Hill praises Alonso: 'He understands exactly how this sport works'

Damon Hill has heaped praise on Fernando Alonso. In the F1 Nation podcast, the 1996 world champion discusses the Australian Grand Prix, in which Alonso managed to attract attention, especially in the final stages.

In the chaos of the closing stages of the race, Alonso ended up at the back due to a collision with Carlos Sainz. Over the radio, Alonso immediately read out the regulations and argued why the standings should be returned to how they were before the restart, something the race organisers indeed eventually decided. "He should be a lawyer," Hill joked. "I'd get him to defend me in a murder charge!"

Hill did have an idea why Alonso was already so preoccupied with the rules while most other drivers were still dealing with the chaos on the track. " It's boring in the car. He needs something else to do," claimed the former world champion. "He's going around going, 'Can I do the strategy as well? Give me more information.' He already understands the rules. You'd expect someone who's been in Formula 1 as long as he has and had all the experiences to have learned something, but you can't automatically assume that."

Hill sees similar character traits in Alonso to Michael Schumacher, whom Hill competed against in the 1990s in the battle for the world title. "He's invested in this, he understands it, and he knows, like Michael Schumacher as well. Michael Schumacher understood where the openings were, where the opportunities were, and he took advantage of those, and it's the same with Fernando. He's got to become a team boss eventually because he'd be brilliant. He just understands this game."