Tarso Marques, Fernando Alonso’s teammate in his first Formula 1 season at Minardi, claims the two-time world champion was better than Michael Schumacher when they raced against each other.

On top of that, the Brazilian driver added, “even if the Brazilians get angry”, that he is “even better than Senna” because Alonso makes fewer driving mistakes than the three-time world champion did in his career.

Fernando Alonso ‘as good or better’ than recent F1 legends

Alonso is already enshrined among Formula 1’s greats as a two-time world champion and holds the record for most races of all time with his 32 Grand Prix wins to date.

He also has several near misses to titles to go with his championships, coming close again in 2007, 2010 and 2012 – the last of which came in a Ferrari that seemed to lack overall pace compared to Red Bull Sebastian Vettel’s.

Marques was on the other side of the garage when Alonso first arrived in Formula 1 at Minardi in 2001 and explained his belief that his talent warranted a number of titles equal to those of Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.

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“I’m a fan of Ayrton Senna, like all Brazilians, and there are recent legends like Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and now Max Verstappen, and it’s very difficult to compare drivers from different eras, but I think Fernando is as good as them or better,” Marques told the Spanish publication mark.

“If I had to choose a driver for my team, I would choose Fernando. I think he was better than Schumacher when they raced against each other, and even if the Brazilians get angry, I’d say he’s even better than Senna.

“Senna was incredible, he had natural talent, but the truth is he made more mistakes than Fernando.

“Fernando quickly learned to drive a race not only fast but also smart, something I would say about Hamilton as well.

“Fernando is probably the best, along with Hamilton. I think Fernando should be at his level in terms of titles, but sometimes he didn’t have the right car.

“I think he deserves more titles than he has. The two world titles are great, but they don’t really reflect his talent. It should have a lot more than that.”

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