1979 Formula One champion Jody Scheckter believes people have overrated the retiring Fernando Alonso.
On Tuesday, McLaren announced Alonso will be leaving F1 after 17 seasons. He leaves the sport with two drivers’ titles to his name, but given his talent, many agree that he should have achieved much more.
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Scheckter has criticised Alonso’s divisive nature and believes it is something which has cost the Spaniard further world championship success.
« I like to just think how many championships somebody’s won, » Scheckter told BBC Radio 5Live. « You can rate people that they had bad luck and bad cars. I think people overrate him. One of his problems is he seems to upset teams and everybody around him. That’s not the way to win world championships.
« You’ve got to work with your team and you’re nearly a leader [as a driver]. »
Alonso’s former teammate, Felipe Massa reportedly told Brazilian TV earlier in the week that he rated Alonso as highly as seven-time champion Michael Schumacher — something Scheckter disagreed with.
« For me, absolutely not. Schumacher has got to be rated as the best driver ever. Alonso, I don’t think he’s in that category.
« [That’s] not to say he’s not a good driver. He’s one of the top drivers there now. »
http://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/24379693/1979-f1-champion-jody-scheckter-people-overrate-fernando-alonso
