Fernando Alonso admires Michael Schumacher for his achievements
Two-time former Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso said that one person he respects and admires for achievements in Formula 1 was the seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
Alonso said, “We have to wait 'til Australia and the first three or four races and see how Mercedes is doing. If Mercedes is fighting for pole position, he will be one of our great rivals.”
This is not the first time that the Spaniard has expressed his respect towards the legendary German. Earlier, Alonso rated Schumacher to be his toughest rival in the 2011 season.
Most of the teams and drivers claimed that the veteran German would no longer be able to compete at the same level which he used to do some years ago. However, Alonso has fully backed Schumacher to be as competitive as ever.
Considering the history of both Schumacher and Alonso, the best man to comment on the potential of the veteran German is Alonso himself, who fought with Schumacher for the championship since 2003 and won the titles in 2005 and 2006.
Schumacher announced his retirement from Formula 1 at the end of the 2006 season, and no one predicted that the veteran driver would be racing again.
However, Schumacher proved everyone wrong with his return to the sport after a three-year gap, but he returned with a different team, Mercedes GP.
The veteran struggled to perform on his return season and only finished ninth in the overall standings. He was outpaced by his teammate Nico Rosberg in almost every race and a lot of criticism followed the low-key performances of the veteran.
Alonso was not certain about his team’s chances in the upcoming season. He claimed that he was feeling nice about his car, but he could not predict anything about the other competing teams.
The situation will be clearer after the first race of the season which kicks off in Australia on 27 March, 2011.
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