Achievements and controversies of one of the most iconic drivers of the last 20 years of Formula 1.
We are in 2012, Interlagos, metropolitan area of Sao Paulo. The Brazilian city is home tolast grand prix of the season. For years the Brazilian Grand Prix was the last race of the season but, due to the unpredictability of the Paulista circuit, since 2009 the FIA has decided to move the grand finale to the Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi, a brand new track which however, it usually gives very little emotion. In 2012, however, the finale was temporarily returned to Sao Paulo, on the track named after Carlos Pace, the historic Carioca driver of the Seventies. The race recently ended and Sebastian Vettel has just graduated world champion for the third time consecutive at the end of a race that ended in sixth place, under a memorable downpour, which began with a small accident with Bruno Senna – nephew of the late Ayrton – on the first lap which almost by chance did not degenerate into a serious collision with the other cars would have lost the championship.
Although Formula 1 is rightly considered to be most scientific and mechanical sport in existencein which every microscopic piece of data is separated and analyzed in all its facets, in which every part of the cars is designed by teams of expert engineers in order to gain hundredths – if not thousandths – of a second, even in a sport like this in some moments the unexpected occursthe unpredictable, what many like to call fortuna. As we know, she is proverbially blind, but nevertheless sometimes one has the impression that she can see very well.
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Cameramen are rarely protagonists of sporting events. However, their choices, the point of view of their testimony, in a more or less unconscious way, shapes our perception and consequently our memories. In the case of 2012 Interlagos Grand Prix, probably the operator chosen by the director at the end of the competition had to be a great expert in dramatic films. The frame is fixed on Sebastian Vettel, shocked and incredulous for his third title in a row. Seb gets out of the car, raises his index finger towards the audience as usual, and runs to celebrate with the entire Red Bull team. Then, as in one of those clips that in internet jargon are called best transition moments – that is, directorial cuts in which two consecutive shots follow one another with perfect timing – the protagonist of this article enters the scene: Fernando Alonso.
After focusing on Vettel’s moments of joy, as we were saying, the direction frames the Spaniard in a red tracksuit. He still wears his helmet, as if he doesn’t want to realize the end of the race and the end of the hopes of winning a third world title. His gaze is empty, lost, absent, floats in an inscrutable dimension. This, in my opinion, is one of the most iconic images in the history of the sport. Why, someone will ask, start telling the story of a driver from a defeat, perhaps the most burning and painful of one of the most successful drivers of the last thirty years of Formula 1? On the other hand, the numbers are on his side: 381 grand prix (all-time record), 32 victories, 22 pole positions, 24 fastest laps and, above all, two consecutive world championships in 2005 and 2006.
Alonso’s disillusioned look, almost lost in space, at the end of the 2012 Interlagos GP.
Because this is the great paradox of Fernando Alonso: being remembered for his misfortunes, for his vicissitudes, rather than for his champion numbers. The Asturian represented a lot, a lot, for this sport. He was the young man on the rise and a winner, then the loser par excellence, and finally the expert commander to lean on in moments of difficulty. For some he is a high-class driver with a smoking hot character, for others just a fanatic who drives divinely. His figure has been controversial, changeable, polarizing. Returning years later to that last race of 2012, Alonso remembers that moment with these words: “There are lies about my career. I had gotten out of the car and was looking at Felipe [Massa] who for some reason couldn’t stop crying. He was with his mechanics and his wife, so I was there waiting for him, to see if he was okay. The story was that I was shocked or sad, but no, I didn’t care that much. I wanted to hug Felipe”.
A credible and more than respectable version, but which did not convince many. Alonso, in fact, over the years has created a divisive, often arrogant character, and this retrospective version of him good fella it was rejected by many enthusiasts. His is a dogmatic faith, one must believe in his plan, everything he does is planned and any means is permissible to achieve the goal. All this off the track, obviously, because on four wheels the Spaniard has no detractors. His driving qualities and his correctness are recognized by everyone, professionals, fans, former drivers. Robert Kubica, for example, recently spoke about it like this: “In my opinion, Fernando Alonso with a non-competitive car is the strongest of all”.
The driver Alonso, however, cannot be separated from the off-track Alonso. The plan as he calls it, it must be followed meticulously. It is no coincidence that the Aston Martin driver he never hesitated to change teams at the right time for him. The great F1 champions rarely changed more than three or four teams over the course of their career. The Spaniard has made seven changes of shirt, almost as if he were a modern footballer. Some of these have proven fruitful, others much less so. Alonso is a driver capable of perfectly mixing his aggressive talent with his rational side, capable of being at ease in any single-seater, on any track, in any weather condition.
How was it possible that such a flexible and rational driver made so many wrong choices over the course of his career? Many think that his character led him to self-destruction. In the paddock one of the rumors that is chasing each other is his fame as a team-breaker. You will rarely hear a Formula 1 driver described with the adjective “altruistic”. The teammate is the first opponent, we know, but Alonso seems to have taken this saying literally. Almost no driver managed to stay in front and build a solid relationship with him, perhaps alone Giancarlo Fisichellahowever, he landed in an Alonso-centric team with Briatore leading the game, and with a Spaniard who was not yet world champion.
