Alonso learned a lot from Schumacher: 'He didn't have bad days'

Fernando Alonso has experienced many strong drivers in his rich Formula 1 career, but he has rarely encountered the qualities of Michael Schumacher. In an interview with the official website of Aston Martin Alonso discusses what he learned mainly from the German.

While Schumacher managed to win his first two world titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, it was at the beginning of this century that he really dominated. With five world titles in a row for Ferrari, he still holds the most prizes, although he now shares that status with Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso can still enjoy it when he talks about Schumacher. "Michael didn't have bad days," the Spaniard looks back. "Michael never underperformed. That's what impressed me most when I got to Formula One and especially when I fought with him for the championship."

It was therefore difficult for him to beat the German driver. "Previously, in all my career and different categories, my rivals had some bad days and those were the days when you would capitalise – you would score many more points than them. With Michael, that didn't happen. He and Ferrari were unbeatable most of the time."

Alonso was credited with taking over from Schumacher in 2005. The current Aston Martin driver finished winning the world championship in both 2005 and 2006. After that, however, the Spanish driver failed to achieve the same.