Fernando Alonso believes that some of his podiums were not met with respect in previous years and instead resulted in a “funeral” atmosphere.
The most recent of Alonso’s 97 podium finishes came at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, during his final season for Ferrari.
Of those podiums 44, including 11 wins, came during his five-year stretch with Ferrari.
His compatriot Carlos Sainz achieved his first podium with Ferrari last Sunday at Monaco, crossing the line in second place.
While Alonso affirmed he was “very, very happy” for Sainz’s achievement, he stated that some of his own podiums were not hailed in the same way.
“I remember five or six years ago I was doing nine or ten podiums per season,” Alonso said.
“It was a funeral afterwards in the press conference. [I was asked] ‘when will you win?’.
“And now I think when I see that we have 97 podiums, I think especially the last five or six years of those podiums were not taken into respect probably, we see now.”
Alonso’s last grand prix victory also came with Ferrari, as he failed to reach the top three during the four years he spent at McLaren from 2015 to 2018.
The 39-year-old, who is currently the only Spanish driver to have won an F1 race, says he hopes to see Sainz reach the top step of the podium soon.
“I spoke with him on the grid [in Monaco], at the national anthem, he was already on the podium at that time because he was starting third after the Leclerc problems,” Alonso said.
“With the Bottas issue it was even better. A good start to the championship as well, hopefully we can see a race win soon.
“But we know that in a normal circuit, Mercedes and Red Bull are still in front. It was an opportunity, he must take it, so it was good.”
