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Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion might have his name mentioned among the all-time greats in F1, but there’s an area in which he lacks against the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, according to Peter Windsor. The renowned F1 expert feels that Alonso‘s drawback lies not in terms of racing, but on pure one lap pace.
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“[Fernando] Alonso makes more mistakes in qualifying laps than say Lewis or Max or Carlos or Charles as well probably.” said Windsor in his recent YouTube video.
“I don’t think he is a great qualifier as he is a racing driver. That’s what I really mean. He’s obviously, by most standards, he’s an outstanding qualifier. But he’s actually not as good at qualifying as he’s a racing driver.”
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Per Windsor, Verstappen and Hamilton get the credit of being the best qualifiers on the grid. Over the years, both drivers have driven some incredible qualifying laps, leaving the F1 community astounded. In Verstappen’s case, his staggering pole lap in Monaco 2023, where he found eight tenths of a second on the final lap, is probably the reason why Alonso remains winless at Aston Martin.
Interestingly, Windsor also put Sainz and Leclerc ahead of the Oviedo-born driver. While Sainz hasn’t had many pole positions to his name, Leclerc is regarded as one of modern F1’s best qualifiers.
These comparisons prompted the 71-year-old to highlight Alonso’s weakness. To conclude, Windsor also mentioned how Alonso jeopardized his Q3 in Melbourne due to one snappy moment, two weeks ago. Regardless of his qualifying performances, Windsor agrees that Alonso is one of the best when it comes to racing.
What’s next for Fernando Alonso?
If Alonso makes mistakes in qualifying, he needs a fast car to make up for them in the race. At the moment, his team Aston Martin cannot help him in that front. The Silverstone-based outfit had a frontrunning car in 2023, but that momentum couldn’t be carried onto this campaign.
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Currently, Aston Martin is the fifth fastest team on the grid, going by the results so far. Alonso, who is desperate to get his 33rd race win, would have expected to achieve the same, given his 8 podium finishes last year. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the Spaniard will be able to achieve that.
Since time is running out, there are chances of him jumping ship in search of performance. If Aston Martin fails to show enough potential, Alonso could opt to part ways. In that case, Alonso’s probable destination could be Mercedes, who will also be looking for a Hamilton replacement.
