In response to comments he made in an interview suggesting that world titles won against other teams are more valuable than those won having only had to fight against your teammate, Fernando Alonso says he is “tired of the continuous search for headlines.”
Alonso expressed admiration for Hamilton and his achievements in Formula 1, but he believes that given Mercedes’ dominance during the turbo hybrid era, there have been times “when you have only had to fight with your teammate” for titles, which in his opinion gave a title “less value” than when competing against another team and a larger pool of drivers.
The two-time Formula 1 champion, Fernando Alonso, a former Renault driver won the World Championships in 2005 and 2006 against Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren and Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari.
In an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Alonso suggested that having fewer titles but competing against other cars and teams may be more valuable than competing in World Championships against team-mates in the fastest machinery.
“This year Max is very dominant and he could cruise to the world title,” he said.
“Last season it was different. I thought he performed better than Lewis in the end and therefore I think he is a worthy champion.
“I also have a lot of respect for Lewis. However, it is different when you win seven world titles when you have only had to fight with your teammate.
“Then I think a championship has less value than when you have fewer titles, but against other drivers you have had to contend with equivalent or even better equipment.
“In 2005 and 2006, I had a good start to the year myself and was able to create a lead. Then others might have had a better car, but I was able to manage that gap.
“I never had to fight with my teammates to win those titles. Nor did I see Max fighting with [Sergio] Perez or [Alex] Albon to win races.
“But Schumacher, in particular, fought with his teammates to become champion five times in a row, and Hamilton fought with Rosberg and [Valtteri] Bottas. That’s different, I think. “
However, after the interview was published, Alonso took to Twitter to express his displeasure with the attempts to “search for headlines” in response to his comments.
Fernando Alonso posted on Twitter :
“And again, please, all the titles are amazing,well-deserved, and inspiring. Incomparable to each other, let’s enjoy the champions and legends of our current time. Tired of the continuous search for headlines. Let’s enjoy them. “
