Fernando Alonso insisted that he is now a better driver as compared to his first stint at Renault. Back during the 2005 and 2006 seasons, he won consecutive titles in the series, after which he moved to McLaren Mercedes. Although he hasn’t managed to add a 3rd world title in his CV, he reckoned that the one year he spent at Woking, as well as the struggling years he experienced at Renault have made him a more complete racer.

As we have already covered the McLaren story, we’ll focus on Alonso’s comments over his second stint at Renault, when he struggled in the mid-to-rear pack through the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

“I knew I was only fighting for seventh or eighth but it was important to learn from that. I have no doubt I am a better driver now,” said Alonso in his interview with The Guardian, hinting that he preferred to leave a team in which he could have battled for the world title (at least theoretically) rather than play second fiddle to newcomer Lewis Hamilton.

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Tags: Alonso, F1, Fernando Alonso, FernandoAlonso, formula 1, FormulaOne, McLaren, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault