Three-time world champion Niki Lauda believes McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will have a “difficult” job on their hands to overcome Fernando Alonso’s superiority.
The Austrian, who won championships with Ferrari and McLaren, regards current championship leader Alonso as the best on the grid and says his consistency – he’s the only driver to score in every race this season – will be difficult to beat.
“He’s the toughest guy out there and he is also the cleverest,” Lauda is quoted as saying by the Mirror. “He knows what to do and after years at Ferrari he has settled in, knows how to be consistent and has kept the team going forward step by step.”
Whilst Red Bull have caught up, he believes Alonso still has the upper hand on Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. But what of the British duo at McLaren? The 63-year-old blames the car for their woes and says their fight for the title isn’t quite over, but it’ll be tough.
“Red Bull have technically caught up too, but all things considered I see Alonso as the most complete driver,” he added.
“They [Hamilton and Button] are both world champions and better than they were made to look at Silverstone. They are suffering from the performance of the car.
“It’s already getting tough for Hamilton and Button in the title race.
“It’s not the points difference that I’m talking about… it’s not over for them, but even if they score big Alonso won’t be far behind, so to reduce the gap is going to difficult.”
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