Ecclestone backs Alonso
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has tipped Fernando Alonso as the “heir apparent” to Michael Schumacher’s crown.
The Spaniard leads the world championship two wins from three races establishing a 24-point lead over Schumacher, who has struggled so far this year.
At 36, seven-time world champion Schumacher is nearing retirement, which could come at the end of his Ferrari contract when it expires in 2006.
Ecclestone, the sport’s commercial rights holder, believes Alonso is the man to follow in the great German’s footsteps.
“Alonso’s looking very much like the heir apparent,” he told Autosport magazine.
“There are a couple of others who are there or thereabouts, such as [Kimi] Raikkonen and [Juan Pablo] Montoya, but Alonso stands out. He’s looking like an emerging superstar in the way that Michael Schumacher did.”
