Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso says his 2007 McLaren car was 'anti-Fernando'

F1 star Fernando Alonso has claimed that he had an 'anti-Fernando' car back in 2007, the year when he first joined McLaren. According to the Spaniard, the change in F1's tire suppliers [to Bridgestone] right after he won his second championship in 2006 was advantageous to the drivers who had previously used these tires in the GP2 [now F2] series, which included Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso ended Michael Schumacher's dominance in F1 when he won the 2005 drivers' title, and also backed it up with a second title in 2006. After this, he left his Renault team to join McLaren and was never able to reach the heights many expected him to.

In 2007, Alonso had the quickest car in McLaren, but internal conflicts with rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton meant that neither driver won the championship that year. Now, Alonso claimed that he was at a great disadvantage that year.

Speaking recently to Spanish outlet AS, Alonso claimed that his 2007 McLaren was an 'anti-Fernando' car. This, he explained, was due to the switch to Bridgestone tires, which gave an advantage to Hamilton over him.

"Surely there were some [cars unsuited to me], but that’s an excuse that doesn’t work. You have to adapt because cars change and rules change," said Alonso, via PlanetF1.

"Without going any further, as soon as the second World Championship ended, I had an ‘anti-Fernando’ car in 2007. The tires were Bridgestone, which were the same ones used in GP2 at the time, so all the drivers who moved up from GP2 suddenly had very good performance," he added.

Fernando Alonso had joined the British team expecting to be the clear number one driver, as he was the reigning world champion, going up against a rookie. However, tensions within the camp grew when the team chose not to favor him over Hamilton, eventually leading to Alonso's exit after just one season.

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Fernando Alonso "convinced" about Aston Martin's F1 success in the future

Fernando Alonso at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Source: Getty

In a recent interview, Fernando Alonso claimed that he was "pretty convinced" that the Aston Martin project would be successful in the future. The only question mark, he said, was about when this would come, rather than if.

During an interview for Aston Martin's official website, Alonso was asked if he believed that the Silverstone-based team was all set to be competitive right at the front of the F1 field in the future. He replied, via F1's official website:

"I hope so. I mean, I'm pretty convinced about that. The only thing is when. That's probably my only question mark from this project.

"In my case, driving in the last couple of years of my career, obviously, I want to taste the success of the Aston Martin project. But I know that everything takes a little bit of time to glue all the pieces together. And that’s my only question mark," Fernando Alonso added.

The 44-year-old then doubled down by claiming that it was a "guarantee" that Aston Martin would have a car good enough to fight for race wins and world championships in the future. He added that the matter of winning titles will then only come down to their execution and some bad luck for their opponents.