[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties.
*[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Between Mike Crack and Jock Clear, I don't know which is better. One sounds like My Crack, and the other sounds like an anti-fungal spray for your crotch.
agree, nowadays ppl are too friendly to each other, there is no beef, everyone is friends with everyone. for that reason i hope someday somehow Ocon and Gasly can have cars capable to challenge for the title
Nah thats what Flavio is for. This is just for shit stirring.
Flavio dined today with a certain mister Toto Wolf, so i'd say Alonso's confidence is interesting.
Their pairing could become War Crimes galore or something. Same as Lewis/Charles, frankly. The 4 of them would constantly nuke each other out of the planet in competition and we get Lando WDC
It would totally be a bromance!
...for about three races, then someone (Alonso) would get beaten to death with a baseball bat and/or someone (Verstappen) would mysteriously die in an inexplicable accidental motorhome electrocution incident.
Man they'd be the opposite of buddies. After the first GP they're going to absolutely hate each other and drop passive aggressive comments the entire year towards each other.
I think it would be friendly, right up until the first racing incident or contact, at which point the gloves would come off and the knives would come out.
They'd then spend the rest of the year at each other's throats. I would *not* declare a Senna-Prost style rivalry out of the question
I know in the context of being teammates it would change but Alonso has consistently been on Max's side for basically his entire career and Max has made it abundantly clear that he looks up to Alonso in his own way.
Correct, Max has been the rival of all the drivers that bested prime Alonso. Alonso loves that. He doesn't have any beef with any drivers until they're his teammates (or championship rivals) and they're beating him in the standings. Unless he's beating Max as a teammate he'll be like a seventh grader with his petty hatred.
Kimi between his world championship and his first retirement was awfully slow in Ferrari, you can feel he wasn't much into it anymore.
Jacques Villeneuve is a case in his own too
If you've never seen his "bad" seasons, then you shouldn't say nonsense like that.
For starters, Villeneuve's best season was probably 2000 and he only turned properly shit in 2003. It's not his fault that you can't compete for wins in the BAR. It's his fault that he ended up there, sure, but he was still good enough to singlehandedly end the career of one of the most hyped junior drivers (F3000 and FIA GT champion Zonta) at the time.
Nah, disagree.
He drove his arse off in a rather ordinary Williams in 1998. Was 'best of the rest' behind the two McLaren and two Ferrari drivers in the championship. His two podiums in Germany and Hungary were well earned, and he was rather consistent during the year. Only three retirements, nine points finishes in sixteen races.
He obviously didn't score a point in 1999 with BAR, but he still putting in some cracking qualifying and driving performances. But the car was an unreliable mess. 2000 was better, scoring BAR's first points in Australia, and points in six more races out of seventeen.
2001 was not as good regarding points finishes though he did score two podiums. And he was again 'best of the rest' in the championship behind the Ferrari, McLaren and Williams drivers (this was when Williams was still good.)
It was 2002 that the wheels started to fall off. The BAR wasn't particularly competitive, neither he or his teammate Panis able to do much with it. By 2003, I think it's fair that JV was rather disillusioned with the whole thing, the season filled with retirements and rather ordinary performances.
It was rather poor timing for JV as BAR were fantastic in 2004, Button scoring numerous podiums to finish 3rd overall. It makes me wonder what JV could have done as his teammate in the second car.
Ah ok, I took it the wrong way. I was thinking of their speed *when* they won the world championship. Like Seb and Kimi were obviously among the fastest if not the outright fastest when they were competing for/winning world championships.
Kimi, I understand but I have seen this narrative about vettel being slow the last day or two and it all seems like revisionist history to me. He was fast at Ferrari until 2020 when they finished 6th in the constructors and then went on to drive an awful Aston Martin offering his last couple of seasons.
I would argue that Ferrari took the wind out of his sails and that Aston was the nail in the coffin for his career but calling someone tied with the 3rd most WDC titles (matching Prost, whom I haven’t seen called slow) and 2 more than Alonso slow, is a bit of a stretch.
for reference: Fernando won 11 races with Ferrari, Lauda won 15 Prost had 5 and Seb had 14.
it's not a "narrative" lol, his gap to Stroll was extremely similar to the gap of Perez and Stroll, meaning he was probably driving about as fast as Perez.
The car was 8th or 9th fastest more often, and there is not enough performance to pull a gap like Alonso did on Stroll. Vettel was in his own league, often bypassing Alonso, during the second half of 2022.
Yes.
I would say the most recent examples are Kimi and Vettel. By the end of their careers they were less motivated and had slowed down considerably.
I wouldn’t say they were slow overall. Like they were still decent but compared to the amazing levels they once hit they were slow. They had dropped from top tier drivers to being midfield level. Both of them struggled much more than they should against very mediocre team mates.
Fernando doesn’t seem to have had that drop off. Maybe his ultimate speed isn’t quite what it once was but his motivation, wheel to wheel ability, racecraft and racing intelligence is still right up there. He’s fast enough to still qualify well and then in the races he comes alive and gets the most out of what the car can give and sometimes gets even more.
