• 2010 season

Schumacher still a title threat - Alonso

ESPNF1 Staff
April 14, 2010 « Mercedes still in the running - Brawn | »
Fernando Alonso is expecting to face competition from Michael Schumacher © Getty Images
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Fernando Alonso still sees Michael Schumacher as a championship contender this year, despite the Mercedes driver's poor start to the season.

Schumacher finished sixth at the first race in Bahrain, tenth in Australia and retired in Malaysia, all the while being comprehensively outpaced by his team-mate Nico Rosberg in qualifying. In the drivers' standings he is currently 26 points off Rosberg and 30 points off championship leader Felipe Massa. But Alonso believes it would be foolish to write him off this early in the season.

"He is still the Michael Schumacher that we know," he told Germany's Sport Bild magazine. "I respect him in the same way I did three years ago and am sure that he will show his true qualities when the car is better. I really believe Michael will be a serious competitor for the title this year."

Alonso added that he thinks it will be impossible to get close to Schumacher's records of 91 wins and seven world titles under the current regulations.

"Because the rules are now so tight, there will be no one who is far superior to the others, as Ferrari was in the past. If you ask me, Michael's records are safe."

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