McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton Sees Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso as the Main Threat to F1 Title Ambitions
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has said that he sees former teammate Fernando Alonso as his main rival for the 2010 Formula One World Championship title. Hamilton remarked that the Ferrari driver and two-time world champion had a good
chance of clinching the 2010 trophy keeping in view the Ferrari F-10’s increasing pace and reliability.
Although it is Hamilton who currently maintains the edge over Alonso when it comes to the Drivers’ standings, it could take a single race to turn the tide firmly in favour of the Ferrari driver. Placed second and third in the Drivers’
standings respectively, with only a 16 point difference between them, both Hamilton and Alonso go into this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix as hot favourites for the win.
Fernando Alonso appeared to be slipping out of the championship hunt after a series of accidents earlier in the season caused him to lose valuable points when others were consolidating their positions. However, the world champion
staged a sensational comeback into the title race after scoring an impressive victory for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. In the same race, Hamilton crashed out after attempting an overzealous driving manoeuvre. The Englishman was left bitterly
disappointed at retiring from a race that could otherwise have helped him establish a clear lead over his title rivals.
When asked to name the favourite for the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix trophy, Hamilton tipped Alonso for the win. The McLaren driver said that Alonso would be fired up to lift the title in Singapore as his motivation must have
received an enormous boost from the win in Italy.
Few would say that Hamilton’s fears are unfounded. Alonso has a reputation for being highly demanding of his team, and as his former teammate, Hamilton is well aware of the Spaniard’s ruthless competitive streak. The two drivers
famously fell out while fighting for the championship with McLaren back in 2007 when a disgruntled Alonso was to leave the team at the end of the season.
Hamilton’s McLaren teammate, Jenson Button, also named Alonso as the most significant threat to McLaren’s 2010 championship hopes. Alonso controversially won the 2008 Singaporean event after his Renault partner, Nelson Piquet Jr.
pulled off a deliberate accident.
Alonso said that he was aiming to make it to the podium at each of the five remaining races of the season. The Scuderia driver claimed he had good reason to be confident ahead of the night race this weekend in Asia, thanks to the
competitiveness of his car. Alonso brushed aside concerns over Ferrari’s inconsistency during the 2010 run. The Spaniard’s first season with the Italian team has been far from smooth and he has uncharacteristically made a number of avoidable mistakes. But
now it seems the two-time world champion is back into the form that made him the hottest property in Formula One. Realizing the importance of maintaining the momentum established at Monza, Alonso said it was imperative to avoid any further retirements this
season.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner also talked about his fears over Ferrari’s increasing competitiveness. Horner said that Alonso, at the moment, appeared to be the most potent threat for Red Bull’s title bid. The manager explained
that although the Scuderia had seen a dip in form midway through the season, namely in Valencia and at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, they had rebounded just in time to salvage their title dreams.
Although the F-10 may not be able to match the Red Bull RB-6’s pace around fast corners, it is incredibly fast on the straights as the run on Monza tracks recently demonstrated. Overall, the F-10 is increasingly appearing to be
a stronger package than the RB6 (widely touted as the class of the 2010 field), for the Red Bull machine has been seen to lag behind both the McLaren MP4-25 and the F-10 when it comes to straights.
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