Alonso Reminds Me of Senna, Says Dennis
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/35245/
Written by: Adam Cooper, RACER Magazine
Abu Dhabi, UAE – 2/8/2007
Ron Dennis says that Fernando Alonso reminds him of three of his most successful past drivers in Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda.
The McLaren team boss was referring specifically to the Spaniard’s technical skills and his ability to specify what he wants when developing a car, attributes that have proved to be even more impressive than Dennis had expected.
Inevitably his comments could be interpreted as a dig at the technical capabilities of more recent McLaren drivers including Kimi Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya and even double World Champion Mika Hakkinen.
“Fernando has settled well into the team,” said Dennis. “He’s enjoying the experience, along with Lewis [Hamilton], and at the moment it’s a very upbeat Grand Prix organization.
“It’s very obvious that all the guys who drive cars are competent drivers, but until you work with them as individuals, you don’t know how much knowledge they have of the car, what makes a car go fast, and how to communicate to the engineers and designers in such a way that you’re moving the development of the car in the right direction.
“He’s clearly in a class of his own. It took me immediately back to the experiences I had working with Ayrton Senna and Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. He really knows what he wants, and he’s able to explain it to the engineers in such a way that we can give him what he needs.”