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Fernando Alonso is making "a mistake" by trying to combine F1 with endurance sports cars. That is the claim of his former rival and ongoing friend Mark Webber, after Alonso completed a week of testing in Daytona ahead of his prototype racing debut this month.
The Spaniard is using Daytona to see if he wants to bid for Le Mans victory later this year, but Webber - who switched full-time to sports cars after his F1 career but is now retired - thinks Alonso is making a mistake.
Asked if he backs Alonso's decision to divide his energy between F1 and sports cars, Webber told Italy's Automoto: "No, it's a mistake. They are two totally different things that both absorb a lot of mental energy. I think if you're doing F1 you can't afford distractions -- it (F1) is so specific that it doesn't allow room," he added.
However, a couple of years ago Nico Hulkenberg showed that it is possible to even win Le Mans during a full-time F1 season. But Webber said: "That was with a second-rate team in F1. The pressures are different. He was also with the top Le Mans team and that simplified things a lot."
Australian Webber thinks Alonso could even win Daytona this month, but questions the point of such an exercise. "If he wins it would be amazing. He's a driver with talent unlike almost anyone else in the world. It would be fantastic, but it will not give him anything," he said. (GMM)
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (3)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Time will tell.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
People always seem to have an opinion every time a driver does something out of the ordinary, almost as if resenting it. Lewis Hamilton does a lot of stuff that I would also consider a distraction and counterproductive, but hey it has worked very well for him, so nobody is justified and criticizing it. Fernando is driving as good as ever, his competitiveness has not been rewarded for several year. Racing in other categories seems to keep him motivated. Why not? as @CALLE.ITW said, time will tell, but I expect nothing but excellence from Fernando, and if he gets anything that resembles a competitive car, he will be fighting at the front regularly.
blade
Posts: 341
Have to agree with AJPP - getting really bored with the same old crap being spoken by F1 drivers before and after every race - would be refreshing to hear some different perspectives tbh.