Major difference between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso explained

F1 pundit Peter Windsor feels that the key difference between the driving styles of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso is their ability to manage the car as it jolts around the corner.

The two-time world champion's driving style has been called unique by many experts because of his ability to catch the car when it might lose control. It has been mentioned on quite a few occasions that Hamilton extracts most of his performances on how he manages the corner entries.

During his Live Stream on his YouTube channel, Windsor said:

"What Fernando has, I don't Lewis, Charles or Max have, and I think what makes Fernando so brilliant is the ability to just manage the car when it jolts and he's loosened it, that's what he needs to feel and then he's just an incredible pianist, just balances the car towards the apex."

"Slightly longer corners as well but that's not really a disadvantage much longer. That's what he does so well but he can only do it if he jolts the car and the problem is when he's on a degrading set of tires or when he's got understeer that actually slows it all down."

"Lewis Hamilton was the only other driver Fernando [Alonso] worried about" - Ex-Ferrari employee

The former Ferrari staffer revealed that during his time with the Italian team, Fernando Alonso was only worried about Lewis Hamilton's performance on the grid.

He said, as per Motorsport Magazine:

“In my time at Ferrari, Lewis was the only other driver Fernando [Alonso] worried about. Yes, other drivers might have been in faster cars and he’d accept that. But on a Grand Prix weekend whenever you’d discuss the challenges, it was only ever Hamilton that Fernando referenced as being a threat, solely because of what he could deliver as a driver.”

He added:

“I think Fernando had matured since 2007 when, as a team-mate, he’d been shocked that a rookie could be at his level, be a threat to him immediately and had not reacted well. With hindsight, he understood that Hamilton alone stands as something beyond the norm. I got the impression that there was no one else on Fernando’s radar as a rival.”

During their one season as teammates at McLaren in 2007, both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso finished on equal points and missed out on the title to Kimi Raikkonen by just one point.