Opportunities for young drivers unfairly distributed, says Alonso
F1 News
- GPblog.com
At 40 years old, Fernando Alonso is one of the oldest drivers on the current Formula 1 grid. Only Kimi Raikkonen (41) is older. The Spaniard is therefore driving with a completely new generation of Formula 1 drivers, for which he has high praise.
Love for Verstappen
Alonso's fondness for Max Verstappen has been known for some time. He recently admitted that during his two-year absence from Formula 1, he mainly turned on the TV to see what the Dutchman would do in the race. In Hungary, he kept Lewis Hamilton behind him for as long as possible to not only help teammate Esteban Ocon to victory but also provide an advantage for Verstappen.
But Verstappen is not the only driver of the new generation that Alonso is looking forward to."It's definitely a good time for the sport now, the new generation is talented and prepared," the Alpine driver told FormulaPassion.it. Here he points especially to George Russell, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly. He also points to 17 year old supertalent Theo Pourchaire who will test for the first time this week in an Alfa Romeo.
Competitive car
According to Alonso, the current level of many young Formula One drivers is due to the teams' junior programmes. "The academies help them in all the different categories, they have all the tools and engineers to do well when they get to Formula One." Still, some drivers have a bigger advantage than others, coming into Formula One at a bigger team than others.
"Just look at Lando [Norris] and George [Russell]," Alonso explained. "They are both young and talented, but one is fighting for the podium and the other is struggling to score points. And that's a bit unfair." Leclerc also saw the difference. "As long as Ferrari had a competitive car, we thought the he could lead the next generation. Now the car is not so strong and maybe we think differently, but also today his performance is related to that of the car."