Fernando Alonso says the biggest difference between the Ferrari he drove for and the Maranello based team of today is “inconsistency”.

In that way, the Spaniard actually agrees with Ferrari’s current drivers as well as new team boss Frederic Vasseur, who said after Miami: “We were far too inconsistent from one car to the other and from one lap to the other.”

It has just emerged that both Ferrari and Mercedes may have made recent offers to ultra-dominant Red Bull’s renowned car designer Adrian Newey.

Alonso, 41, told Sky Italia: “I think Adrian Newey has always made cars that are superior to the others.

“It’s always difficult, but it’s the nature of F1,” he added.

Red Bull’s reigning back-to-back world champion Max Verstappen is relieved that Newey ultimately decided to reject any and all offers by extending his current deal.

“It doesn’t influence me until 2028 because I have a contract but I’m very happy of course that Adrian stays,” said the Dutchman.

“But that goes for everyone in the team. When you’re doing really well, you want to try and keep that whole group together.”

Whether Newey would have been the key to solving Ferrari’s problems, of course, is another story. But Alonso thinks the Maranello based team worked very well without the famous British designer between 2010 and 2014.

“As Ferrari, we were always there in those years,” he said.

“We never made mistakes and we fought for the world championship in three of those four years up to the last race.

“Fortunately for me and for Aston Martin, there is now a little more inconsistency in Maranello than in the past.”