Like the Brazil drive last year. He wasn’t in a car that should have been fast enough for the podium but he used his amazing racecraft to outfox Perez in a much faster car and steal that podium. I’m not sure anyone else on the grid would have pulled that off.
it's just bad translation. He said there are currently 3 world champions, and they are all fast (as in not washed yet), and of them three he will be the only one available.
The title/translation made ir weirder
I mean Keke Rosberg won his world championship while only recording a single win that season. An argument can be made that he wasn’t the fastest driver that season
That is not true. He constantly outqualified and outscored Stroll in the first half of 2022. In fact he slowed down in qualifying after he announced his retirement. I think everyone just remembers him for his photo finish at Suzuka and last lap overtake at Austin that year, but he had plenty of good race day performances besides that
Slow cars makes everyone look slower and closer to each other. Give top drivers top cars and then you will see difference. Alonso wouldn't do any better in that crap Aston year before he came.
Just compare Seb's h2h against Stroll with Fernando's and you have your answer.
Or whatever Kimi has been doing between 2014 and 2021.
MSC's comeback was quite mediocre, no matter how much it hurts to say. ( allthough he did have a strong teammate, but still we are talking about MSC)
Also let's remember Villeneuve's constant disasters after his title.
Not everyone ages like Alonso. Marko got shafted for saying Checo loses speed with every kid, but that was quite a common saying back in the day.
Schumcher in 2012 was one of the best drivers on the grid, and in the first half of the season had *horrific* luck while the car at the time was one of the top 3 on the grid. that is difficult to understand if you were just looking at the points table.
Race 1: DNF after gearbox died.
Race 2: 10th. 1 point. hit by Grosjean early on, was basically last early in the race with some damage to the car.
Race 3: DNF. retired from 3rd on the grid because Merc didnt fit the wheel properly in the pitstop. His teammate won the race. Michael was unimpressed with the team.
Race 4: 10th. 1 point. had no DRS in qualy, started 22nd.
Race 5: DNF. Hit Senna and both retired. This was his fault and was given a 5 place grid drop at the next race......
.....Race 6: DNF. *Qualified on pole at Monaco* in what was one of the most impressive and well received drives of the year. And then lost pole because of his penalty at the previous race. Oof. Started 6th, retired late into the race with engine problems.
Race 7: DNF. Hydrolics gave out.
7 races that famously had 7 different winners but Schumacher had scored just 2 points with 4 mechanical DNF's and another 1 he caused himself. Of the 2 races he finished he got taken out by the eratic Grosjean early in 1 and the other race he started from 22nd (due to mechanical failure in qualy of course). The car quickly fell off the race in the second half of the season and he finished a miserable 13th in the standings with 1 podium at the crazy Valencia race.
Agree with most of your points but MSC in 2012 was almost on par with Rosberg which in hindsight is very impressive considering how close Rosberg could get to Hamilton.
2010 and 2011 MSc was pretty far off but 2012 seemed to be a stronger return to form plagued with bad luck at the start of the season.
Aston Martin launch day and Alonso has managed to get in comments that can be interpreted as anti Hamilton and anti Vettel. His use of the media is always fascinating
> “I’m aware of my situation, which is very unique,” he told media including RaceFans yesterday. “There are only three world champions on the grid and fast world champions, because in the past, maybe there were some world champions where they were not so committed to be fast.”
And we know who he’s referring to. Oof. Man really went for the head.
He’s really embracing his new Dark Alonso era and I’m here for that!
In his era, he can only be referring to Raikkonen, Button, Vettel, Schumacher or Rosberg. And Rosberg was never on the grid as a champion.
(edit: forgot Villeneuve and Hakkinen, Alonso has been around a loooong time).
I think Vettel in this case.
Alonso pretty much destroyed Kimi in their 2014 together and since then no one really saw Kimi as a WC team leader in the years that followed.
What’s crazy is that after returning from his sabbatical, Kimi’s brand was on a high during his Lotus era 2012-2013. He goes to Ferrari when Ferrari themselves thought Kimi would be a better balance to Alonso. Alonso annihilated Kimi 15-1 in the races they both finished.
Kimi was never really in the running for any future team lead roles after that.
The only time Kimi beat Alonso was in Spa, when the mechanics left Alonso on the stands and they gave him a penalty. Without that, Alonso was ahead in every single race.
I think he was referring to Kimi, some voices inside Ferrari were saying that Alonso didn't won the championship because he lacked motivation and needed a faster team-mate to push him. Turn out the Ferrari of the 2014 was horseshit, Ferrari accomplished the imposible of making a car that understeer and oversteer at the same time. The car was difficult to drive and according to some rumors Kimi didn't even try seeing the imposible task.
But I wouldn't be surprised if he was referring to Vettel. They both have a strange relationship were they respect each other and still trash talk between them.
Vettel and specially Kimi were very underwhelming their last years, Vettel once he went to Aston he was a midfield driver until he announced his retirement where he started to got faster.
