Why Fernando Alonso was ‘particularly impressed’ with Max Verstappen winning the 2024 F1 championship

The 2024 Formula 1 campaign couldn’t have gone more differently for Red Bull Racing star Max Verstappen and Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso.

Max Verstappen confirmed his fourth world championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix to confirm his status among Formula 1’s greatest drivers.

Fernando Alonso is another driver who is in the conversation for that title, but throughout his extensive F1 career has always ended up driving for the wrong team at the wrong time.

The 2024 season is no exception, with Aston Martin’s form falling off a cliff as the campaign progressed.

In Las Vegas, it could be argued that Mike Krack’s team slipped below Sauber in terms of overall pace, despite the Swiss team failing to score a point this year.

Verstappen has had to face difficulties of his own this season after sailing to a third title in 2023, with Red Bull no longer possessing the fastest car on the grid.

The future should be bright at Aston Martin, going into 2025 and the sport’s new regulations the following year.

Aston Martin have built state-of-the-art facilities to aid a star team of new backroom staff including Andy Cowell, Enrico Cardile and most notably Adrian Newey.

Journalist Ben Anderson was speaking on The Race F1 Podcast about Alonso’s response to winning his fourth title and why he would have been so impressed by his achievement.

Why Fernando Alonso was so impressed with Max Verstappen’s 2024 F1 title victory

Talking about the response to Verstappen’s championship win, Anderson said: “You run out of superlatives really, but you can sense also there’s a reverence for him in the paddock.

“Inevitably, other drivers and personnel were asked about Max and him making it number four post-race.

“And Fernando Alonso, who obviously knows what it’s like to fight for a championship in a car that’s not really quite capable of winning that championship and not quite getting them over the line.

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“I sense that he’s particularly impressed with Max this year for doing just that, you know, the Red Bull’s dropped not even really to the second-best car.

“It’s probably been third, sometimes fourth-best in the latter part of the season. And he’s found a way to get it over the line.

“Obviously, he benefited from that headstart, but there’s also just that way he’s maximized the result almost every time regardless of how uncompetitive the car has been.”

Fernando Alonso backs himself to challenge for F1 championships 20 years after maiden title

Alonso won his first title in 2005 and followed it up with victory the following year for Renault.

Since then, he’s driven for several top teams in F1 without success, narrowly missing out on the 2012 championship against Sebastian Vettel in an inferior Ferrari.

However, speaking to Marca after the race in Las Vegas, Alonso believes he still has what it takes to top the Drivers’ Championship.

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He said: “All those who have fought with Max for championships so far haven’t managed to intimidate him much, so hopefully it’ll be my turn and I can change history.”

David Croft was worried about Alonso in Las Vegas after he made one request during the race weekend.

The car isn’t up to scratch and while it feels like Alonso could go on forever, Aston Martin have to deliver a race-winning car sooner rather than later to give Alonso his opportunity to go toe-to-toe with Verstappen.