Max Verstappen regards Fernando Alonso as one of the top five Formula 1 drivers of all time but believes Alonso’s career decisions have cost him six additional titles.
While Verstappen boasts three world championships, Alonso has only secured two, both with Renault in 2005 and 2006.
His victories ended Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s dominant era, making Alonso the youngest driver to win a Formula 1 title at 24 years and 57 days old, and later the youngest double world champion.
Alonso’s success, however, has been elusive over the past two decades.
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Since his last championship, he has only been a contender four times, finishing third in 2007 and second in 2010, 2012, and 2013.
He narrowly missed a third consecutive title by one point to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
That year, Raikkonen clinched the championship in the Brazilian Grand Prix, defeating a rookie Lewis Hamilton and Alonso, who had moved from Renault to McLaren.
Verstappen attributes Alonso’s lack of titles since 2006 to his career choices.
“Alonso is among the top five [drivers] in F1 history,” Verstappen told Mundo Deportivo.
“The number of titles? Alonso could have had eight world championships if he had been a bit luckier in his career by making the right decisions at the right time.”
Verstappen added, “I feel that Fernando Alonso is definitely one of the best drivers in history because wherever he went, he was always very, very fast.
“But you need the material to be able to win races and Alonso, unfortunately, didn’t always have it.”
Alonso left McLaren after one season, believing the team favored Hamilton.
He rejoined Renault and later moved to Ferrari in 2010, becoming an instant title contender.
In 2010, Alonso led the championship heading into the final race but lost due to Ferrari’s strategy, which left him stuck behind Vitaly Petrov, allowing Sebastian Vettel to win.
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In 2012, Alonso was again a serious contender but lost the title to Vettel at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.
Alonso’s return to McLaren in 2015 coincided with the team’s disappointing period with Honda engines, removing him from title contention.
Alonso could have potentially won multiple titles with Red Bull, having turned down their offers six times between 2007 and 2018.