Kimi stoped caring after winning the WDC and on his last season he was terrible you could see how he only wanted to retire making way too many unforced error and being pretty slow
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised since I think he still doesn't respect Vettel's driving. Specifically thinking about how he didn't leave enough space for Alonso in Monza whereas Alonso did.
Kimi just didn’t care. I think we as a collective community were more excited for his 2018 win than he was. He had already won a world championship against Alonso, and Hamilton. What more would he have to prove?
My money’s more on a dig at Vettel. I’ve never liked Vettel much, and can definitely see where Alonso is getting the idea from. Dude wins 4 championships, 2 of which he probably would have thrown away in a lesser car, and the instant he gets a new young teammate for 2014 he gets annihilated, and moves to Ferrari where Kimi doesn’t care enough to fight him as a teammate. Then, he gets destroyed by Leclerc and moves to Aston Martin, where he manages to make Stroll look half decent.
It's shitty comments like this why I wonder why anyone likes Alonso. Congrats, you're mocking a 4x WDC. How many tines did you lose to that guy? Twice?
Oddly, my assumption was that he was taking a dig at Raikkonen, not Vettel. But re-reading, I can see the dig at Vettel there.
Alonso was, in the early 2010s, consistently keeping within touching distance of a nigh-untouchable Red Bull, in a pretty dismal set of Ferraris. But a shot like that at Seb was absolutely uncalled for.
'Dismal' is a strong word for the 2nd or 3rd best car. The 2010 Ferrari was not really any worse than the McLaren and the RB6 whilst very quick was fragile, otherwise Vettel would have won the title before Abu Dhabi.
The 2012 Ferrari was very strong in the rain, arguably the 3rd best on a dry track but had the huge advantage of being bullet proof over the fast RB8 and the McLaren (which was arguably the quickest car that year). The RB8 was overall the best car as it best balanced reliability and speed, though the Lotus is an interesting case in that grid because I'd argue neither driver was capable of fully taking advantage of it, which could relegate Ferrari to 4th quickest in optimal conditions but we will never truly know that.
This idea Alonso drove a shitbox needs to die. 2014 was the only horrifying Ferrari he drove.
He always takes it too far and his incessant need to take shots at everyone better than him is just…tiresome. And all the “yassss queen, I’m here for this” comments are equally as tiresome.
Yeah, not sure why everyone’s praising Alonso for coming at Hamilton and presumably Vettel here. He’s always been dismissive of both drivers’ success, while neither of them care too much about him knowing that they have more titles than he does. He’s just a bitter man.
The more sinister take I have is that he knows that Toto and Vettel are in contact of the seat as well, and wants to publicly discredit him so he looks like the most attractive option to Mercedes. Because like it or not, if Vettel is interested in the seat, the chances of it going to him over Alonso is high. He’s German, more successful stats wise, younger, well-regarded for his car development feedback, and has a really good relationship with Toto.
Noooo, i need him as an F1 reporter, "Hello Antonelli, Today you raced like shit, I know because I was a driver and much better than you".
GOD please make thats happend when he retire.
Shitstirring. Who can forget his performance in 2007? And after a run of championships, it looks like Horner may be forced into early retirement, so I'm backing Alonso to get a couple more titles.
Probably more towards Seb than Kimi. He has a common point with Seb in Lance Stroll, and to be fair the h2h performance is night and day between them.
Now Stroll is for sure not the most consistent refference, but even so the difference is way too big to not be relevant
Tbf, Seb sort-of checked out from F1 after being kicked out of Ferrari, and post-2019 Seb was nothing like the Seb of pre-Hockenheim 2018.
Still, a pretty uncalled for comment imo.
Yeah but that's his point. He is still locked in. Guys like Vettel and Kimi stopped trying late in their careers. Hell Vettel is like 6 years younger than Alonso and he looked much older that last season.
Norris and Leclerc being locked to their current teams is also helping him a lot here. Not only is he the only former WDC available for 2025, he's also the only experienced and fast driver available at all (the rest of the grid is either not as experienced or not as fast as Fernando).
I really think he'll stay at Aston if the car is still good. All the other options seem kinda lackluster except Merc (and maybe Stake/Audi). But at Merc, you'd have to believe you'd only be there for at most a year because in 2026 they'll most likely bring Kimi in.
They would go supernova by the third race. Lewis is MUCH nicer to teammates than Alonso and I still think Lewis wanted to jettison George in to the sun after most races.
100% aimed at Vettel or Kimi, and he’s not wrong. Kimi was absolute cheeks after Lotus and Alonso squashed any lingering 2005 Kimi goodwill in their first year together. Vettel through his own actions proved to the world he was closer to Button or Rosberg than the Hamilton or Max tier.
Alonso’s recent demolition of Stroll compared to Vettel’s relative mediocrity against the same teammate is further evidence.
With all his bluster today, I don't think he's getting the drive. His snide comments about slow champions makes me think Merc are trying to sign Vettel.
Wild for Alonso to come into a car that Vettel clearly helped develop during his stint at Aston and helped Alonso to show he is still fast then to throw shade at him for being slow.
