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Former F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa has told of his belief that the pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2007 was the strongest pairing in the history of the sport.
Speaking recently on F1's Beyond the Grid podcast, de la Rosa explained how he felt the driver pairing could have gone on to be very successful had tensions between the pair not boiled over throughout the year.
As test driver at McLaren during the pairing in 2007, de la Rosa felt that Hamilton and Alonso were even better than the pairing of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the team.
"I was surprised how it all exploded," de la Rosa said. "If we look back, that driver pairing is possibly the strongest there’s ever been. Ever. So it’s nothing against Senna/Prost, they’re my heroes, forever heroes, but that level – Fernando/Lewis – was amazing.
"I remember looking at their data and thinking, ‘these guys are from a different planet’. And still, I was not expecting for the relationship to explode. It was a shame because those guys would have brought so many championships to McLaren."
Level of respect between the pair despite tensions
Despite the level of tension and constant mind games between the pair, de la Rosa assures that the pair still held respect for one another on the circuit.
De la Rosa explained how the pair never made contact or dangerous moves on each other while racing, and that the on-track battles were always fair between both drivers.
"They always respected each other massively at the track because they knew how good the other was, although they never said it publicly, they had a lot of respect for each other," de la Rosa commented.
"There was nothing wrong ever done at the racetrack between them. It was always a strong fight but fair.
"There was no pushing, breaking the front wing or nothing. There was just… two gladiators fighting bravely at the racetrack so I have no bad memories about that.
"Both were massively fast, talented, and then I think Lewis learned a lot from Fernando that year."
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (2)
Login to replyajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
It might irk some people, but I definitely think there is an argument to be made for this pairing being the strongest ever. Frankly, the only other pairings on the same level in the modern era would probably be Seann-Prost.
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
Being saying the same for years.....but it also came at a cost, ALOs sabotage was pure treachery, it was also a sure sign that man management was a skill and not something you can lend a hand to.....I liken it to getting the best out of footballers today - one size does not fit all......