Fernando Alonso Claims He Always Had ‘Blunter Weapons’ in Formula 1

Missed opportunities and burned bridges with multiple teams have defined Fernando Alonso’s career — apart from his two title wins with Renault in 2005 and 2006. Still, he is fighting to claim the crown once again. Reflecting on his long drought for silverware, Alonso recently pointed out that he has almost always competed with relatively less competitive cars than his rivals.

Looking at Alonso‘s career, it’s clear that he often drove challengers that were far from the best. “It’s the story of my life to drive with blunter weapons than the others and to adapt to that,” the 43-year-old said in a DAZN documentary quoted by Motorsport-Total.

Alonso even pointed out the challenges he faced in his karting days. He recalled how, unlike many others, he only had one set of dry tires and couldn’t afford wet compounds. Fast-forwarding to 2005, even the car that secured him his maiden title, the Renault R25, wasn’t the fastest on the grid either.

He won solely due to his ability to extract every ounce of performance from his car. Still, if it wasn’t for the McLaren MP4-20’s poor reliability, Kimi Raikkonen would have most likely been the champion that year. The Iceman finished just 21 points behind in P2.

In 2006 and 2007, it could be argued that Alonso had the fastest cars, with Renault and McLaren, respectively. However, in the latter year, a rookie Lewis Hamilton gave him a tough run for his money, leading to a third-place finish in the Championship and Alonso’s departure from the Woking-based team the following year.

Since then, Alonso has arguably driven underperforming cars — at least those that didn’t fully complement his talent. Even in 2010 and 2012, during his time at Ferrari, his Championship challenges, in which he narrowly lost to Sebastian Vettel, came in the second and fourth-fastest cars, respectively.

Thankfully, at his current team, Aston Martin, Alonso is optimistic about getting the competitive machinery needed to return to Championship contention. Given the way the Silverstone-based squad has been planning for the future, his optimism may soon materialize into reality.

Can Aston Martin help Alonso become champion again?

On current form, Aston Martin seems like an underachieved midfield team. Barring the purple patch in 2023 with eight podiums for Alonso, the Silverstone-based outfit hasn’t shown any signs of becoming a championship-winning outfit.

However, their structural changes and big-name signings such as Adrian Newey, Andy Cowell, and Enrico Cardile make it seem like they may soon get their act together. Newey’s arrival is one of the biggest boosts for the British team. Team owner Lawrence Stroll along with Alonso is hoping that he can weave his magic to make the team a force to reckon with.

The 66-year-old aero genius will be expected to get Aston’s car performance back on track, with a major focus on the 2026 regulations. Currently, Alonso would certainly count it as one of the blunt cars he has driven in F1. But he trusts Newey’s caliber to change things around in the next year or so.

The Spaniard must be feeling quite pleased with his decision to back Aston Martin’s potential. The Silverstone outfit is shaping up well, with Honda joining as their engine partner, technical geniuses like Newey and Cowell taking charge, and a new state-of-the-art factory and wind tunnel in the works.

The only question now is whether all these elements can come together to form a championship-contending team, allowing Alonso to break his two-decade drought for silverware.