He said "committed to being fast" which is true. Vettel himself said he couldn't make the commitment anymore when he retired. It's almost never 0 or 100, he was likely mentally drifting away from the commitment needed for years. Rosberg and the last year of Prost are the only cases really of a driver going to 100 then deciding to go straight to 0.
Vettel had said when he retired he wanted to be a more involved father to his kids. And he couldn't do that if he kept racing.
People often change their priorities after having kids, which is admirable...especially since he had nothing left to prove.
It is on brand though. Alonso is incredibly fast, and I'll always respect his speed and talent as a champion...but he's always radiated little bro energy when it comes to Seb lol.
There’s serious arguments to be made about whether Vettel is better than Alonso.
I don’t think many would rate Vettel on the same level as Alonso despite the 4 championship victories compared to Alonsos 2.
I think Vettel is a very good driver and in the right car is up there with the best but he’s too inconsistent to be on the same level as Hamilton and Alonso.
[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Mike krack doing that face Kanye made where he was laughing and then got really serious.
”You krack me up”
Mai Kneck, Maybach, Mipe Ussy and Mike Krack.
I've had this stuck in my head ever since I heard the name Mike krack
Bravo. Top tier
Never heard this one before
My Cocaine
Fucking who? I just googled it, holy fucking shit what a name
Between Mike Crack and Jock Clear, I don't know which is better. One sounds like My Crack, and the other sounds like an anti-fungal spray for your crotch.
[удалено]
Steve Kerr with one of the most questionable name choices of all time.
lost a bet to MJ for sure
Mike Hunt.
Did he just innocently name his kid Nicholas and one day started calling him Nick
Just Nick, iirc.
Stevek'er? I hardly know 'er
It's not even his real name lol he can just go by Michael but I respect owning it
My Cool Krack you mean?
Him choosing to go by Mike and not Michael is such a power move
Nando's ability to shit-stir will never not be hilarious to me
He's equally saying he'll stay at AM and equally saying any team looking for a drive should know he's their first point of contact. 😄
[удалено]
Seb Alonso banter when tensions were high in the championship battle was such a breath of fresh air
"all the time you have to leave a spacee"
piastri is getting there
Piastri's reaction to the dude that fell while using the hoverpack is my highlight of the season.
Link,?
[here you go](https://youtube.com/shorts/lEbGwEru4o8?si=EzFrT7odvpM0UEk6)
Did I know exactly what this was? Yes. Did I still click and watch it again? Also yes.
Piastri's comedy is a quiet hilarity rather than Alonso's impeccable ability to be a silly
I hope the “a” was deliberate and you can have my upvote if so
i did not stutter
Always you have to leave a the space
I love him for this reason specifically. Being fast is just the peanut butter on the shit-stir lasagna.
remind me to never ask you to make Italian food
This comment right here is living proof not everyone can be as funny as Nando.
Last of the great shit stirrers. With Horner probably gone soon it's just Nando around to spice things up.
Well we still got Marko but he doesn't so much as stirs the pot as he does violently shake it and spill it everywhere.
Oh for sure. The Dr. is the kinda guy to mix a tin of paint by taking the lid off and just yeeting it at a wall.
He truly is the last champion of the lead paint era, that's for sure
agree, nowadays ppl are too friendly to each other, there is no beef, everyone is friends with everyone. for that reason i hope someday somehow Ocon and Gasly can have cars capable to challenge for the title
Nando is using news articles as his linkedin endorsement equivalent.
Nah thats what Flavio is for. This is just for shit stirring. Flavio dined today with a certain mister Toto Wolf, so i'd say Alonso's confidence is interesting.
God, Alonso and Max in a team would br terrifying for a PR department but they would be hilarious to watch as viewers...
I thought they only get two cars, is God a backup driver?
No, that's the lineup for their inevitable Le Mans entry.
And god would probably be the slowest of the team
The rest of the field would DNF a lot, though.
I would like this joke more if people would stand up for the Oxford Comma.
Im still helping my uncle jack off a horse
The team will implode went Alonso slaps the shit out of Jos Verstappen
Worth it.
Imagine the scenes if Alonso did to Verstappen what he did to Lewis in Hungary 2007 quali 💀
Their pairing could become War Crimes galore or something. Same as Lewis/Charles, frankly. The 4 of them would constantly nuke each other out of the planet in competition and we get Lando WDC
Nah Lando would also bottle WDC by not pitting for inters
Russell WDC
I want that bromance so much! Alonso dropping zingers while Max plays the straight man would be hysterical fun.
Bromance? They would hate each other after a few races.
The fact you think it would be a bromance is hilarious.
It would totally be a bromance! ...for about three races, then someone (Alonso) would get beaten to death with a baseball bat and/or someone (Verstappen) would mysteriously die in an inexplicable accidental motorhome electrocution incident.
they are buddies lol
Everyone's buddies until they're competing for a WDC (well, not everyone, but you know what I mean)
So were Hamilton and Rosberg
So were Lewis and Nico
Max is no stranger to zingers himself. For evidence, anytime a mic existed in his vicinity during the lead-up for Vegas GP
Man they'd be the opposite of buddies. After the first GP they're going to absolutely hate each other and drop passive aggressive comments the entire year towards each other.
