Remarkable statement Alonso: 'Then I would even be close to Mercedes'

Fernando Alonso previously revealed that Alpine cost him more than 60 points in the championship because of reliability problems. The Spaniard goes even further, as Alonso says he would also be close to the Mercedes drivers without his DNF's. 

In Singapore, Alonso celebrated his 350th start to a Grand Prix, but the Spaniard ended his race along the track with a broken engine. Alonso seemed to be on his way to a strong result with a top six finish. Meanwhile, the Alpine driver's DNF counter stands at four this season.

Alonso claims he would be close to the Mercedes drivers in the championship if there were not so many problems with his car's reliability. "If you put me on 60 points more in the standings and you reduce 10 or something for the others because you take points from the others as well, my championship would look much better and close even to the Mercedes", the Spaniard says to The Race.

Alpine would beat not Mercedes, but McLaren

Lewis Hamilton currently stands on 170 points in the drivers' championship. So even with an extra 60 points, Alonso would not come close to the seven-time world champion. However, the Spaniard would do a lot better than McLaren and teammate Esteban Ocon. After Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo's strong result in Singapore, the team has overtaken Alpine again in the constructors' championship. The difference between the two rivals is just four points with five races to go.