People who have followed F1 for years know well that Fernando Alonso does not get along well with his teammates. His epic battles with rookie Lewis Hamilton during their McLaren days are a testament to it. In the most recent examples, Esteban Ocon features extensively as the Spaniard took constant digs at his own Alpine partner. That seems to have changed since his move to Aston Martin. Alonso has often made headlines with his praise for Lance Stroll, who also happens to be the team owner Lawrence Stroll’s son. But is this all a facade to prolong his time with the team?
The Asturian driver became a reason for quite a lot of raised eyebrows when he talked about what a great driver Lance is. Many found his comments to be ridiculous when he dubbed his new teammate as a future world champion. Since then, Alonso has found ways to either praise Lance or help him improve his performance during a Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso’s dirty tactics exposed by a veteran F1 journalist
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Fernando is currently 41 and does not have too many years left to continue his F1 journey. It came as a surprise when Aston Martin signed him on a multi-year contract just because of his age. While the move seems to be paying off well until now, former Williams manager and veteran F1 journo Peter Windsor feels it won’t last for too long.
Speaking during his Miami GP debrief on his YouTube channel, Windsor said, “A very difficult driver politically to run in the team and you can see that already at Aston Martin, the way he’s over the top [with] comments about how good Lance is and helping Lance–none of which the true Alonso would really be interested in at all.”
“You can see he’s just trying to build up a whole sort of ‘we love Fernando’ thing at Aston Martin and one day it’ll all come crashing down probably, knowing poor old Fernando.”
Alonso famously told his race engineer during the Azerbaijan GP to recommend Lance his brake balance. He felt that he was benefiting from it and also could Lance Stroll.
Fernando Alonso believes that he’s always been a helpful teammate
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Alonso’s helpful gesture in Baku again raised eyebrows. Many experts wondered if he was a changed man or was just being nice to his teammate because of his father. However, ignoring all his past deeds, the man from Oviedo felt that he’s always been this way. He also blamed the F1 media for tarnishing his image and only broadcasting his radio messages now.
ESPN’s Nate Saunders reported, “Fernando Alonso said he has always tried to help teammates throughout his career. But Formula One is only now being kind to him with what radio messages they choose to broadcast.”
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Do you think Alonso has really changed since his move to Aston Martin? Or is he only interested in earning some brownie points, as Peter Windsor suggests?