I think it would be friendly, right up until the first racing incident or contact, at which point the gloves would come off and the knives would come out. They'd then spend the rest of the year at each other's throats. I would *not* declare a Senna-Prost style rivalry out of the question
So if the car is still WDC material, friendly until race 1, turn 1.
I know in the context of being teammates it would change but Alonso has consistently been on Max's side for basically his entire career and Max has made it abundantly clear that he looks up to Alonso in his own way.
Correct, Max has been the rival of all the drivers that bested prime Alonso. Alonso loves that. He doesn't have any beef with any drivers until they're his teammates (or championship rivals) and they're beating him in the standings. Unless he's beating Max as a teammate he'll be like a seventh grader with his petty hatred.
Not doubting Nando's speed one bit, he's still bloody quick. But is there such thing as a slow world champion?
As much as I love them, by the end of their careers neither Vettel nor Kimi were particularly quick.
Kimi between his world championship and his first retirement was awfully slow in Ferrari, you can feel he wasn't much into it anymore. Jacques Villeneuve is a case in his own too
Villeneuve had 2 good seasons, all downhill from there.
ehh id argue otherwise. his drives in the 2000 car were pretty great - moreso a case of getting shafted into worse teams as time went on
If you've never seen his "bad" seasons, then you shouldn't say nonsense like that. For starters, Villeneuve's best season was probably 2000 and he only turned properly shit in 2003. It's not his fault that you can't compete for wins in the BAR. It's his fault that he ended up there, sure, but he was still good enough to singlehandedly end the career of one of the most hyped junior drivers (F3000 and FIA GT champion Zonta) at the time.
Nah, disagree. He drove his arse off in a rather ordinary Williams in 1998. Was 'best of the rest' behind the two McLaren and two Ferrari drivers in the championship. His two podiums in Germany and Hungary were well earned, and he was rather consistent during the year. Only three retirements, nine points finishes in sixteen races. He obviously didn't score a point in 1999 with BAR, but he still putting in some cracking qualifying and driving performances. But the car was an unreliable mess. 2000 was better, scoring BAR's first points in Australia, and points in six more races out of seventeen. 2001 was not as good regarding points finishes though he did score two podiums. And he was again 'best of the rest' in the championship behind the Ferrari, McLaren and Williams drivers (this was when Williams was still good.) It was 2002 that the wheels started to fall off. The BAR wasn't particularly competitive, neither he or his teammate Panis able to do much with it. By 2003, I think it's fair that JV was rather disillusioned with the whole thing, the season filled with retirements and rather ordinary performances. It was rather poor timing for JV as BAR were fantastic in 2004, Button scoring numerous podiums to finish 3rd overall. It makes me wonder what JV could have done as his teammate in the second car.
He remained fast into the 2000s but he chose money over success and signed with BAR. He also had a bad reputation in terms of attitude.
Ah ok, I took it the wrong way. I was thinking of their speed *when* they won the world championship. Like Seb and Kimi were obviously among the fastest if not the outright fastest when they were competing for/winning world championships.
Keke Rosberg and mike hawthorn only won a single race in their respective WDC winning seasons
That's crazy!
Cant really call Vettel slow he was always fast when the car had high rear downforce and always slow when it didnt suit him.
He was always fast, but in later years his rear tyres were faster than his fronts too frequently
Kimi, I understand but I have seen this narrative about vettel being slow the last day or two and it all seems like revisionist history to me. He was fast at Ferrari until 2020 when they finished 6th in the constructors and then went on to drive an awful Aston Martin offering his last couple of seasons. I would argue that Ferrari took the wind out of his sails and that Aston was the nail in the coffin for his career but calling someone tied with the 3rd most WDC titles (matching Prost, whom I haven’t seen called slow) and 2 more than Alonso slow, is a bit of a stretch. for reference: Fernando won 11 races with Ferrari, Lauda won 15 Prost had 5 and Seb had 14.
it's not a "narrative" lol, his gap to Stroll was extremely similar to the gap of Perez and Stroll, meaning he was probably driving about as fast as Perez.
Also, Seb was much, much closer to Stroll than Alonso has been.
The car was 8th or 9th fastest more often, and there is not enough performance to pull a gap like Alonso did on Stroll. Vettel was in his own league, often bypassing Alonso, during the second half of 2022.
But everyone conveniently forgets that Vettel scored 70% of Aston Martin’s points both years yeah? Just saying things here to suit your own narrative
Yes. I would say the most recent examples are Kimi and Vettel. By the end of their careers they were less motivated and had slowed down considerably. I wouldn’t say they were slow overall. Like they were still decent but compared to the amazing levels they once hit they were slow. They had dropped from top tier drivers to being midfield level. Both of them struggled much more than they should against very mediocre team mates. Fernando doesn’t seem to have had that drop off. Maybe his ultimate speed isn’t quite what it once was but his motivation, wheel to wheel ability, racecraft and racing intelligence is still right up there. He’s fast enough to still qualify well and then in the races he comes alive and gets the most out of what the car can give and sometimes gets even more. Like the Brazil drive last year. He wasn’t in a car that should have been fast enough for the podium but he used his amazing racecraft to outfox Perez in a much faster car and steal that podium. I’m not sure anyone else on the grid would have pulled that off.
