The Legacy of Fernando Alonso

Posted by Mike Jefferson on July 25, 2010 · 5 Comments 

When someone retires from a position of prominence history tends to be kinder to that individual than is somewhat deserved. Usually it is the accomplishments that are remembered rather than the negative aspects of that individual. I wonder if history will be kind to Fernando Alonso, the quick Spaniard has become an infamous individual in the F1 paddock.

Fernando Alonso is a two-time F1 World Champion. He has driven for power house teams such as Renault F1, Mclaren-Mercedes and Ferrari. He is known as the best driver on the grid, fast and determined. I don’t question these things about him but I feel that some of his actions throughout his career will ultimately tarnish his reputation. Alonso complains a lot for a championship winning driver. I realize that competitive individuals can be seen as narcissistic and cocky but I feel that they should not be whiners.

Alonso always seems to not respond well when his teammate is as fast or faster than him. He complained during the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix that his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, who was in 1st place, was not going fast enough and should let him pass. Fisichella later retired from that race with a mechanical problem and Alonso got his wish. After he won the championship in 2005 it was clear that Fisichella had been regulated to the 2nd driver role. This meant that he was just there to support Alonso and finish as close to him as possible as long as it wasn’t in front of him. His last teammate at Renault, Nelson Piquet, was in so much of a support role that he was told to crash his car during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The track in Singapore is street circuit with very high walls and requires the use of the safety car for big accidents. The strategy worked because Alonso took a poor qualifying position and turned it into a win. Piquet and the Renault officials involved were later fired from their team and the sport.

Alonso’s time at Mclaren-Mercedes was just one big season of drama. His move to Mclaren seem like it was a major coup for both Mclaren and Alonso since Mclaren is one of the best teams in F1 and Alonso was the best driver. However Alonso couldn’t come to terms with the fact that Mclaren didn’t have a clear number one or two driver and that his rookie teammate, Lewis Hamilton, was just as fast as him. The entire time it seemed that Alonso was complaining about the team favoring his teammate or just plain whining about Mclaren not treating him like F1 royalty. At the end of the season the relationship between the two had deteriorated to the point that his 3 year deal was terminated and Alonso was trying to blackmail the team.

In 2009 Alonso took over at Ferrari for 2007 World Champion Kimi Raiikonen. This was the worst kept secret in the paddock since the agreement between the two parties had been leaked a season earlier. Alonso would be teaming up with Felipe Massa, the 2008 World Championship runner-up. Felipe Massa is far from a slow driver but many worried that he would not be the same driver in 2010 that he was in 2008 and 2009 because he was involved in a major accident that kept him out of the car for most of the 2009 season. The 2010 season started out as many predicted with Alonso winning the first race and taking most of the points for the team but there were signs that he was still going to try to make Ferrari his team. At the Chinese Grand Prix Alonso passed Massa as they were both traveling on the in-road to pitlane. This is a highly controversial move since it is proper racing etiquette to stay inline once off the main part of the track, it wasn’t illegal but it wasn’t right at all. During the German Grand Pix Massa had been leading the entire race after making a very heroic pass on Alonso and Sebastian Vettel on lap one. Massa was leading Alonso and there were times when Alonso looked faster but couldn’t make a pass to get around him. Alonso radios to the team that he is the faster driver, this basically means that Massa should let him pass. After a few laps Massa was instructed in a somewhat coded message to let Alonso pass him. The Ferraris went on then went on to finish the race 1-2, the same way they would have finished if Massa hadn’t been instructed to let Alonso by. I heard a lot of commentary about how the team let him by for the maximum amount of points but if the drivers are running 1-2 that is the max points available. Alonso should have manned up and passed Massa since ‘clearly’ Alonso thought he was the faster driver.

I was originally going to title this ‘Why I don’t like Fernando Alonso’ because I know how I will remember him. To me he will be a petulant little child who relies more on team politics than his natural talent and not the breath of fresh air that ended Michael Schumacher’s dominance of F1.

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Filed under F1, Opinion · Tagged with Alonso, Fernando Alonso