MONACO Racetrack~ Fernando Alonso, despite having finished on the podium in five of the first six races of the season with Aston Martin, still feels like he isn’t getting closer to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Two-time Formula One champions each have a lot riding on the outcome of this weekend’s race.
Max Verstappen, then 18 years old, won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix on his debut with Red Bull. Since Alonso, now 41 years old, won there in 2013, it seems like a good place for the Spanish driver to end his winless skid. Alonso said, “Yeah, but I will not put any pressure on my team or myself,” after finishing second to Verstappen in the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. To assume I will win in Barcelona would be dishonest to my rivals, therefore I won’t do that. We must maintain a grounded understanding of the truth.
Seven years ago, Verstappen won in Spain with incredible bravery. It was proof of his innate ability, which helped him win two world championships, the most recent of which came in 2018 with a record-breaking 15 victories in Formula One. Despite Nico Rosberg crashing both Mercedes and forcing teammate Lewis Hamilton out of the race in Spain in 2016, Hamilton still came out on top.
According to Alonso, nothing short of a comparable disaster will end Red Bull’s unstoppable win streak this season, which now sits at seven. Teammate Sergio Perez has won two races, although he finished second to Max Verstappen in Monaco and picked up no points. Sergio needs to pick it up after scoring zero points for Red Bull over the weekend. Alonso stated, “If Max can pick up a couple of those, it will help us close the gap on Alonso in the championship.” To rephrase, “But on pure pace, I think we don’t have the chance yet.”
Verstappen, who rarely speaks up, has joked that he would do all he could to help Alonso win a race since they get along so well. Maybe it’s because his own character is so intent, lively, quick, and unflappable. With his win in Monaco, Verstappen surpassed Sebastian Vettel, who had won the previous record of 38 victories on his way to four successive Formula One championships from 2010–2013, and set a new record for Red Bull with his 39th career victory. With only two victories left, Verstappen is closing in on the all-time record held by the late Ayrton Senna. Senna won 41 races in his career. After 39 races, Verstappen is ahead of Perez by 39 points and ahead of Alonso by 51 points. In both 2010 and 2012, Alonso was beaten by Vettel by a total of three points in the Formula One championship race. Vettel recognizes that Verstappen is unparalleled.
News on SNBC13.com
