Nico Rosberg believes that Alonso deserves his place

For Fernando Alonso, age is just a number. As he approaches his 41st birthday, the two-time world champion is delivering incredible performances, even if luck hasn’t always been on his side this year. With mechanical failures and penalties that have cost him valuable points, the Spaniard is not in top form.

In Canada, the Alpine driver qualified in second place but finished in ninth position due to issues with his car and a late penalty. Despite this small disappointment, a former driver was impressed by what the Spaniard achieved.

« What he does with this car is so brilliant. Ocon, for example, is a very good driver but Alonso in Montreal was far ahead in terms of performance over the entire weekend. I am a big fan of Alonso right now. We all know that in terms of talent and skills, he is one of the best of all time », “Nico Rosberg said.

Alonso ahead of Piastri?

The 2016 world champion asserts that Esteban Ocon’s teammate’s speed is impressive, alongside Michael Schumacher’s during his time at Mercedes towards the end of his career.

I was Michael Schumacher’s teammate and at the time, he was 41 years old. The speed was there, but at certain moments, there was sometimes a weakness in his ability to adapt quickly to certain situations. Sometimes, you could feel the age difference and probably, at that age, you have surpassed your peak performance, it’s human.

« Alonso being able to drive like that again, it’s so cool. I was so disappointed for him [at the Canadian Grand Prix], I was disappointed while watching TV because I really wanted him to be on the podium. I think Alpine also made a few small mistakes, it wasn’t just bad luck, with the VSC, they could have gone through the pits.

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The German also gave his opinion on the Oscar Piastri situation. The Australian, who is the reserve driver for Alpine, is currently without a seat and is looking for a place in F1. But the future seems complicated within the French team since Esteban Ocon is under contract and Fernando Alonso’s results are satisfactory. Even if the Spaniard is starting to get older and some argue that he should make way for the younger drivers, Nico Rosberg does not share this opinion.

« Fernando Alonso drives so well that there shouldn’t even be any discussion about him taking anyone’s place. It’s more than deserved for him to be where he is. His driving style is super spectacular, fans from all over the world love it, and it’s a major asset for the Alpine team. Maybe some other people in Formula 1 could make some room for Piastri instead of Alonso.