2-time F1 Champion Fernando Alonso allegedly used 'illegal' frequency scanner to get better race-starts

At the age of 41 Fernando Alonso continues to challenge the young crop of racing drivers in Formula 1. The Spanish driver is the oldest on the grid in a sport that is often dominated by young athletes. Last year’s World Champion, Max Verstappen, for example, is just 24 years old. The second driver on the World Championship standings, Charles Leclerc is 24 years old. The second oldest on the grid is Lewis Hamilton at 37 years old.

The 41-year-old Alonso is certainly an outlier in terms of age but his immense talent has put him in the top half of the standings. With 59 points the Alpine Renault driver is currently ninth on the grid and could surpass teammate Esteban Ocon with eight points.

Alonso’s best days were certainly with the same team but they’re now past him. Spaniard's best season in Formula One came in 2005 and 2006 when he won back-to-back World Drivers Championships in a Renault car. At the age of 24 and 25, Alonso clinched 133 and 134 points respectively to win consecutive Formula 1 seasons.

In addition to his multiple wins, Alonso is also highly regarded for his race starts. The Spaniard was known to get a quick start in races and get ahead of everyone in no time. Now in a shocking revelation Marc Priestly, a former McLaren mechanic has revealed that Renault used unfair means to get a jump over their rivals.

He revealed that Fernando Alonso had a frequency scanner installed in his car when he drove for Renault. Priestly explained that the scanner would read the frequency between the race director’s button and lights going off. He said that Alonso’s car was tuned to the signal which automatically launched his car before anyone else could react to the lights going off.

This theory however is yet to be proved by anyone and the FIA Formula 1’s overseer also could not find any such unfair tools in Renault’s championship-winning car. In the current season, Red Bull is leading the 2022 Constructor Standings with 545 points while Ferrari follow in second with 406 points.