Fernando Alonso has always affirmed that his great idol in Formula 1 was Ayrton senna. The Asturian’s main objective is to equalize the three world titles of the Brazilian and, hand in hand with Aston Martinthe goal does not seem as far as Alpine.
There is one man that both pilots have in common: Pat Symonds. He was Senna’s first engineer in F1 and one of the architects of Alonso’s two-time championship with Renault.
Now, as F1 technical director, he has remembered the figure of the late pilot, highlighting two qualities.
On one hand, the adaptability: “I had tried a couple of cars and people were raving about him, we managed to sign him in Toleman, and that made me quite happy, because I thought he was good, competent, but young.”
“When we put him in the car I said to myself, ‘oh, actually, he’s a little more than that’, he’s one of those people who makes you get up and look at him”, he explained in statements collected by ‘Motorsport’ .
“It’s funny, especially in those days, and even today to some degree, that there used to be people who did it very well. [en otras categorías]who then got into a Formula 1 and did not adapt, but others did and were at home, How did it happen to Senna?“, has added.
On the other, the enormous self-esteem he had: “The other thing that surprised me is that I have never met anyone with such high self esteem. Ayrton knew that he was the best in the world before anyone else. Every racing driver has it, but he’s never seen it like this before.”
“I couldn’t decide if I was happy or sad. Finishing second, almost winning, of course I should be happy, but being the type of person I am, I was not happy! We did not win“, has settled.
That self-esteem is one of the points they have in common Ayrton senna and Fernando Alonso. The man from Oviedo, at almost 42 years old, believes that he is in the best moment of his career and he is proving it. In fact, he recently stated that he would not retire until he was overtaken by the young. At the moment, that is not happening.