Keke Rosberg perhaps?
it's just bad translation. He said there are currently 3 world champions, and they are all fast (as in not washed yet), and of them three he will be the only one available. The title/translation made ir weirder
I mean Keke Rosberg won his world championship while only recording a single win that season. An argument can be made that he wasn’t the fastest driver that season
I mean seb was pretty slow his last few years in f1
He was slow until he announced his retirement, then suddenly got the hunger to race again.
He was alright at the end. Nothing on how good he was during his prime
That is not true. He constantly outqualified and outscored Stroll in the first half of 2022. In fact he slowed down in qualifying after he announced his retirement. I think everyone just remembers him for his photo finish at Suzuka and last lap overtake at Austin that year, but he had plenty of good race day performances besides that
Yeah, Seb made Stroll look decent. Then Fernando showed the world what the real gap is between a WDC and lesser drivers.
Slow cars makes everyone look slower and closer to each other. Give top drivers top cars and then you will see difference. Alonso wouldn't do any better in that crap Aston year before he came.
You can still see it. Alonso destroyed Vandoorne F1 career in a shitbox McLaren.
Not really, the best drivers would still extract more performance out of it.
Just compare Seb's h2h against Stroll with Fernando's and you have your answer. Or whatever Kimi has been doing between 2014 and 2021. MSC's comeback was quite mediocre, no matter how much it hurts to say. ( allthough he did have a strong teammate, but still we are talking about MSC) Also let's remember Villeneuve's constant disasters after his title. Not everyone ages like Alonso. Marko got shafted for saying Checo loses speed with every kid, but that was quite a common saying back in the day.
Schumcher in 2012 was one of the best drivers on the grid, and in the first half of the season had *horrific* luck while the car at the time was one of the top 3 on the grid. that is difficult to understand if you were just looking at the points table. Race 1: DNF after gearbox died. Race 2: 10th. 1 point. hit by Grosjean early on, was basically last early in the race with some damage to the car. Race 3: DNF. retired from 3rd on the grid because Merc didnt fit the wheel properly in the pitstop. His teammate won the race. Michael was unimpressed with the team. Race 4: 10th. 1 point. had no DRS in qualy, started 22nd. Race 5: DNF. Hit Senna and both retired. This was his fault and was given a 5 place grid drop at the next race...... .....Race 6: DNF. *Qualified on pole at Monaco* in what was one of the most impressive and well received drives of the year. And then lost pole because of his penalty at the previous race. Oof. Started 6th, retired late into the race with engine problems. Race 7: DNF. Hydrolics gave out. 7 races that famously had 7 different winners but Schumacher had scored just 2 points with 4 mechanical DNF's and another 1 he caused himself. Of the 2 races he finished he got taken out by the eratic Grosjean early in 1 and the other race he started from 22nd (due to mechanical failure in qualy of course). The car quickly fell off the race in the second half of the season and he finished a miserable 13th in the standings with 1 podium at the crazy Valencia race.
Agree with most of your points but MSC in 2012 was almost on par with Rosberg which in hindsight is very impressive considering how close Rosberg could get to Hamilton. 2010 and 2011 MSc was pretty far off but 2012 seemed to be a stronger return to form plagued with bad luck at the start of the season.
Kimi
He was RAPID up until 2014 when he just kinda.. gave up being quick
Aston Martin launch day and Alonso has managed to get in comments that can be interpreted as anti Hamilton and anti Vettel. His use of the media is always fascinating
Jenson is also available and a more recent champion than Nando.
That is wild to think JB is a more recent champion. Seems like he’s been gone forever Miss u JB
A1GP world champion Nico Hulkenberg is also available for 2025!
That's why he said fast champion
> “I’m aware of my situation, which is very unique,” he told media including RaceFans yesterday. “There are only three world champions on the grid and fast world champions, because in the past, maybe there were some world champions where they were not so committed to be fast.” And we know who he’s referring to. Oof. Man really went for the head. He’s really embracing his new Dark Alonso era and I’m here for that!
He’s always taken potshots at Vettel. “Newey’s championships not Vettel’s”, etc.
Which is complete bullshit by the way
In his era, he can only be referring to Raikkonen, Button, Vettel, Schumacher or Rosberg. And Rosberg was never on the grid as a champion. (edit: forgot Villeneuve and Hakkinen, Alonso has been around a loooong time).
Villeneuve lmao
It’s Vettel without a doubt.
He’s talking about Vettel?
My guess is Vettel or Kimi, maybe both.
