Alonso: (e) My podiums were not taken into account »
Fernando Alonso believes that his past second places have not been valued at their true worth, while also congratulating Sainz for his second place in Monaco.
Last weekend in Monaco, Fernando Alonso’s compatriot, Carlos Sainz, equalled the best result of his career by finishing second in this mythical Grand Prix. He thus secures his first podium with Scuderia Ferrari. Alonso has always praised Sainz’s talent, describing him as the best young Spanish driver in motorsport for many years. A great satisfaction for the double world champion to see the new Ferrari driver on the podium.
The Spanish veteran draws a comparison with the reactions that his second places generated when he was racing for the Prancing Horse team. According to Alonso, these triggered a much heavier atmosphere.
I also remember that five or six years ago, when I was getting nine or ten podiums a season, the second [place for me], it was a funeral after [the race] in the press conference, Alonso said.
Because people were asking, “When are you going to win?”. And now, when I see that I have 97 podiums, I tell myself that especially in the last five or six years, these podiums have not been taken into account.
« These podiums were not taken into account »
It is true that the level of expectation placed on Fernando Alonso was such that any result other than a victory was considered a failure for the Spaniard. Currently, his last podium with the Scuderia at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2014, remains to this day his last appearance on the glory podium. After his last victory with Ferrari at the 2013 Spanish GP, Alonso has only achieved seven podiums. These have never been recognized as true successes.
However, Alonso is delighted with Carlos Sainz’s very good result: “I am very, very happy for Carlos,” he says.
The performance of the new recruit of the Italian team is the result of his hard work and his successful adaptation to his new team.
