Alonso: "Didn't mean to say I'm better than Hamilton or Verstappen"

Fernando Alonso caused a stir last week by saying he still thinks he is better than Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Powerful language that suits him, but on Saturday he went back on his words.

Indeed, Alonso said he had misunderstood the question. "I never meant to say I am better than Lewis or Max or anyone else," he is quoted by the BBC. "I probably misunderstood the question. I thought it was: 'Are you still as good as you were in 2018, when you left the sport'." So his answer to that was 'better'.

Indeed, the BBC, with whom the first interview was also conducted, asked him about his competitors, asking: 'Do you think you're still as good as them', but Alonso understood that last word as 'then'. An easy mistake to make.

Alonso is known for his high level of self-confidence, so even if he had meant it, it would not have been an earth-shattering statement. The two-time world champion wanted to put things right and said that it is always difficult to compare drivers.