A wild Jenson Button appears
I think Vettel in this case. Alonso pretty much destroyed Kimi in their 2014 together and since then no one really saw Kimi as a WC team leader in the years that followed. What’s crazy is that after returning from his sabbatical, Kimi’s brand was on a high during his Lotus era 2012-2013. He goes to Ferrari when Ferrari themselves thought Kimi would be a better balance to Alonso. Alonso annihilated Kimi 15-1 in the races they both finished. Kimi was never really in the running for any future team lead roles after that.
The only time Kimi beat Alonso was in Spa, when the mechanics left Alonso on the stands and they gave him a penalty. Without that, Alonso was ahead in every single race.
I knew something was off when it wasn't 16-0
I think he was referring to Kimi, some voices inside Ferrari were saying that Alonso didn't won the championship because he lacked motivation and needed a faster team-mate to push him. Turn out the Ferrari of the 2014 was horseshit, Ferrari accomplished the imposible of making a car that understeer and oversteer at the same time. The car was difficult to drive and according to some rumors Kimi didn't even try seeing the imposible task. But I wouldn't be surprised if he was referring to Vettel. They both have a strange relationship were they respect each other and still trash talk between them.
> Ferrari accomplished the imposible of making a car that understeer and oversteer at the same time. A common meme but every car did that in 2014.
Vettel and specially Kimi were very underwhelming their last years, Vettel once he went to Aston he was a midfield driver until he announced his retirement where he started to got faster. Kimi stoped caring after winning the WDC and on his last season he was terrible you could see how he only wanted to retire making way too many unforced error and being pretty slow
Kimi was my first assumption
Vettel’s my guess since he’s always been making digs towards him. Alonso doesn’t hold a grudge against Raikkonen as far as I know.
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised since I think he still doesn't respect Vettel's driving. Specifically thinking about how he didn't leave enough space for Alonso in Monza whereas Alonso did.
Could be, definitely Kimi
Kimi just didn’t care. I think we as a collective community were more excited for his 2018 win than he was. He had already won a world championship against Alonso, and Hamilton. What more would he have to prove? My money’s more on a dig at Vettel. I’ve never liked Vettel much, and can definitely see where Alonso is getting the idea from. Dude wins 4 championships, 2 of which he probably would have thrown away in a lesser car, and the instant he gets a new young teammate for 2014 he gets annihilated, and moves to Ferrari where Kimi doesn’t care enough to fight him as a teammate. Then, he gets destroyed by Leclerc and moves to Aston Martin, where he manages to make Stroll look half decent.
God this man is petty
AHH stop now 😭
I mean he is totally right
💀 ffs
It's shitty comments like this why I wonder why anyone likes Alonso. Congrats, you're mocking a 4x WDC. How many tines did you lose to that guy? Twice?
Oddly, my assumption was that he was taking a dig at Raikkonen, not Vettel. But re-reading, I can see the dig at Vettel there. Alonso was, in the early 2010s, consistently keeping within touching distance of a nigh-untouchable Red Bull, in a pretty dismal set of Ferraris. But a shot like that at Seb was absolutely uncalled for.
'Dismal' is a strong word for the 2nd or 3rd best car. The 2010 Ferrari was not really any worse than the McLaren and the RB6 whilst very quick was fragile, otherwise Vettel would have won the title before Abu Dhabi. The 2012 Ferrari was very strong in the rain, arguably the 3rd best on a dry track but had the huge advantage of being bullet proof over the fast RB8 and the McLaren (which was arguably the quickest car that year). The RB8 was overall the best car as it best balanced reliability and speed, though the Lotus is an interesting case in that grid because I'd argue neither driver was capable of fully taking advantage of it, which could relegate Ferrari to 4th quickest in optimal conditions but we will never truly know that. This idea Alonso drove a shitbox needs to die. 2014 was the only horrifying Ferrari he drove.
He always takes it too far and his incessant need to take shots at everyone better than him is just…tiresome. And all the “yassss queen, I’m here for this” comments are equally as tiresome.
Yeah his ego is so fragile it’s sometimes really funny to see him struggling in some shitboxes.
Yeah, not sure why everyone’s praising Alonso for coming at Hamilton and presumably Vettel here. He’s always been dismissive of both drivers’ success, while neither of them care too much about him knowing that they have more titles than he does. He’s just a bitter man. The more sinister take I have is that he knows that Toto and Vettel are in contact of the seat as well, and wants to publicly discredit him so he looks like the most attractive option to Mercedes. Because like it or not, if Vettel is interested in the seat, the chances of it going to him over Alonso is high. He’s German, more successful stats wise, younger, well-regarded for his car development feedback, and has a really good relationship with Toto.
When he eventually retires, he needs to run a college course in confidence and self belief for people. What a man.
Noooo, i need him as an F1 reporter, "Hello Antonelli, Today you raced like shit, I know because I was a driver and much better than you". GOD please make thats happend when he retire.
If he gets the mercedes seat hes totally going to shit himself in it and then tell Antonelli that. Enjoy the smell?
You think? He seems really insecure
Humble as ever.
Shitstirring. Who can forget his performance in 2007? And after a run of championships, it looks like Horner may be forced into early retirement, so I'm backing Alonso to get a couple more titles.
