Briatore: Alonso is one of the greats

Flavio Briatore has hailed Fernando Alonso as one of Formula One’s greatest drivers adding that he’s better than Michael Schumacher…

Flavio Briatore has hailed Fernando Alonso as one of Formula One’s greatest drivers adding that he’s better than Michael Schumacher.

In his capacity as Renault team boss, Briatore oversaw both of Alonso’s World title victories and the Italian has since worked as the driver’s manager.

Given his knowledge of the Spaniard, Briatore is of the opinion that Alonso is one of the sport’s “few great drivers”.

“Alonso is a special person not only because he is a great driver but because he is a normal guy – very modest, very sincere,” Briatore told Onda Cero.

“He is one of the few great drivers along with Senna, Prost and Schumacher. In the last twenty years we have seen some phenomenal drivers and Fernando is one of them.”

While admitting that Alonso and Schumacher are “two totally different drivers”, Briatore believes that Alonso just has the edge over the seven-time World Champion.

“Fernando is a little better, because when Michael becomes depressed, he falls back, while in the same situation Fernando’s concentration sharpens,” explained the 61-year-old.

Briatore feels that given the right machinery, Alonso can topple Schumacher’s record title haul.

“I hope so, because Fernando deserves to be the best driver in history. He has decided to stay at Ferrari until the end of his career and hopefully Ferrari can give him a car that can win more titles than Schumacher,” he said.