Fernando Alonso claims ‘lucky’ Lewis Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate could’ve won 5 titles

Fernando Alonso believes that Lewis Hamilton was 'lucky' to not hit a bad path of form during his title-winning spree with Mercedes, as his then team-mate would've won at least five titles instead.

Valtteri Bottas moved from Williams Racing to Mercedes in 2017 after Nico Rosberg announced his Formula 1 retirement. He spent five years with the Silver Arrows, partnering with Hamilton during his time there.

From 2017 to 2020, Hamilton won four F1 titles back-to-back as Bottas played second fiddle. The Finn never came close to challenging the Briton for the title, with his best results at Mercedes being a pair of P2 finishes in the drivers' standings in 2019 and 2020.

Fernando Alonso, in an interview with Spanish publication Marca, stated that Lewis Hamilton was lucky to have spent so many years in a dominant car. He said:

“He’s been lucky or lucky enough to be in a dominant car for many years and when that happens, [Michael] Schumacher won seven titles, Lewis won seven, [Max] Verstappen is on his way to his third, I won two. To be Champion, you need the best car.”

The Spaniard opined that Bottas could've had five world titles if not for Hamilton's faultless efforts, saying:

“It would have been a different story for us and for all the drivers. If he had any problems at Mercedes in those years, Bottas could have five titles. That’s how it works.”

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Valtteri Bottas on being Lewis Hamilton's teammate at Mercedes: “I really couldn’t take it, I really struggled, it was not fun”

Despite not being teammates anymore, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas continue to share a close relationship. The former recently disclosed that the two remain close friends and even travel together to and from races during the season.

During Bottas' time at Mercedes, however, not everything was rosy for him. The Alfa Romeo driver recently admitted that Hamilton's dominance almost drove him to the brink of retiring from Formula 1.

In a conversation on the "Motor Sport Magazine Podcast," he said:

“At the end of 2018, I almost stopped, it was so close. Just because of the fact that I couldn’t understand and take the fact that I couldn’t beat Lewis [Hamilton] in those two years.

“I put so much pressure on myself. Towards the end of ’18, especially when I started to have the support role in the team, I really couldn’t take it, I really struggled. It was not fun.”