Eddie Jordan makes Fernando Alonso comparison after Sergio Perez Red Bull lifeline
Fernando Alonso’s performance level has been questioned by former F1 boss Eddie Jordan.
Eddie Jordan believes Fernando Alonso has taken a step back, psychologically, since the start of the 2024 F1 season.
The former F1 team boss turned pundit believes Fernando Alonso isn’t driving to his ultimate potential at the moment, in a similar fashion to Sergio Perez at Red Bull.
Eddie Jordan: Fernando Alonso was awesome at the start of 2024
Having had a stellar 2023 season with multiple podiums and being consistently in the mix near the front, it’s been a quieter 2024 for Aston Martin and Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard is yet to score a podium this year, with his best result being fifth at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
More interestingly have been the much closer performances of Alonso and Lance Stroll – while Alonso has scored more than double the points of the Canadian, the performance gap between them has shrunk considerably through the second quarter of the season.
Appearing alongside David Coulthard on the Formula For Success podcast, the two 90’s F1 icons were discussing Sergio Perez’s difficult year at Red Bull with Coulthard postulating that the Mexican driver may simply have reached the point in his career where he can no longer produce the speed and results he was once capable of.
With Coulthard challenging Jordan to name a driver who only kept improving throughout a long career, the Irishman paused and suggested Alonso’s performance level at the moment mirrors the drop-off seen from Perez.
“You see that exactly with Alonso where, at the beginning of the year, he was awesome,” Jordan said.
“At the moment, I’d have to look to see where he ends up and whether he’s actually in the top 10 or not (He’s ninth – editor)!
“He happened to drive well [at Spa], and dragged more points for Aston but, at the same time, it’s nowhere near the level that he thinks he can be at.
“Because, for him in his mind, he’s every bit as good as Lewis [Hamilton]. He expected to be able to fight with Lewis this year and to be honest, that hasn’t happened and you can’t see it happening for the remainder of this year. So I also think about, psychologically, what goes on in these guy’s heads.”
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Speaking after finishing ninth in the Belgian Grand Prix, at the head of the midfield after only being bested by the leading four teams, Alonso explained his state of mind heading into the summer break after a much more low-key 2024.
“I’m a little bit disappointed,” he admitted.
“We cannot hide the fact that we are fighting today with Williams, AlphaTauri (sic), and Alpine while, last year, we were looking maybe to the top four teams.
“Now they are out of reach and we are just defending from the guys behind.
“Even at the beginning of the year – in qualifying, especially – we were always top five, top six in the mix.
“So there’s definitely a lot of work to do for us in summer break and the second part of the year. We will not give up, but we need to work.”
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