“Alonso’s good days are as good as Verstappen’s. Fernando wants to try to win again and he has what he can do”

Juan Pablo Montoyain an exclusive interview with Mundo Deportivo through BetBrothers, praised the piloting of Fernando Alonsoburdened now by driving a car that started the year badly and that, after its great step forward in terms of the chassis of Adrian Neweycan shine on twisty routes and with more load, but suffers on high-speed circuits due to the great lack of power of its engine Sling.

In that context, with Fernando Alonso still not having decided whether or not he will continue in F1, Montoya thinks Fernando should continue. He considers that he had already announced his retirement if Newey’s new car It would not have worked in Hungary, but now he should continue if he wants to win again, he still has room to postpone his great challenges outside of F1 such as Dakarand in that field, Montoya He is optimistic about the future of the team.

“Alonso is still one of the best on the grid. Top-3? Yes. Let’s see, I tell you, Fernando’s good days are as good as a good day for Max Verstappen. The difference is that Max is in a car that allows him to do it every week. What is going to be interesting is if Adrian brings a car and Honda is going to bring the competitive engine, what is interesting is if Fernando could bring it every week. On a good day, one hundred percent, what’s going to be complicated, although I think Fernando could do it, is being able to maintain the intensity.”argued about the level of driving that the Asturian continues to exhibit.

And he also has an explanation for it: “The advantage is that Fernando is as if he had never left Formula 1, so for him driving Formula 1 is easy, it is not complicated. He feels fast, braking late is not the problem, throwing like a crazy person is not the problem, and he wants to try to win again, and he has what it takes.”

“It has two advantages: that it has what it takes, and second, that Lance on the other side is better than people think.”I personally think Lanza is better than people think. He is not Fernando Alonso, but he is better than they think, the problem is that I think Fernando is a calmer mind and does not give up so quickly. For Stroll, when things aren’t going well, his head sort of closes and there’s nothing else,” he argued in MD.

“I would continue, I know what Newey can do”

“If he wants to try to win races again, he has to stay. Knowing that suddenly it’s a disaster. Right now, really with what Aston has been doing, I would believe more in Aston than in another team like Alpine, and Alpine has already announced its drivers. If not, the only option left is for him to retire. And I don’t think he wants to retire. He wanted to retire earlier, in my opinion, before seeing the new aerodynamic package. If the new car hadn’t made a step big, he would have retired,” he added.

“In Alonso’s place I would continue, because I know what Adrian Newey can do. And Honda, by history, when they finally do things well, they always end up winning. The question is whether they win in six months or they win in three years, but they are going to win. I would continue. What else are you going to do?” he said.

“Exactly”responded when MD reflected that the Dakar could do it later.

“Let’s see, that’s a personal thing, it’s the same as in my case. I stopped racing because the number of meetings and the number of commitments and things we did… It’s funny because I do television now and I like and enjoy doing television. Not before because the focus was on racing in a car. My focus on racing in a car and having to go to attend to the press was… ‘Oh! I’m busy with the engineers. They’re taking my time away from the focus of winning races,'” he recalled.

Montoya also had time to explain the difference he sees in Fernando now compared to the one he fought on the track in the 2000s.

“I see a more opportunistic Fernandowhich is the same as Hamilton, that if the car is in the position to win, Hamilton gives 110%, but if Hamilton is fighting to be fifth, he is not the same Hamilton who can fight for a victory, because he already understands that he is fifth and if he kills himself he will finish fifth too, and finishing fourth or fifth is not going to change anything.