Fernando Alonso, at the wheel of his Alpine, during the Italian Grand Prix. /
Analysis
The perception of disappointment has been installed among the fans of the Asturian pilot in an imperceptible but constant way: they no longer even flinch when he leaves as in Italy
The fans of Formula 1 in Spain owe a lot to Fernando Alonso. Before him, only the three or four ‘geeks’ of motorsports who had to look for life to watch satellite races in German on RTL, or similar, enjoyed the years in competition of Pedro de la Rosa or Marc Gené as a prologue to what would come later. The years of Alonsoism hooked many people, they put Asturias on the world map for those who did not know such a paradise and the pilot became one more guest at Sunday paellas. “I no longer follow Formula 1 as before, when Alonso was at Renault,” say many fans who dropped out of the competition when that 2007 changed everything.
Like the limestone rock that covers many roads in the north and crumbles little by little over the years, the rains and the winds, the totemic figure of Alonso has become a passion that no longer generates the enamored effervescence of the first years. Many of his countrymen longingly recall the days of wine and roses now that thorns are more common.
The last one came on lap 33 of the Italian Grand Prix, an appointment that for Alonso is always special. In Monza his name still resonates among the ‘tifosi’ as ‘uno di noi’, since his years at Ferrari, despite everything, left a very large mark on the hearts of Italians. Now that he is on the very threshold of history, since in a few weeks he will become the driver with the most Grand Prix races in Formula 1, his fans, old and new, neither feel nor suffer. The abandonment due to an engine failure that he did not want to know anything about, because nothing could be done, did not cause more than a small pain that is not stabbing, but recurrent.
Of the 350 grand prix in which the carbayón driver has taken the start, he has left in 72. It is just over 20% of the races held, with special growth in this figure in the years swallowing mud at McLaren. The last of those 72 was, precisely, in the race in which he equaled Kimi Räikkönen’s record, but he himself did not worry about it. The veteran of his 41 years gives him temperance and patience, because he is no longer in a hurry. He is aware that what comes from now will be extra time, an extension in which he himself has gotten.
Over time
The expectations placed on Alonso are the highest. He himself is to blame for the fact that the standards of success are the most important, since in his irruption he made the entire mountain turn into oregano in the eyes of many.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and those who pass through Asturias know it. In the town of Benia de Onís, near Cangas and a little less than half an hour from the Sanctuary of Covadonga, there is a house with a terrace that has had an immovable inhabitant for years: Fernando Alonso. A fan put a life-size poster of Alonso there in his Ferrari years, when the dream of the third championship was a palpable reality. Over time, that sign has faded and shriveled, and though it stands proud, it is no longer what it was.
Something similar happens in the case of the real Alonso. No one doubts his status as a legend in capital letters, situated in the collective imagination of many as an illustrious Asturian of the stature of Pelayo or Santina herself, but the successes did not come… and time is running out. At 41 years old, he has changed from ‘The Plan’ to ‘The Mission’, something he does not want to hear about so as not to jinx him, and although the move to Aston Martin does not seem to be the most appropriate to win, they will continue to surrender to the feet of him. Like the one who looks at the Naranjo de Bulnes: he knows that he is still an immovable mountain, worthy of respect, pride and admiration.
