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Alonso: No one trying to exploit Hamilton's weak points

Published on 29 Jan 2020 15:55
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By: Fergal Walsh

None of Lewis Hamilton's current Formula 1 rivals are attempting to exploit his weak points, according to two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

In 2019, Hamilton picked up his sixth F1 world championship after another year of domination from Mercedes, who won 71% of the races.

Alonso was absent from the grid last year for the first time since 2002 as he decided to take a step back from the sport after years of difficult campaigns with McLaren.

MORE: Wolff: Mercedes could cope with Hamilton departure | Hamilton working 'twice as hard' to beat 'fierce' young drivers

The 39-year-old who partnered Hamilton at McLaren in 2007, believes that none of the current top drivers are pinpointing his weakness and using them to beat him.

"He's made a step forward - he is more competitive, more prepared," Alonso told F1 Racing.

"He still has some weak points that have not been stressed yet. No one is pressing that button, that weakness."

'Hamilton starts the year slowly'

At the start of the 2019 campaign, Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas won two of the opening four rounds of the year.

However, as the season filtered on, the Finn was unable to keep up with Hamilton and ended up finishing the year in second place in the standings, almost 100 points down on Hamilton.

Alonso highlighted that one of Hamilton's weaknesses appear to be his slow starts to seasons.

"There is always a common trend. He starts the year slowly and no one takes the benefit of that," he said "We all get excited that it will be the year of Bottas, but it's not.

"It would be nice to compete against him in a proper fight. Maybe his weak points are not real and everything is calculated but it would be nice to discover.

"When you have a good package and the other guys crash and you extend your championship lead, everything seems calm.

"If you are only one point behind or 10 points behind, the stress is different. The mistakes are different and your radio communications are different. We need to see him when the pressure is on."

ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475

I saw another forum discussing this... Since it involves Lewis and Fernando it was nearly WW3.

I think Fernando is 100% right... And it's also a high compliment to Lewis. The fact is that since 2016 Lewis has never arrived to the final stretch of the championship under pressure. To his credit, h... [Read more]

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Jan 29 2020 - 16:29

F1 News Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

Replies (5)

ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
I saw another forum discussing this... Since it involves Lewis and Fernando it was nearly WW3.

I think Fernando is 100% right... And it's also a high compliment to Lewis. The fact is that since 2016 Lewis has never arrived to the final stretch of the championship under pressure. To his credit, he's been so dominant that he hasn't been under real pressure. Clearly neither Valteri nor Seb are at a level to truly challenge him over a season. Max might. But, like every other great driver, you make more errors when under real pressure. We saw a lot more Lewis errors during the Rosberg years. Since then he's been untouchable and never really under pressure. Valteri is no match 9/10 races, and Seb is a match on occasion but it's guaranteed he'll fizzle eventually..

Love him or hate him, fans a missing out on a potentially epic duel between Lewis, Max, and Fernando. Leclerc migh even be able to join that as well.
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- Jan 29 2020 - 16:29
Dert38

Posts: 377
Hamilton, who?
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- Jan 29 2020 - 17:45
f1ski

Posts: 726
Let me say this I am not a hammy fan. There is no doubt no one is faster on one lap than him. His speed is his weakness but no car had that speed since the turbo hybrid era began. His speed is his weakness. he will press and press till the brakes or tire were gone. Since the turbo hybrid era especially where no car is truly on the limit because of the fuel / fueling regs. No other racing series would allow by technical rules to allow an advantage to stand for as long as they did. to me to bring the spectacle of f1 back bring back refueling or remove fuel flow limits and make tires softer necessitating more pit stops. This also would allow teams to find tires that suit them best and let teams notpirelli choose the compounds they use each race
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- Jan 29 2020 - 18:19
Pistonhead

Posts: 556
Tosh. Alonso couldn't beat him in the same gear and I view this a predictable self marketing move, knowing there are no top seats available for him he's hitting out. It's true his run ins have not been tight, but don't let that be conflated into thinking there was no pressure - he's realistically got a few years left and he's fighting for all the records, he cannot make mistakes, I see how hard he races when he has to - for sure there's lots of pressure - to say otherwise is uninformed. If Alo was in such demand I think he would have been snapped up by a top team by now - he hasn't.
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- Jan 29 2020 - 22:31
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  You need to consider that we are in a unique time in Formula 1 with an abundance of top young and relatively cheap talent. Leclerc and Max demand a fraction of the cost that Alonso would, and both are protegés for their respective teams. Red Bull doesn't do truly big contracts (like Mclaren, Ferrari, or Mercedes), Mercedes has gone the route of having a #1 driver and Alonso obviously wouldn't be a #2. Ferrari have Leclerc, and Seb might not be on the rise, but he's at least a 1.5 driver (as opposed to #2).
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  Jan 30 2020 - 01:21