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“I know sometimes it can take a while to see progress”– Former F1 driver thinks Fernando Alonso was too impatient with Honda

Tanish Chachra
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"I know sometimes it can take a while to see progress"– Former F1 driver thinks Fernando Alonso was too impatient with Honda

Former Minardi driver Anthony Davidson, who has also worked with Honda, thinks Fernando Alonso was too impatient with Honda.

Fernando Alonso returned to McLaren in 2015. The same year Honda partnered with them to supply the power units. It was for the first time since 1992 when they serviced the Woking-based team.

However, the partnership between the two sides didn’t hit well, with McLaren facing several issues over consistency with the power unit. Alonso actively spoke against Honda’s work during that period.

The alliance ended after three seasons, and McLaren shifted to Renault, and in 2021, they took the engine from Mercedes. Though after 2018, even Alonso left McLaren.

On the other hand, Honda partnered with red Bull in 2019 and gave them a drivers’ championship in 2021 before their announced departure. Thus, former F1 driver Anthony Davidson, who has worked with Honda, thinks Alonso was “too impatient” with the Japanese manufacturers.

“I wonder how he has looked at Honda’s performance over the past year,” Davidson told the Dutch branch of Motorsport.com. “From my past experience with Honda, I know sometimes it can take a while to see progress, but in the end, they always get it done.

“You just have to let them find their way and do it their own way,” he added.

Also read: Esteban Ocon debunks myths surrounding Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso must be regretting his actions against Honda

Honda’s powerful 2021 engine will remain with Red Bull until the new regulations kick in because of the engine freeze. Therefore, giving a massive advantage to Red Bull for a few more seasons.

Davidson claims Alonso would be regretting that he wasn’t patient with Honda after seeing such a mighty power unit by them for Red Bull last year.

“I wonder if Fernando is now like ‘if only I had been a little more patient and given it a little more time’,” he added. “Of course, nobody can see into the future.”

“But I’m curious how he looked at Honda, now they have had such a strong power unit. Would he think things like ‘if only McLaren had kept working with Honda and I had just kept driving there?’”

“If they still had that power unit in the car and Fernando would still have driven there, we would probably have had a very different scenario now.”

Also read: Red Bull and Honda will continue working with each other until at least 2025

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra

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Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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