By Joe Murphy
Max Verstappen may be taking all the wins when he finishes. Carlos Sainz may very well be outperforming expectations so far this campaign. Yuki Tsunoda may very well be impressing in his RB car. However, one man is continuously putting his car where it has no right to be, and we all just seemingly accept it as the norm.
Fernando Alonso has amassed points in every race this season and currently has 24 of them, putting him level with the likes of George Russell. This, in a much slower car in comparison.
You only have to see the difference with the car across the garage. Lance Stroll may very well be struggling somewhat, but he is a talented driver with multiple years of F1 experience behind him at this point. Yet, he continues to finish seven, eight, nine places below his teammate.
It’s even more stark when you consider qualifying. Take this last weekend in Japan for example, Lance Stroll was a shock elimination in Q1 and started the race towards the back of the grid. In contrast, his veteran Spanish teammate nearly put in a purple sector in Q3 and put his Aston Martin in and amongst the Mercedes and McLaren pairings. This kind of achievement is no mean feat and deserves its plaudits. However, because it’s Alonso, it’s almost taken for granted.
There is an air of knowing how good Alonso is so it is no longer surprising to us what he can achieve. Ever since leaving McLaren, you’d have to say that he has been one of the outstanding drivers on the grid. Just not one who dominates all the headlines. There is a reason why Mercedes have him as a strong contender to replace an outgoing Lewis Hamilton for next season.
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