2007 is the pivotal year: the difficult coexistence with Hamilton, Ron Dennis’ chosen one, the feeling of no longer being at the center of the world, and the spy story. All this brings him to a point of no return. It is no coincidence that the only episode of misconduct on the track in a career spanning over twenty years dates back to this year, when, in Hungary, during qualifying he stopped longer than necessary in the pit stop to allow the driver to take the flag. English. The arrival at Ferrariwith key figures at his side such as the engineer Andrea Stella, seemed to have resurrected the old leader, who had ended up in disgrace with his return to Renault.
With the Prancing Horse Fernando Alonso played some of the most incredible seasons in its history, fixed in memory by indelible moments like the selfie in Monza (five years before Totti in the derby!), coming close to the title twice while driving vehicles clearly inferior to the competition, and promptly losing it in the last race, in circumstances, as we have seen, bordering on the grotesque . Then the idyll with Ferrari breaks down, they arrive tweet “and samurai”, team radio questionable strategies, vitriolic parting statements: “I’m tired of coming second”. All always in his style, direct and sharp.
Monza selfie. This will be my last Italian F1 GP. Here I grew up on go karts, with Team Minardi🇮🇹 I debuted in F1, with Flavio🇮🇹 I won world championships, and we fought for the world championship for 5 incredible years in Ferrari🇮🇹. Thank you Italy. Thank you Monza ❤️🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/eEFv96gVOW
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) August 30, 2018
A style that brought him to McLaren, with the heavy responsibility of bringing the British team back to success and reviving his status as a great driver. Alonso he seems to have always sought impossible challenges, the thrill of risk, demonstrating to his people that he can tow continents. Racing, however, is extremely cruel when it comes to demolishing great expectations in a few days. The four-year period at Mclaren was the pinnacle of this demolition. The car is a total disappointment, the Honda engine, which just returned to F1 in 2015, is neither fast nor reliable. The car floats in the center of the group, if all goes well. But more than ever in this context his figure as a man against the world emerged. It is no coincidence that many of his most viewed clips are his team radio in the period in Mclaren, the famous “Gp2 engine” pronounced in Suzuka also here at Honda, above all.
The definitive confirmation? Go for a run there Indianapolis 500 in current seasonshowing everyone what he was capable of: “If I want to be the best rider in the world I have two options. Either I win eight world championships, one more than Michael, and it’s unlikely, or I win in different series, in the most important races in the world and be a driver who manages to compete in different series on different cars.”. Also in this case, as always, in the car Alonso is sublime. It could be the victory that would elect him the king of motorsports, with the Triple Crown (F1 World Championship + Indianapolis 500 + 24 Hours of Le Mans), equaling Jim Clark, the only one to achieve it.
He led the race four times in total, as a rookie. With 21 laps to go he is still in the leading group, seventh. The plan it’s coming true. What kind of Alonso’s match would it have been, however, without an unexpected event? The Honda engine suddenly goes up in smoke, the race is over. It seems that in his competitions there is a sort of sadism, a masochistic passion for missed titles. As if his greatest gratification was to demonstrate to everyone that he is a magnificent driver, that he drives better than others, much more than receiving cups, medals and laurels.
Even his first retirement from Formula 1, in 2018, was different from the others. To those who, after ending their career sadly, with two world titles, with the ovation of their two rivals, Hamilton and Vettel, would you ever think of going back to racing at 40? To very few, and among these very few there is obviously Fernando Alonso. Not surprisingly, many had smelled a possible return of him in the air. Here here is the spectacular turn of events: Alonso at Renault, now called Alpine.
Not an easy return, but after the first adaptation races it shows once again that Alonso has no equals on the track. In 2021 he returns to the podium, on a track where he had never raced, Qatar, in a linear race, with the fifth car of the lot, overtaking Gasly on the first lap on the outside as if he were invisible. He finishes ahead of Ocon, a talented rider who has been in the category for years. Then the move to Aston Martin, the penultimate force of the 2022 world championship. The modus operandi? The same as always, with the excitement of the next adventure, and the new challenges, however difficult they may be, without forgetting the past.
Once again the four wheels see him speeding to the max, he wins eight podiums and bullies his companion Stroll, his figure also becomes the subject of memes, with the very famous road to 33 (the number of victories) or the fathering. Waiting for 2025 and, who knows, a new seat on the way. Perhaps a post-Hamilton Mercedes, or even Verstappen’s farewell to Red Bull would open the doors of the Austrian team to him. At 42 years old nothing is impossible for him, just believe in the faith of Father Fernandoregardless of everything and everyone.
2024-03-28 08:00:00
#Fernando #Alonso #stop #faith
