Lewis Hamilton Questions Fernando Alonso's Decisions 'Outside The Cockpit'

Lewis Hamilton says Fernando Alonso only has himself to blame for not winning more F1 Drivers’ titles during his 17 seasons in Formula 1.

The Spanish racer announced in August that he will be leaving the sport to pursue other interests and also made it clear that he was not leaving for the lack of landing a competitive drive but because he has achieved everything he could in F1.

Alonso won two Drivers’ championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006, but despite being considered one of the best the sport has seen, he failed to add to his kitty in the next 12 years. He came close on a couple of occasions during his time with Ferrari, but otherwise, he has not been in contention.

The Spaniard career decisions since winning his two world championships will always be a question as he has always seemed to make the wrong choices. After winning his two titles with Renault, Alonso joined McLaren, who were the main challengers alongside Ferrari at the time.

In 2007, he partnered Hamilton, who was in his debut campaign and they both challenged for the title alongside Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. After an intense battle, they were beaten by a single point by the Finnish racer.

Moreover, Alonso had a fractious relationship with then McLaren chief Ron Dennis after being expected to be treated as the number one driver. He left the team after just one season to rejoin Renault, who were not competitive at the time. Hamilton went on to win his first Driver’s championship in 2008.

The Spanish racer joined Ferrari in 2010 and spent four years with the Italian team. He came close to challenging Sebastian Vettel, who was with Red Bull Racing at the time but fell short after poor strategy decisions from the team.

Alonso left Ferrari in 2014 and rejoined McLaren, who had partnered with Honda in the hope of returning to winning ways. Alonso spent three miserable years where the team was fighting at the tail end of the grid before deciding to part ways with the Japanese manufacturer and signing with Renault for the 2018 season, which has not borne better results.

In the same period, Ferrari have grown from strength to strength and become Mercedes’ main title challengers. And Hamilton believes Alonso’s decision-making played a major role in him not adding to his two world titles.

“Sure, he could have won more championships, but it’s not like he didn’t have the chance,” Hamilton said, as quoted on Planet F1. “It just depends on making the right decisions outside the cockpit."

“If you think like he did that you control the driver market, you can’t be surprised when you end up without something in your hands. Because Seb [Vettel] and I were also on the market.”

The British racer, however, had praise for Alonso and believes his reputation has not taken a hit despite his failure to win a race or stand on the podium since 2014. The McLaren driver is still considered among the best on the grid and hinted recently that he could return to F1 in 2020.

“I have a lot of respect for Fernando. He is a phenomenal driver, and I believe his reputation has not suffered in recent years,” the newly crowned five-time world champion added. “I think people know what he brought inside and outside of F1.”