Ecclestone: Alonso not an F1 great

Former owner of Formula 1 Bernie Ecclestone believes that Fernando Alonso is not a legend of the sport due to too many bad decisions made.

Alonso has managed to pick up two world championships, but his last win was all the way back in 2013.

The Spaniard, who is retiring at the end of the season, moved to his current team McLaren back in 2015 and has not managed a single podium finished with the side.

Ecclestone admits that Alonso's one of the best drivers in F1 history but does not think he deserves 'legend' status.

"He is definitely one of the best drivers, but sometimes he made the wrong decisions," Ecclestone told Bild. "He is certainly not the greatest in other areas of life.

"Stirling Moss was never world champion, but he was one of the greatest."

With Alonso moving on from the sport and hoping for better days ahead, his replacement at McLaren and compatriot Carlos Sainz believes that the sport won't suffer from the charismatic driver's departure.

"I'm not afraid of that," the soon-to-be McLaren driver told AS newspaper. "There are a lot of Formula 1 fans thanks to Fernando. It is true that many fans came from Spain first for Fernando but they stayed because they like F1 as a sport.

"Of course there will be people who go with Fernando to Indy, but I think it is thanks to Fernando that there is a very large fan-base in Spain. I will do everything I can to keep it that way."