Among all the drivers on the grid who have kept a foothold in this tremendously competitive sport, Fernando Alonso is definitely up there. The 41-year-old is the oldest on the grid, but with a renewed hope in him. This is the understanding from the outside looking in. His former teammate at Ferrari believes the “bad guy” never lost his touch and has always been competitive. In fact, his Ferrari teammate narrated an incident that truly reveals Alonso’s mentality that he showcases every race weekend.
We are all aware of Alonso’s win-at-all-costs mentality. In fact, most believe this is exactly the reason behind his broken relationships with his teammates. Although, that wasn’t the case with him and Pedro de la Rosa, and the Spaniard has been rooting for his compatriot for a long time. Although having been his teammate, the Aston Martin ambassador did witness some of that winning mentality from Alonso in his narration, as quoted by Reuters.
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He said, “He was always giving 100% even if he was fighting as a double world champion for 15th position. Sometimes I tell him ‘Fernando, we are here for fun. I’m on holiday here in Dubai, don’t give me this’ and he’s like ‘Yeah we’re on holiday but we still need to win.’”
de la Rosa then revealed the instance where he which reveals Alonso’s winning mentality. “He took me to a place I hadn’t seen before. I said ‘Fernando there’s no need for this, you were going to beat me anyway.’ He just wants to make sure,” he added.
The Spaniard has not changed at least in the aspect of his hunger for winning and we all can attest to that now. However, de la Rosa’s confidence in the Spaniard has been intact for ages. Which is understandable as the two share a past.
The past, which the former teammates were reminded of during their first meeting in the Aston Martin garage.
Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa shot back in the past after their recent reunion
The Spaniards are reunited in Aston Martin. The feeling of being on the same side is renewed and surely brings back memories. This is exactly what happened when both Alonso and de la Rosa set their sights on the Aston Martin challenger.
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Alonso said, “We (him and Pedro de la Rosa) entered the garage this morning together and we saw the green car and we both said this is exactly as Jaguar in 2002!”
The 2002 Jaguar R3 was not a car that we would compare the AMR23 to because of the former’s underwhelming capabilities. However, the two had a nice dose of déjà vu.
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The AMR23 is a much superior car, and the Spaniard has already proved that. The two old teammates are making new memories now. Hopefully, by the end of the current season, they will be happy memories.