate Rubens Barrichello (at Ferrari) to become champions five times in a row, and Hamilton fought with Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas (at Mercedes). That is different.’
Earlier this season, Alonso called Hamilton an “idiot” and said he only knows how to race from the front after an opening lap collision at the Belgian Grand Prix in August.
Hamilton is currently sixth in the F1 driver’s standings and has not won a race this season
Later on Saturday, he tried to row back from his last swipe at Hamilton.
He wrote on Twitter: ‘Please, all the titles are great, well deserved and inspiring. Incomparable to each other. Let’s enjoy champions and legends of our present time.’
The two-time world champion, who has competed in more F1 races than any other driver, will leave Alpine at the end of the season to join Aston Martin.