Fernando Alonso once revealed why he considered Michael Schumacher the ‘biggest rival’ of his F1 career

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Fernando Alonso is coming towards the end of the longest and one of the most distinguished Formula 1 careers of all time.

The Spaniard is about to mark the 20th anniversary of his second drivers’ championship triumph with Renault in 2006. Since then, he has had chances to add to his tally of titles, but a combination of bad luck and poor moves have held him back.

To become a champion, he had to beat one of the greatest combinations of all time, with both Ferrari and Michael Schumacher near the top of their game, and looking to end their dynasty in some style before heading into retirement.

Alonso ‘damaged’ his F1 reputation in 2007 by falling into controversy after leaving Renault for McLaren, coming just one point from three titles in a row. Just a few years after his retirement in 2006, Schumacher would cause ‘sizeable contention’ before returning to the sport with Mercedes. An old rival had returned for Alonso.

READ MORE: He is the F1 driver who once replaced Michael Schumacher at Ferrari but never won a race

Fernando Alonso considered Michael Schumacher the ‘biggest rival’ of his Formula 1 career

Even though Schumacher was once ‘at risk’ of being fired by Ferrari, he bounced back and delivered five consecutive championships with them. Unfortunately, that run would end in 2005, as the team failed to deliver a competitive car.

Alonso was just starting to find his feet and claimed the first of his titles. Speaking to F1’s Beyond The Grid Podcast in 2021, he shared how he considered Schumacher to be his ‘biggest rival’ of all time.

“Absolutely, I think Michael for me was the biggest rival I consider of my career,” he said. “Like a teacher, for me in many ways, because I was young, I was coming into Formula 1. I found myself fighting for a world championship that maybe I was not ready at that point to fight for such a big thing.

“I had alongside Michael with all his knowledge and his approach, never giving up. Always performing something special, because I remember some races, the Renault was a better car, or we thought that we had an advantage on the tyres or on the package itself that weekend.”

READ MORE: Why Michael Schumacher was once left ‘very much annoyed’ during his final Spanish Grand Prix in Formula 1

What was Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher’s greatest ever Formula 1 battle?

Alonso and Schumacher shared multiple great moments between 2005 and 2006, but the one which seems to stand out the most came at the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix.

The Spaniard opted to drive around the outside of his German rival at one of the most feared corners in the sport, which wasn’t a flat-out corner in the old machinery.

Nowadays, 130R is comfortably flat, but 20 years ago, it took a lot of guts to go around the outside of a seven-time champion.

To this day, overtaking around the outside of any driver is rarely seen or attempted at the corner, and shows just how inspired the driving between the two was. The respect they had for each other was strong, too.