© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Returning two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso was asked who he thought is the better driver, himself or Lewis Hamilton?
Obviously if we look at the statistics alone, with seven world championships and 95 race victories, Lewis Hamilton is far ahead of Fernando Alonso. However that doesn’t stop people from debating who is the better driver between the two.
Hamilton and Alonso had the opportunity to drive alongside each other at McLaren in 2007. They ended the season with 109 points each, and both missed the world championship by a single point. However 2007 was Lewis Hamilton’s rookie year, while Alonso just won the world championship in 2005 and 2006.
Well, on the WTF1 podcast Fernando Alonso was asked who he thought was the better driver?
“It’s difficult to compare times, difficult to compare drivers in the same time because you need to have all the things and all the ingredients together to have a fair answer,” said the Spaniard.
“It’s true that having the same car and the same team in one year, that is a good opportunity to compare drivers and the final score was 109-109 in terms of points. So that’s already one answer.
“It’s true that the people say it was his rookie year and it was not my rookie year. At the same time I can say it was a change to Bridgestone, like a GP2 tyre of that time, compared to the Michelin and the Bridgestone that we were running in the past.
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“My first three or four races and all my winter testing was very compromised for this tyre and I had to re-adapt a lot of things on my style.
“It never got public that thing, because it’s not of interest to the public. But his rookie year, true the Bridgestone tyre changed that year.
“Luck factor is also an important thing. Lewis had the pit-lane entry in Shanghai at the penultimate race, that was a bad moment for him.
“I had two issues with the gearbox, starting 10th in two races. I had one of the most unfair penalties in Hungary with the pit-lane block, it was pole at that time, and from pole position you start 10th in Hungary.
“Then if you lose the Championship for one point, that hurts when it’s something like that.
“So 109-109 I’m happy, and I see now Lewis’ success, and in Formula 1 it is difficult to compare Michael [Schumacher], Lewis, [Ayrton] Senna.
“They have all been great in different eras and a lot of victories, but for sure you need a car and a package that Lewis has at the moment and he’s delivering,” concluded Alonso.
We will have the opportunity to see the two drivers battle it out again in 2021, when Fernando Alonso returns to Formula 1 with the Alpine F1 Team.
