Double World Champion Fernando Alonso, who will be returning to Formula One with Alpine next season, has given his take on Ferrari’s 2021 driver line-up.
The Spaniard also commented on Sebastian Vettel’s inability to win a World Championship with Ferrari despite him getting off to a promising start with the Scuderia.
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In a recent interview, Alonso said he believes that, shortly upon Charles Leclerc joining the team, Ferrari realised that he had “more potential” than Vettel at that stage of his career.
“A World Champion at home would have increased the pressure,” Alonso said.
“But, after five years, it became clear that Seb couldn’t be their saviour [and] that Leclerc has more potential.”
Continuing, Alonso suggested he is optimistic about Carlos Sainz’s future at Ferrari.
“Sainz must have seemed like the right driver to accompany Charles,” Alonso said.
“It [Ferrari] moves in a different dimension from any other team. There is the sports management, the company, the politics, a lot of people involved in the decisions.
“Other teams remain in F1 for 10 or 15 years and then they go. Ferrari can’t afford it.
“We didn’t win, of course, but we came close to the World Championship twice fighting until the last race, I say this because nobody remembers second places.
“In 2017 and ’18 it happened with Vettel. The truth is that in the last seven years only one team [Mercedes] has won.”
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