Max Verstappen claims Fernando Alonso ‘deserves’ to rival him and Lewis Hamilton in 2022
Max Verstappen prevails in world title shoot-out
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Max Verstappen claims that Fernando Alonso deserves to be in a position to fight for the F1 world title again. The 2021 crown was hotly contested between the Dutchman and Lewis Hamilton, with Alonso’s Alpine team generally lacking the pace to compete at such dizzying heights.
Hamilton and Verstappen were away and clear for much of the season, with the latter dramatically securing the world championship in Abu Dhabi’s season finale.
The nearest challenger to second-place Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, was more than 160 points behind by the time the season reached its conclusion.
And to illustrate the scale of the two Constructors’ dominance, the nearest non-Mercedes or Red Bull driver to second-place Hamilton, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, finished a full 223 points behind.
As such, it was tricky for the likes of Alonso to compete with the sport’s big hitters this season, despite boasting an enviable CV.
Two consecutive world titles in 2005 and 2006 are the crown jewels of his career thus far, but this time out he finished 10th in the Drivers’ standings as Alpine cemented themselves into the middle of the pack.
Now at the age of 40, Verstappen still feels as though the Spaniard has plenty left in the tank.
“I would like to see him back at the front,” he told the CarNext YouTube channel.
“He really deserves it, he’s a two-time world champion. It’s also really nice to talk to him and see how he thinks about situations.
“He also [has] that ‘never give up’ [attitude] and is a real fighter.
“Unfortunately, in the last few years, he hasn’t been able to do that at the front, because he doesn’t have the car.
“But I like his attitude, he’s really on fire, [and has the] drive and motivation at his age to still be there in Formula 1, wanting to be there for a longer time.
“He always wants to win, he always wants to do the best. For me, it’s really nice to see.”
While Verstappen went on to outline how their personal relationship has grown over the past season, the admiration is clearly mutual in light of Alonso’s pre-race comments in Abu Dhabi.
Despite the Alpine man’s prior partnership with Hamilton at McLaren, he claimed that in 2021, Verstappen was driving ‘one step above’ the rest of the grid.
He added that he ‘deserved’ the world title, something which would soon come to fruition thanks to a controversial final-lap shootout at Yas Marina.
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