Fernando Alonso's future in F1 a no-brainer according to Nico Rosberg

2016 Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg has said that there is no risk of Fernando Alonso taking up someone’s seat in the sport at the moment, as the Spaniard is driving so well and deserves to be there.

The two-time world champion underlined his class at the weekend by putting his Alpine on P2 in treacherous conditions in qualifying, with him going fast all weekend in Montreal.

In the race, he finished P7 on the road before dropping to P9 thanks to a time penalty, but revealed he’d been struggling with a power deficit for much of the race after the chequered flag, thanks to an issue with the power unit in the back of the car.

Even so, it was another reminder that Alonso’s talents are far from on the wane despite being the oldest driver on the grid, and Rosberg couldn’t help but praise the Spaniard when speaking to Sky Sports’ Any Driven Monday programme:

“I am a big fan of Alonso at the moment. We all know that talent and skill-wise he is one of the best of all time.

“He sometimes lacked that social competence – he often had difficulties being in the best teams with the best cars. They didn’t really want him anymore because of burning bridges in the past.

“That was definitely one of his weaknesses in terms of getting even better results but in terms of talent he is surely one of the best of all time or right up there.

“For him to still drive like this is just so cool.

“I was so gutted for him [in Canada], I wanted him to be on the podium. I think Alpine did a little mistake, they could have taken a jump into the pitlane.

“He is driving so awesomely there shouldn’t be any discussion that he is taking up anyone’s seat. He more than deserves to be where he is.”