Max Verstappen could clinch his second world title at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, tying him with Alonso on two titles.
In addition, a victory in Singapore would bring him even with Fernando Alonso’s record of 32 victories, placing him sixth overall, behind Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna.
Similar parallels can be drawn between Alonso and Verstappen’s careers, with the Spaniard winning his first two championships back-to-back while defeating a seven-time champion (Schumacher in 2006) in the process.
Fernando Alonso, unfortunately, hasn’t been able to add to his championship total after missing out in 2007, 2010, and 2012 by a few points, and untimely team changes have prevented him from taking the trophy home in more than nine years.
The Alpine driver believes Verstappen will go down in F1 history as a result of his likely second championship victory, but he wishes the Dutch driver “more luck” in the future.
“I think so, yes,” Alonso said. “He’s 24 or 25, no? So there’s still a lot in front of him, but I wish him more luck than me because I was also 26 with those stats and still have the same stats at 40! But I’m sure with Red Bull and how things look for the future, he will only get better.
“It’s very well deserved. They were the best team and the best driver by far, so when they win it I don’t think is an important thing, it’s just that they will. Whether it’s here or in Japan, let’s see.”
Alonso was quick to point out that Red Bull hasn’t had a better car this year, despite Verstappen’s ability to clinch the championship in the following two races.
“There was not much of a fight, no? I mean, it’s going to be an important season because we changed the regulations massively, so it’s going to always be remembered for this new generation of cars,” he added. “I think Ferrari had a very, very fast car but Red Bull and Max were outstanding.
“There was no fight maybe because Red Bull and Max Verstappen were better than the others, but they didn’t have that superior car because I guess Ferrari’s is the same or better.”