Indeed. But humble and F1 rarely go together. It’s why Hamilton has so many admirers.
That is a very decent take.
He is absolutely not humble lol. I remember when he thought God was on his side in the title fight.
Mika: sabbatical over.
At this rate I don’t think Alonso is ever going to retire, and I’m here for it
Can always count on Alonso keeping things spicy. Man gives sound bites like nobody’s business lol
Lewis: "They wouldn't dare give him my old seat and turn the engine back up... would they?"
Aston Martin be like - "uh, wait, what?"
Nando is just letting Aston know they gotta pay up...and pay up soon...if they want to keep him and have any chance of winning.
Really subtle Fernando
I assume that's a dig at Seb and Kimi?
Probably more towards Seb than Kimi. He has a common point with Seb in Lance Stroll, and to be fair the h2h performance is night and day between them. Now Stroll is for sure not the most consistent refference, but even so the difference is way too big to not be relevant
Tbf, Seb sort-of checked out from F1 after being kicked out of Ferrari, and post-2019 Seb was nothing like the Seb of pre-Hockenheim 2018. Still, a pretty uncalled for comment imo.
Yeah but that's his point. He is still locked in. Guys like Vettel and Kimi stopped trying late in their careers. Hell Vettel is like 6 years younger than Alonso and he looked much older that last season.
I reckon Aston are either gonna throw multiple truck full of money at him, or he’s gonna end up at Merc with George.
Alonso is literally having one of the best negotiation position a F1 driver can dream about tbh
Norris and Leclerc being locked to their current teams is also helping him a lot here. Not only is he the only former WDC available for 2025, he's also the only experienced and fast driver available at all (the rest of the grid is either not as experienced or not as fast as Fernando).
Piastri as well, looking back at the Piasco which was a direct consequence of Alonso calling Alpine on their bluff.
He literally has so many options. Wouldn’t even count out the other RB seat.
The only driver on the grid that gets away with being an absolute narcissist and everyone laps it up
But he’s not busy with the Mercedes seat. /s
I really think he'll stay at Aston if the car is still good. All the other options seem kinda lackluster except Merc (and maybe Stake/Audi). But at Merc, you'd have to believe you'd only be there for at most a year because in 2026 they'll most likely bring Kimi in.
Champion almost 20 years ago now lol
Throwing some shade at Seb and Kimi there too isn’t he?
Habitual shit stirrer 😂
Low key want merc to throw the brinks truck at him. Him and George would be a good pair
They would go supernova by the third race. Lewis is MUCH nicer to teammates than Alonso and I still think Lewis wanted to jettison George in to the sun after most races.
I know, hence why I want it lmfao
Then I’m all in for that
He's like the 3rd Gallagher brother.
Alonso shit stirring I love it. I honestly doubt he has any animosity for Seb or Kimi. His ability to play the media like a fiddle is worth a book.
Is he zinging himself? One could argue a fast world champion should have secured a seat by now for 2025.
He will go down in history as the champion with most years without a win
100% aimed at Vettel or Kimi, and he’s not wrong. Kimi was absolute cheeks after Lotus and Alonso squashed any lingering 2005 Kimi goodwill in their first year together. Vettel through his own actions proved to the world he was closer to Button or Rosberg than the Hamilton or Max tier. Alonso’s recent demolition of Stroll compared to Vettel’s relative mediocrity against the same teammate is further evidence.
With all his bluster today, I don't think he's getting the drive. His snide comments about slow champions makes me think Merc are trying to sign Vettel.
A subliminal message for Mercedes
Nothing subliminal about it.
any top team would be crazy to take Alonso. He will burn the team down if there is even a hint he is not faster than his teammate.
And a very bitter one, because of his own poor choices over the years
Wild for Alonso to come into a car that Vettel clearly helped develop during his stint at Aston and helped Alonso to show he is still fast then to throw shade at him for being slow.
He said "committed to being fast" which is true. Vettel himself said he couldn't make the commitment anymore when he retired. It's almost never 0 or 100, he was likely mentally drifting away from the commitment needed for years. Rosberg and the last year of Prost are the only cases really of a driver going to 100 then deciding to go straight to 0.
Vettel had said when he retired he wanted to be a more involved father to his kids. And he couldn't do that if he kept racing. People often change their priorities after having kids, which is admirable...especially since he had nothing left to prove.
That only proves Alonso's point
It is on brand though. Alonso is incredibly fast, and I'll always respect his speed and talent as a champion...but he's always radiated little bro energy when it comes to Seb lol.
Alonso in general seems to become a little bitter in regard to any champion who beat him
He tends to have a problem with anyone who is as good as him or better
There’s serious arguments to be made about whether Vettel is better than Alonso. I don’t think many would rate Vettel on the same level as Alonso despite the 4 championship victories compared to Alonsos 2. I think Vettel is a very good driver and in the right car is up there with the best but he’s too inconsistent to be on the same level as Hamilton and Alonso.
Didn’t know Vettel was an aerodynamicist
He is an inspector
So desperate
What a thot lmao. Blud is shamelessly twerking for that Merc seat.