Fernando Alonso Pays Classy Tribute to Ex-McLaren F1 Teammate Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is arguably one of the best drivers on the Formula One grid. Having the Brit as your teammate in F1 can be a gift or a curse. For Fernando Alonso, having Lewis as his teammate at McLaren brought the best out of him.

Alonso stated that both Michael Schumacher and Hamilton had one thing in common; both pushed their rivals to the limit.

Hamilton was a rookie driver when he joined McLaren back in 2007. His teammate was Alonso; a 2-time world champion. The Spaniard revealed even though they had great battles on track, he has massive respect for Brit.

Fernando Alonso reveals what effect Lewis Hamilton had on him

Speaking on the podcast, Beyond the Grid being asked about the rivals he had great admiration for. Alonso said, “For sure the champions of my generation, I think Lewis. I think with Lewis, we didn’t have let’s say the competition that I was looking for. It is true that in 2007 we shared the team, and that’s for the general people you know the biggest fight you couldn’t have.”

“But in 2007, I think we both were not ready, understandably he was not ready for the fight because he was a rookie, and coming into Formula One. And I wasn’t performing at my best, not really integrated with the team, and for sure we have had all the fights together, and all the stress together to fight for the championship, and we are not well managed at that time. And all the 2007 things, okay we finish with the same points in the championship, which you see as a very big fight. And I think we both could have done better.”

“And in the following years, I had a better package I think in Ferrari than him when he was in McLaren, so we didn’t fight. And now that he switched to Mercedes, he had a better package, and we never had the opportunity again to fight together. So that was the missing point in my career, he is a legend of the sport. He again like Michael pushed you to the limit. Because, if you want to beat Lews, you need to perform at your best,” Alonso concluded.

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How’s Alonso doing this season?

The 40-year-old rejoined the grid after a two-year hiatus. Now with Alpine, the Spaniard has had a season full of ups and downs. The highlight of his 2021 season so far was his podium in Qatar where he placed third.

Fernando currently sits in tenth place in the driver’s championship with 77 points to his name. With just two more races left before the end of the season, Alonso hopes to pick up as many points as possible.

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