A new generation of Formula 1 cars debuted at the iconic Monaco circuit this weekend. And, although the race was entertaining, the sport’s most veteran drivers on the grid issued a negative verdict: for Fernando Alonso, they are the worst cars he has ever driven on the streets of the Principality of Monaco.
In fact, Alonso went a step further and said that hybrid cars shouldn’t even compete, neither in Monaco nor anywhere else. Lewis Hamilton wasn’t as radical, but in a way he supported the words of a former teammate. The Briton believes that these hybrid cars are too complex for Monaco.
The worst generation of cars that have raced in Monaco, according to Fernando Alonso
Despite scoring his first point of the season, Fernando Alonso did not leave Monaco entirely satisfied. And not just because of Aston Martin’s problems, but because of the terrible impression given by the new Formula 1 cars. For Alonso, “the worst generation of cars I have ever driven in Monaco”.
There was a great deal of interest in knowing the verdict of Alonso and Hamilton, the two most veteran Formula 1 drivers, after testing the new single-seaters on the legendary Monaco circuit. The Spanish driver was the most radical, going so far as to assert that hybrid cars should not compete. Neither in Monaco, nor in Formula 1, nor anywhere.
Alonso explains that “the way the battery recharges through braking and lifting the throttle creates a lot of inconsistency in the clutch/brake feel. Sometimes you have less, sometimes you have push, sometimes not…”. Formula 1 has been hybrid since 2014, or even since 2009 if we count the KERS era, but for Alonso approaching 50/50 is already excessive.
Some expected that Lewis Hamilton, politically smoother than Alonso on most occasions, would refute the Spaniard. But he did not. With softer words, Hamilton stood alongside Alonso, implying that in his long, two-decade career these Formula 1 cars are also the worst he has driven in Monaco.
And indeed Hamilton has been aligned for months with the idea of returning to V8 engines, which is gradually taking shape. In fact, his father, Anthony Hamilton, has just launched a new category with V10 engines with the aim of “eliminating the complexity of the engines and refocusing on the drivers”. In other words, the opposite path to Formula 1.
So neither adding his first point of the year nor his third podium with Ferrari has prevented Alonso and Hamilton from once again railing about the new Formula 1.
Images | Ferrari, Aston Martin
