LONDON, United Kingdom, Nov 16 – Alpine driver Fernando Alonso reckons Formula 1 can be one of the most unfair sports on earth, especially after what happened in Brazil this past weekend, which is nothing new.
“I was surprised on Saturday,” said Alonso, when Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton started at the back of the grid to finish fifth then the next day started in 10th and won the race.
“I mean, I think we were all surprised that a driver has 25 penalty places on the grid in one weekend and still wins the race,” Alonso added.
“It is what it is.”
But two-time world champion Alonso says the situation is actually nothing new.
“As a driver, it’s like playing basketball and there’s one basket for you and one for the others. They (Mercedes) score their points with a bigger basket and you have to score yours with a smaller one,” Alonso said.
“So you always lose,” he said.
“I am lucky to have won two championships and I was privileged to have been in that position. I was also at Toyota in the WEC and had that kind of superiority in the car.
“But I just imagine young children watching this sport and seeing one car pass two others in the straight line. We shouldn’t let them lose hope that they can be champions.
“We (drivers) are all as committed to the sport,” Alonso continued. “We train a lot, we work in the simulator, we risk our lives every time.
“But we’re still one lap behind in every race, and we know before we even go to Qatar. It’s really the only sport in which something like this happens.”
Alonso is banking on closing the gap to teams like Mercedes and Red Bull in 2022, when the new regulations kick in and hopes that it will “make the sport a little fairer”.
“I don’t know if it will work,” Alonso admitted.
Alpine have confirmed that Oscar Piastri will be the team’s reserve driver in 2022.
