The ever feisty and prodigiously talented Fernando Alonso has come out and said that he felt happy he won all his championships or competed hard in many not because he drove a dominant car. This could be a sly potshot at his former teammate Lewis Hamilton and even Sebastian Vettel, his two peers, who have won a title of 11 championships mostly in the car that defined their various eras. Alonso won his first championship in a Renault in 2005 when regulatory changes aimed at Michael Schumacher and Ferrari stalled the progress of the unbeatable Prancing Horse in the 90s. However, even in 2005, the Renault wasn't the clear dominant car on the grid, even though it was leagues ahead of Schumacher's Ferrari.
"I'm proud of that. That it wasn't a championship we won because of a dominant car or by luck. I think we have always been a strong team that is not willing to give up in any circumstance," he said highlighting the fact that he never has been in a world-beating car through his career.
He repeated the effort in 2006 with the world championship going all the way down to the last race when he duelled with Schumacher who was again arguably in the better car, though reliability issues had pushed back his progress. Alonso, in his seminal first stint at Renault, dethroned the greatest driver of the time and for many still despite Hamilton's record-breaking run is considered the best ever.
In the last couple of races, Alonso has turned back the clock and reminded us that he was the one who dethroned the mighty Michael Schumacher
In fact, it was the next year in 2007, when joined McLaren alongside Hamilton, when the Spaniard for once in his career was in a car that was the class of the field. But he ended up P3 in the championship as McLaren was disqualified from the world constructors championship because of the spy gate scandal and he was matched by Hamilton and beaten by Raikkonen in the Ferrari for the driver's title which also went to the last race of the season on Brazil.
"We have been champions twice and runners-up four times, three of them by less than three points. Apart from those two championships, we fought to the last race for five or six years, and in that last race we were often still leading the championship for a large part, " said the Spaniard eluding to his two painful last race losses to Vettel when he was in Ferrari.
He lost the title in an inferior Ferrari in 2010 and 2012. His run in the 2012 season is considered to be his greatest performance even though Vettel beat him in the superior car. He also finished P2 in the 2011 and 2013 seasons in the Ferrari.
At 39, Alonso is the second oldest driver in the sport, only younger than Raikkonen
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Alonso's exploits at Ferrari and his dethroning of Michael Schumacher at his peak are deifying moments of his career. Many believe he is the greatest driver since Schumacher. His CV of 2 world titles is lower than Vettel and Hamilton, though he never was in a dominant car like the German and the Brit. In fact, he has never been outscored by a teammate in his F1 career, including in 2007 when he had 109 points the same as Hamilton, though the Brit came P2 because he won more races.
If he had a better car, he almost certainly would have had more titles. His return to F1, with the Alpine team, which is essentially the Renault team with whom he won his titles, is part of his hope to add one more title to his kitty before he draws his F1 career to a close. And even at the age of 39, he is handily outperforming his younger teammate Esteban Ocon in the same car who has been with the team, for now, a couple of years.
