Ahead of the 2023 F1 Monaco GP, Fernando Alonso has given his take on the rumors of Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari. While giving his opinion, Alonso slyly took a subtle dig at the seven-time world champion.
With an erratic schedule due to the cancellation of races, the F1 rumor mill has been busy churning out rumors of Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari. Speculations of Hamilton joining the team reached a peak when reports of Ferrari offering a £40m offer made the headlines.
In the media session on Thursday (May 25), Fernando Alonso was asked what advice he would give to the Mercedes driver on the speculative Ferrari move, to which he replied with a grin on his face:
"I have no idea, but he always said that he wins and he loses together with the team, so... if he's not winning, he should stay."
Old master Fernando Alonso has never missed an opportunity to take a dig at his rival Lewis Hamilton. This time Alonso has targeted Mercedes' bad form in recent times as he asks Hamilton to stick with the team. The Mercedes driver might have to endure the rough patch with the team as the rumors were reported to be false.
Prior to the Monaco GP, Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur recently dismissed all the speculations of Hamilton joining the Italian team. He also denied offering any contract to the seven-time world champion. Vasseur said:
"You know perfectly that at this stage of the season each week you will have a different story and we are not sending an offer to Lewis Hamilton, we didn't do it."
Currently occupying third place in the drivers' standings, Fernando Alonso is one spot ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso admits racing with Honda is not going to be a 'problem'
Fernando Alonso has a troubled history with Honda after being critical of the engine supplier during his stint with McLaren.
With Aston Martin joining forces with Honda in 2026, Alonso admits that racing with the Japanese manufacturer will not be a problem. Alonso said ahead of the Monaco GP:
"Racing again with Honda is going to be no problem at all from my side. It didn't work out last time [in] 2015, 2016, 2017."
He reflected on his time with the Honda as he said:
"It was even worse maybe for some of my team-mates, like Stoffel (Vandoorne) - coming from dominating in F3, F2 and then joining the project that was not fully ready back then."
"I think they have proved that they now have a competitive package, they won the championship in 2021, they won the championship in 2022, most likely will the championship in 2023. They have now a very strong package, it's a new set of regulations, but I think be a very exciting project."
While Fernando Alonso is still motivated to fight for his third title, he is unsure if he'll be around until 2026.