Journalists almost unanimously agree that Fernando Alonso is still the best driver in F1.
That is the claim of Manuel Franco, the correspondent for the Spanish sports daily AS.
He says he consulted nine fellow correspondents who cover F1 full-time from seven different countries — Britain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Spain and France.
Franco asked them to name the best driver in F1 and "all but one" said Alonso.
That is despite the fact that last week marked the ten year anniversary of Alonso’s second and last world championship.
Alonso, who now drives for McLaren-Honda, has said previously that earning the respect of the F1 community is almost as important to him as winning titles.
"First of all, I have never thought that my time in F1 is over," the 35-year-old told Finland’s Turun Sanomat in Austin a week ago.
"In fact, I think I am on a higher level now, because I understand more about the car and technical solutions which is helping us to make progress.
"I am completely comfortably with this situation, because I know I am driving just as well as ever — if not even better," Alonso added.