F1i exclusive: Eric Boullier rates his F1 drivers

© WRi2

FERNANDO ALONSO

“What makes Fernando stand out compared to the others is the vital need he has to be competitive. All he cares about is winning, winning, winning, in everything he tries his hand at. You may be racing him at your local go-kart track or play tennis against him, he will give 200% to come out on top. He will be just as committed as for a grand prix weekend. Fernando’s entire life is centred around that need to perform and win. I would not say he is a monk but he is only interested in competing.

“Driving wise, he makes almost no mistake and is able to extract the quintessential performance of the car from the very first lap at the wheel. This is something I had never seen with any other driver before.”

“This is a great quality but it might have led to some misunderstanding about what his expectations are. Fernando has had a reputation for being quite a handful to manage when really he is not. Once you’ve understood his hunger for performance, it’s quite easy to deal with this character trait. Of course, you can imagine that he is quite chagrined in light of our recent results. Fernando might have his character, expectations, and conditions but he is not like the guy he is sometimes portrayed.

“Driving wise, he makes almost no mistake and is able to extract the quintessential performance of the car from the very first lap at the wheel. This is something I had never seen with any other driver before. From the very first run, you know you can use the telemetry data because the limits of the car have already been explored.”