Jan.9 (GMM) Fernando Alonso is making “a mistake” by trying to combine F1 with endurance sports cars.
That is the claim of his former rival and ongoing friend Mark Webber, after Alonso completed a week of testing in Daytona ahead of his prototype racing debut this month.
The Spaniard is using Daytona to see if he wants to bid for Le Mans victory later this year, but Webber – who switched full-time to sports cars after his F1 career but is now retired – thinks Alonso is making a mistake.
Asked if he backs Alonso’s decision to divide his energy between F1 and sports cars, Webber told Italy’s Automoto: “No, it’s a mistake.
“They are two totally different things that both absorb a lot of mental energy. I think if you’re doing F1 you can’t afford distractions — it (F1) is so specific that it doesn’t allow room,” he added.
However, a couple of years ago Nico Hulkenberg showed that it is possible to even win Le Mans during a full-time F1 season.
But Webber said: “That was with a second-rate team in F1. The pressures are different.
“He was also with the top Le Mans team and that simplified things a lot.”
Australian Webber thinks Alonso could even win Daytona this month, but questions the point of such an exercise.
“If he wins it would be amazing. He’s a driver with talent unlike almost anyone else in the world. It would be fantastic, but it will not give him anything,” he said.