Ever since moving on from Renault, the team he won his back-to-back world championships with, Fernando Alonso has earned the reputation of a maverick. He turned the practice of switching teams into a habit. Each time he moved on to a new team, more often than not, he left with a souring of the relationships. His final days at Alpine were no different as he often took the team to task publically on the team radio. Then came a phase when he openly criticized his teammate Esteban Ocon as well. While his switch to Aston Martin, by the looks of it from the season opener in Bahrain, looks like a fruitful one, a former F1 champion has slammed him for his other side that left “groups of people rather destroyed”.
After struggling with Alpine because of reliability issues, Alonso called it quits with the Enstone-based team. The Aston Martin move, as instantly as it could, delivered results. Much to the pleasure of millions of motor racing fans, the Spaniard took the podium after a hard-fought battle with old rival Lewis Hamilton.
Reacting to the move on Sky Sports’ show, Damon Hill said, “Fernando’s way is he used to destroy his nest when he moved from team to team, and he left groups of people rather destroyed.” [Translated using Google]
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“His reputation didn’t help him, he made decisions when he should have made others, but he certainly made the right choice this time around with Aston Martin, so his joy was evident. But that guy is a master.”
Apart from his superior racing ability, Alonso, according to Hill, possesses a special ability that sets him apart from the rest.
Damon Hill reveals the quality that makes Fernando Alonso stand out
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Over his long F1 career, Alonso has shared rivalries with many drivers. Those include the ones with his own teammates. The most prominent one that comes to mind is the one with Hamilton. The duo, during their time at McLaren, fought each other fiercely. That did not turn out to be good for either of them as they both finished the 2007 season on the same points, losing the championship by just one point to Kimi Raikkonen. However, one thing he has mastered ever since then is the ability to rile his rivals up.
Hill said, “You know, he knows exactly what to say to rub salt in the wound if he has to. I think every racing driver looks at him and says ‘there’s a formidable competitor’.”
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Where do you think Alonso will finish the 2023 season in the drivers’ standings? Do let us know your predictions in the comments below.