Fernando Alonso is always pretty open with his opinions on Formula 1 and he’s admitted to finding the Prost/Senna era in the late 1980s and early 1990s as “very boring”.
Many people feel F1 was at its best in the 80s and 90s with the huge battle between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Others prefer the F1 we see today, or like the manufacturer boom of the early 2000s.
Alonso has certainly made it clear which era he prefers, admitting that the time of Prost and Senna battling it out for world titles was “very boring”.
He feels that time period in F1 history is overrated and would be deemed dull by fans of the sport now.
Here’s what the Spaniard is quoted saying by Autosport about the Prost/Senna era:
“Formula 1 at that time, it was very boring. If you see a race now from ’85, ’88 or ’92, you will sleep through the race because it was two McLarens, the fourth guy was lapped and there was 25 seconds between each car.
“There were 10 cars DNF because the reliability was so-so. Television figures, spectators are going down [now], like it was in these boring years in the ’80s where Senna, Prost and these people were saving fuel, saving tyres and things like that, so it’s exactly the same boring as it was at that time.”
So, what era does Alonso prefer then? He feels the 2000s – where more manufacturers moved into F1, the calendar expanded to new places and big-name sponsors arrived – was the peak time for F1.
It’s also the time where he won his two world championships, a more successful period in his career, not including #PlacesAlonsoWouldRatherBe part one and part two, 30-place grid penalties and GP2 engines.
Here’s why he feels the 2000s was F1 at its best:
“I think Formula 1 grew up a lot. A lot of manufacturers came into Formula 1 in the 2000s – BMW, Toyota, and there were many people coming. Television figures and the spectators were at the maximum.
“We opened Formula 1 to new countries – we raced in Korea, we raced in India, we raced in Singapore, two races in Spain – and that was the maximum. And we didn’t understand that situation, probably. The costs were very high, technology was very high, some manufacturers pulled out.”
Despite believing the 2000s was F1 at its best, Alonso has previously admitted 2012 was his best season in the sport. He also admitted to missing being in the title fight, having been left to scrap over positions in the lower end of the top 10 for the last two years with McLaren.