Giancarlo Fisichella, a former teammate of
Fernando Alonso at Renault, has come out to defend the Spaniard after he's been under criticism for causing chaos at every team he goes to.
The Italian was a teammate of him at Renault in Alonso's title-winning years at Renault in 2005 and 2006. The duo won the constructors' championship in both years as well, which is why Fisico has such good memories of his time at the French team, especially sharing the garage with Alonso.
"We shared two beautiful years, winning the constructors' championship and with Fernando winning the drivers' championship," Fisichella told Mundo Deportivo when asked how he remembers his partnership with Alonso.
"There was an atmosphere in the team that I've never seen at any other team.
"We were friends and we got along really well, we always worked together and sometimes, one hour before races, we would play cards."
That's a fresh perspective of Alonso, who's been getting blasted in recent weeks for being a bad teammate and a bad influence at a team.
"We would play with him [Alonso], Flavio Briatore [the team boss] and some other guys from the team.
"But me and Fernando had some 'tricks' to win," Fisichella laughs.
When asked to give Alonso a farewell message as he'll be retiring after the current season, the 45-year-old was short and sweet.
"I would tell him to keep doing what he does best.
"I wish him luck.
"I hope we'll see each other for many more years on the track," the three-time Grand Prix-winner concluded.