Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia in MotoGP, spent many years in Formula 1 and knows Fernando Alonso well. Now the Italian brand is experiencing its best moment, while the Spanish rider continues to be stuck in the middle of the grid.
The five years Fernando Alonso spent at Ferrari They were full of good moments, but above all bitter situations. The most notable are probably those season ends in 2010 and 2012, in which the Spanish driver lost two world titles in the last race at the hands of Sebastian Vettel.
Massimo Rivolatoday the head of Aprilia Racing, accompanied Fernando Alonso at Ferrari during those years and knows the man from Oviedo well, as well as Formula 1.
“Fernando was clearly the strongest rider. But Ferrari was not able to give him the best car.”
«The big difference between motorcycles and cars is that in Formula 1 if you don’t have the best car you don’t win. In our time, Fernando was clearly the strongest pilotbut we, Ferrari, were not able to give him the best car, ”Rivola laments, recalling that time in statements to Marca.
Alonso, the best driver in an insufficient car
Despite everything, we almost won. We were very close on two occasions. Here, on motorcycles, the human factor counts much more. The pilot, together with the team… therefore, the hope exists that one day it may come, “reflects Rivola.
And it is that the Formula 1 It is a discipline in which the technological element is vital, so Rivola trusts Aprilia and his chances of winning the World Championship more than Fernando Alonso with Alpine.
“If Fernando drove a Ferrari today, he would probably fight for the title. But now he drives another car, which is competitive, but not to win. Therefore, I would say that it is easier for Aprilia to do it,” says Rivola.
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Ferrari has the obligation to win
Now, Ferrari is a contender for the world title with Charles Leclerc leading the championship after four Grands Prix. In this regard, Massimo Rivola refers to the demand that the Italian team lives after many years without World Cups.
“I hope that Ferrari wins this year, I trust it with all my strength. For us, that is not our goal. The objective was to reduce the distance with the first ones and we have achieved it. But Ferrari this year has to win, above all else. If not, we’ll go crazy.”he admits.
While, in MotoGP, Aprilia has finally been in a position to achieve something big with Aleix Espargaró. Rivola sees certain similarities with Toro Rosso, a team he also belonged to before joining Ferrari.
“It reminds me a bit of that, of that adventure I had with the Red Bull junior team, Toro Rosso., when we won together with Sebastian (Vettel) in Monza. But it is difficult to make a comparison », he admits.
«This is Aprilia, a brand that has a huge history behind it. Now, we have found a very strong group. I think that our strength has been to believe in ourselves and our merit has been to show that we know how to do our job to make everything go smoothly.
“It is about showing that we are passionate about our work. For example, with the race in Jerez, you are only moved if you watch it from the sofa, so in the box we have jumped. It is normal. It is the good thing about this sport, that it is exceptional »he concludes.
Source: Mark