Fernando Alonso takes subtle dig at Lewis Hamilton as Brit 'welcomed' to F1 midfield

Fernando Alonso has welcomed Lewis Hamilton to the F1 midfield while claiming a competitive car is the key ingredient behind every great driver. The 40-year-old Spanish veteran finds himself way down in 16th in the standings this season after collecting just two points with Alpine.

Gone are Alonso's glory days, when he secured back-to-back Drivers' Championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006.

Now Alonso finds himself towards the back of the back and as one of F1's most-experienced drivers, he is all too aware that a faultless car is imperative to success.

Reflecting on Hamilton's underwhelming campaign, the Alpine man appeared to suggest that the seven-time world champion's success derived from the cars he's been driving, as opposed to his quality behind the wheel - which he claims has remained the same throughout.

"This is the nature of the sport," Alonso told BBC Sport. "Sometimes you have a better car, sometimes you have not such a good car and you still need to fight and make some progress.

"This year we see that the driver is very important in F1 but not crucial.

"Lewis is driving as good as he has been the last eight years. He was dominating the sport and breaking all the records and 100-and-something pole positions.

"And now he is doing a mega lap - as he said in Australia or somewhere like that - and he is one second behind. So, yeah - welcome."

Alonso feels he can relate to Hamilton's current situation due to his mini-demise post-2006, when he secured his second World Championship.

At the time, Alonso was dominating the grid and even keeping Michael Schumacher at bay with Renault.

But the tide soon turned as Alonso's stock deteriorated. He claims the perception is only ever that the driver is at fault...

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