Alex Wurz has backed F1’s world champion to bounce back at the upcoming grands prix.
Joint championship leader Fernando Alonso, 25, had a difficult race recently in Bahrain, where his McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton’s superior pace only intensified the hype surrounding the British rookie.
But 33-year-old Wurz, the long time test driver who in 2007 returned to the race tracks with Williams, said Alonso is strong enough to not be rattled.
“When you are a double world champion and you have beaten (Michael) Schumacher I do not believe that you are afraid of anyone,” Wurz told the newspaper Marca.
He said the current pecking order at Woking based McLaren could simply be down to Hamilton feeling more settled than Alonso so far.
“Lewis is new (to F1) but he has been with McLaren for many, many years,” Wurz pointed out, “while Alonso has just joined (the team).
“Honestly I don’t think Alonso sees himself in a difficult situation. He knows that while Hamilton has arrived in a very strong way, honestly he still has a long way to go before he is winning championships like Fernando.”
Wurz said Hamilton’s comfort after several years of being associated with McLaren could be “similar” to the situation at Ferrari, where Felipe Massa currently has the upper hand over newcomer Kimi Raikkonen.
