Alonso Ranks Hamilton Among F1 Greats, Says Briton Was Fortunate Also

Fernando Alonso has no doubt Lewis Hamilton will continue to challenge for more Formula 1 Drivers’ championship titles and labeled him the favorite going into the 2019 campaign.

The Mercedes driver was crowned the F1 Drivers’ champion for the fifth time in his career at the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday. It is his fourth title with the Silver Arrows team in the last five years — his first, which was in 2008, came with McLaren.

Hamilton is only the third driver in the sport’s history to achieve the feat with the other two being Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher, who leads the pack with seven titles. The British racer can go second overall if he racks up yet another title in 2019.

The 33-year-old’s first two championships with Mercedes were won during their most dominant period with his only rival being his former teammate Nico Rosberg. He even lost the 2016 title race to his former teammate, who retired just days after winning his maiden Drivers’ championship.

Even though Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel did mount a challenge in 2017, it was not one that really troubled Hamilton. The year 2018 was the first time when the reigning champions — Mercedes — were properly challenged by another team in the v6 Turbo era that began in 2014.

Alonso, however, was not entirely comfortable when asked if Hamilton can be considered as one of the best drivers the sport has ever seen. He admitted the Briton was one of the best F1 has witnessed but believes it is difficult to compare drivers from different eras.

“It’s difficult to rank in different times, different eras of Formula 1,” Alonso said in the aftermath of Hamilton’s fifth championship at the Mexico GP, as quoted on GP Fans. "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 [Rosberg] one of those championships."

“But 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 favorite again so that is a good thing,” he added.

The Spaniard, who won back-to-back titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006, also believes the likes of Hamilton and Vettel have been very fortunate as they were handed superior cars in which to challenge for titles during their careers.

Mercedes have been the dominant force in the last five years with just one team — Ferrari — able to challenge them consistently and that too was after four years of playing catch up.

Prior to Mercedes’ revival, it was Red Bull Racing that possessed the most dominant car as Vettel won four consecutive Drivers’ championship titles between 2010 and 2013.

Alonso admitted he too could have challenged for more championships had he been provided with a competitive car, but concedes it is up to the driver to be at the right place at the right time. The former Renault and Ferrari driver decisions have found him guilty of doing just the opposite.

“I think we all could have a run in championships like Lewis had or Sebastian [Vettel] had – he won four championships and he had half a second or one second advantage to the next car," Alonso explained. "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.”