Alonso: With the same car we could all be like Lewis

Fernando Alonso has been cunning with praise for Lewis Hamilton who clinched his fifth Formula 1 World Champion title with fourth place at the Mexican Grand Prix, bagging enough points to wrap up the 2018 championship with two rounds still remaining.

Alonso who endured a fractious year as Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren in 2007, but since then mutual respect has grown between the two drivers.

He also pointed out that Hamilton has endured excellent service from Mercedes who have consistently provided the Briton with a race winning car and prior to that it was Sebastian Vettel who had the advantage of a great car when he bagged his four titles in a row between 2010 and 2013.

Speaking to reporters after the race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Alonso claimed, “I think we all could have a run in championships like Lewis had or Sebastian had – he won four championships and he had half a second or one second advantage to the next car.”

“That was the right time and the right moment and the right car. You need to be on those places to win that amount of championships,” added the two times F1 World Champion whose own career was blighted by poor decision making off the track.

When asked to rank the Mercedes driver among the all-time greats, he responded, “It’s difficult to rank in different times, different eras of Formula 1.”

“Some of the championships you are fighting until the last race, some of the championships you are winning against your team-mate. Arguably Lewis lost with Nico one of those championships.”

However, the Spaniard acknowledged, “He is one of the top so I think he should be happy with that. And it’s not finished yet. I think next year he starts as a favourite again so that is a good thing.”