Ferrari were ‘not ready’ to win titles with me and Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso claims

Fernando Alonso has claimed that Ferrari were “not ready” to win Formula 1 titles when he was with the team, nor when Sebastian Vettel drove for the Scuderia.

Alonso won back-to-back championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006, while Ferrari’s last title win came in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen at the wheel. Alonso then joined the Italian team in 2010, leaving in 2014.

Vettel, meanwhile, won four straight F1 titles with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, but the German struggled during his six seasons at Ferrari between 2014 and 2020.

Alonso, who now drives for Alpine, was asked by F1-Insider whether he had spoken to Vettel – now at Aston Martin – about the pair’s lack of titles during their respective stints at Ferrari.

“No,” the Spaniard said, “although we often had close battles when I was in the Ferrari and he was in the Red Bull.

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“In 2012, he was even a bit lucky in the last race to finish with a badly damaged Red Bull.

“We both tried Ferrari, got close at times, but didn’t make it in the end. Maybe Ferrari was not ready to have a world champion in the cockpit again in our times.”

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz currently drive for Ferrari, with the latter having secured three podium places so far this season, compared to Leclerc’s one.

“I think now they have changed their planning,” Alonso added. “The expectations are not so high anymore; they are racing with young drivers. They think more in longer periods now, not too short-term.”

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