Alonso wants to be better than Schumacher - Villeneuve

Fernando Alonso's pursuit of motorsport's 'Triple Crown' is borne out of a desire to be remembered as a better racer than Formula 1 legend, according to former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve. Alonso will attempt to win the Le Mans 24 Hours this year, having gone close to adding the Indianapolis 500 to his Monaco Grand Prix victories last year.

Only one man in the history of motorsport has won all three of the famous races, two-time F1 champion Graham Hill.

Among active drivers, only Juan Pablo Montoya stands on the brink of joining him, having twice won in Indy and taking the 2003 Monaco GP.

Alonso missed last season's race in Monte Carlo to compete in his first Indy500 and led large parts of the race until he was forced to retire through his Honda engine failing - a familiar feeling over recent years.

He will compete in a full World Endurance Championship campaign, giving him two bites at Le Mans this year and in 2019.

And Villeneuve believes the move shows that Alonso wants to go down as an all-time motorsport legend.

"Alonso wants the 'Triple Crown' for a reason: he wanted to be more important in the sport than Michael Schumacher," Villeneuve told AS.

"After winning [titles], he thought he could achieve it, and it was something he could achieve with Ferrari, but it did not work.

"Now he wants the 'Triple Crown' that Michael did not manage to be remembered the best in history."

Alonso endured three years of misery after returning to McLaren as their partnership with Honda fell flat.

However, the team are powered by Renault in 2018 and Alonso managed to eke out a fifth-place finish in Australia last weekend, matching his best result since returning to the team, despite a pre-season wracked with reliability issues.

And Villeneuve says race wins are not necessary to prove Alonso's greatness.

"Alonso does not win, but he is the great hero", the Canadian said. "He is someone different.

"Alonso knows that it is very difficult to win in Formula 1, this year still impossible, although they will improve with the Renault engine.

"That is the key, that Renault has to improve a lot still, but it is true that McLaren will be different from what we have seen in recent years.

"But they must improve reliability. In pre-season they broke down too much. They lack track time."