Former Brazilian world champion, Nelson Piquet Sr., has claimed that Fernando Alonso missed out on more F1 titles purely he because he creates ‘chaos’ wherever he goes.
"Fernando could have won five championships but the reality was that wherever he went, there was chaos,” said Piquet. “He is a fantastic driver but he always makes trouble.”
“When you go to a team, you must have patience and cooperation, but Alonso wants everything at once.”
Piquet’s son, Nelson Piquet Jr., who currently drives for Jaguar in Formula-E, partnered Alonso at Renault way back in 2008 and so the senior Piquet knows a fair bit about the Spaniard.
The decision was not entirely surprising, given that Alonso had made his frustration pretty well-known over the past three years. However, his former teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, still hoped that we would see him back in F1.
"I think now he will go to Indycar. I hope he will win the title and the Indy 500, and then return to F1 - even if it is hard to come back," said Fisichella. Another former teammate who backed Alonso to return is Jenson Button.
"If McLaren is fast and wins races again, he'll be back. He was definitely my toughest teammate but it was also fun," said the Brit.
Alonso raced for Minardi when he burst onto the F1 scene in 2001. His teammate back then, Tarso Marques, defended the Spaniard’s attitude and felt that it was quite necessary.
"When I see people saying he creates problems in his teams, I don't agree,” said Marques. “I actually think it's a quality rather than a problem."
“Manipulating a team is something every champion does. Motor racing is a sport where to be successful, you have to be selfish. You have to think about yourself first, second and third.”