Fernando Alonso rubbished the claim by Lewis Hamilton that Red Bull have the fastest Formula 1 car he has ever seen and suggested the Brit has "a short memory".
Red Bull dominated the first two races of 2023 with one-two finishes both in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In the second race, Max Verstappen started 15th after a mechanical issue in qualifying but made light work of cutting through the pack, including a very easy overtake on Hamilton.
The Mercedes racer later said he did not even attempt to defend against the Dutchman, given the performance gulf between their cars. "I have definitely never seen a car so fast," he declared – quite the statement considering Hamilton has raced in F1 since 2007.
He then added: "When we were fast, we were not that fast. It is the fastest car I have seen, especially compared to the rest. I don't know how, but he came past me with some serious speed and I didn't even bother to block him because there was a massive speed difference."
Sky Sports pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz later concurred with Hamilton, pointing to the Red Bull's superior DRS system as its main weapon. "Lots of people will be looking at the Red Bull and saying, 'How are they able to gain nearly 20 miles an hour advantage on the straight from anybody else?'" he said.
But not everyone thinks the seven-time world champion his correct. His former McLaren team-mate Alonso may be three years older than Hamilton, but that did not stop the Spaniard from joking that time might be taking its toll on the Brit's memory.
"I don't agree at all," he responded when told of Hamilton's hypothesis by L'Equipe. "Last week I finished 20 seconds behind Checo [Perez] and Max. Hamilton and [Nico] Rosberg were a minute ahead in 2014 and 2015 – he has a short memory... he's getting old!"
With Hamilton's current Mercedes machine not as competitive as its predecessors, Alonso feels the seven-time world champion's shortcomings are being highlighted by the W14. "With a normal car, you can see that he has weaknesses," he added.
"Before, he drove alone or sometimes with his team-mate. But look – he is the record holder for poles and George Russell has just given him a 2-0 in qualifying this season. It just goes to show how much the car is still a key factor."
