Fernando Alonso is the “most difficult teammate” that Formula 1 veteran Felipe Massa ever had.
Brazilian Massa, now 41, most famously paired at Ferrari with F1 legend Michael Schumacher, which he describes as a “great experience”.
“He was an amazing driver,” he said. “The way he was working but we were very close as well.
“In the end I was lucky to be part of that experience.”
Less enjoyable, however, was Massa’s experience of sharing the same Maranello based team with Fernando Alonso.
Alonso, also 41, is still on the grid today – and has moved to the ambitious Aston Martin team for 2023.
The Spaniard thinks he could even win a third title.
“I wouldn’t have continued if I didn’t think we have an opportunity,” Alonso told motorsport-total.com. “I don’t know if it’s a 1 or a 10 percent chance, but there is a chance.”
He says improving those chances will require a lot of effort, but he is “ready to do something special and I expect the same from the team”.
Aston Martin says its 2023 car is “90 percent” different to last year’s single seater, with deputy technical boss Eric Blandin claiming Alonso already made “several” contributions to its development.
Alonso’s 2023 teammate is Aston Martin incumbent Lance Stroll, whose father Lawrence owns the Silverstone based team.
“First of all,” said Alonso’s former Ferrari teammate Massa, “he was an amazing driver. There’s nothing you can say about that,” he told the Polish source Swiatwyscigow.
“But it was quite difficult to work together inside the team, you know,” he admitted. “Actually, the team was splitting in the middle.
“And in the end, it was not good for the result of the team. For me, I didn’t feel strong enough to make the team listen to me. That was quite hard. But there was also some learning as well.”
Massa concluded by agreeing that Alonso was “for sure” the most difficult teammate he worked with during his 15-season Formula 1 career netting 11 wins.
(GMM)
