Rob Smedley says Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari spell now reminds him of Max Verstappen

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Former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley has admitted that Fernando Alonso displayed traits that reminded him of Max Verstappen during his time with the Scuderia.

There is an argument to be made that Fernando Alonso produced the greatest performances of any driver who never won a world championship with Ferrari.

Alonso swapped Renault for Ferrari ahead of the 2010 season and immediately finished second in the championship to Sebastian Vettel, losing out on the title on the final day of the campaign.

The Spanish driver recorded two more P2 finishes in the drivers’ championship behind Vettel in 2012 and 2013 before Alonso made the ill-fated decision to join McLaren.

Rob Smedley was Felipe Massa’s race engineer at the time of Alonso’s brilliance, and saw first-hand how he became Ferrari’s number one driver after Massa’s heartbreaking title defeat to Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

He’s now explained how his spell with the team had echoes of Michael Schumacher’s dominance and has reminded him a lot of how Max Verstappen has led Red Bull over recent years.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2

Fernando Alonso compared to Max Verstappen during his Ferrari Formula 1 spell

Smedley was speaking about the 44-year-old on the High Performance Podcast and explained: “Fernando was a machine. Like, Fernando at that point was like having Max in the car.

“So, of course, they’re going to focus on that.

“Fernando is a driver who, again, he’s a guy that I’ve got a huge amount of respect for.

“As a competitor, he’s very much like Max. He just brings it every single day. He never has a day off.

“And so, coming into a different environment with a very fierce competitor, I think that’s where the psychology played against Felipe in that period.

“So, you are fully focused on your mission of winning, so Fernando Alonso wins the race.

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“Fernando comes into every single race weekend 100% focused on that mission, right? And 100% focused on the bigger prize as well, the world championship.

“You have an inordinate amount of confidence, right? Not arrogance, confidence, because it’s founded in fact, it’s not a superficial thing.

“You just are very, very good at your job. It was very much trying to beat Seb [Vettel] and the Red Bulls at that point, but it included everybody else, and he found himself that the team rallied around him very quickly, and he found himself in an environment that really suited him.”

READ MORE: Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Fernando Alonso draws Max Verstappen comparison from Flavio Briatore

Alonso’s career has been one of the most unlucky in Formula 1 history in terms of converting his talent into titles.

The number of times the Spanish driver has narrowly missed out on championships is heartbreaking, and given Aston Martin’s disastrous start to 2026, it looks like his luck isn’t going to change any time soon.

Flavio Briatore thinks Alonso was at the same level as Verstappen when he was younger, but has been a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time ever since his 2006 championship win with Renault.

There have been suggestions in recent months that Aston Martin could target Verstappen if Alonso decides to retire at the end of the year.

Convincing the 44-year-old to continue beyond 2026 when this car is so far off the pace is going to be difficult, but finding a top-level replacement will be even harder.

For now, all Alonso can do is hope Aston Martin and Honda resolve their issues to avoid his F1 career potentially fizzling out in the worst way possible.