The work of the sports commissioners of the formula 1 is increasingly questioned. The tension between the FIA, Liberty Media (owners of the competition), the pilots, the fans, the journalists and other actors involved did not need more than the gasoline of social networks to finish overshadowing the competition. That there is no consistency in punishments or amnesties, something that happens in other refereeing bodies of other sports, does not help calm things down.
The sanction that Fernando Alonso suffered in the United States GP was the talk of everything that happened in the days before landing in Mexico. The questionable decision of the stewards drew numerous criticisms of the four present at that time, of which there is one who has suffered the toxicity of social networks on his skin.
Is about Silvia Bellot, Spanish born in Barcelona in the mid-80s and who has always been a pioneer in motorsports. She is the daughter of Josep María Bellot, an institution in the world of rallying, she has been a curator since 2001 when she was just 16 years old. Like the drivers, she also grew in different categories until she reached F1 in 2011.
Parallel to his rise, there was the explosion of Alonsoism in Spain. On the wave of Fernando Alonso came the media exposure that now, in 2022 and with social networks in full swing, have charged their anger against her. And it is that Bellot was one of those who was behind that sanction to the Asturian in Austin. The Barcelonan signed the punishment to Alonso that days later they left in nothing to give him back the 7th position that, in fairness, he achieved.
She also signed the pardon, but along the way she received insults, death threats and abuse of all kinds. Both from the FIA to which she belongs as commissioner and the Alpine team itself had to come out to defend her and condemn this type of attitude. “We are disappointed to learn of the unacceptable harassment directed at the commissary Sylvia Bellot. There is no place for any form of harassment or abuse in our sport and we condemn this behaviour,” the Anglo-French team wrote.
We are disappointed to learn of the unacceptable harassment aimed at FIA Race Steward, Silvia Bellot.
There is no room for any form of harassment or abuse in our sport and we condemn this behaviour.
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) October 29, 2022
Alonso himself also stepped up: “I strongly condemn the recent abuse on networks that the race commissioner Silvia Bellot has received. This type of behavior is unacceptable both in sport and in society. More when the comments are directed to volunteers of our sport. I will continue to support the FIA and F1 in their efforts to move in the right direction,” he wrote on Instagram.
What is this grudge against a judge who, except on rare occasions, has not given any interview? At what point did she go from being a pioneer as a woman in a world of men to becoming the punching bag of the networks? The answer lies in her own past.
Mania against Alonso?
Silvia Bellot has countless careers behind her. To her credit she has as many hits as misses, like any refereebut all the decisions he has made towards Fernando Alonso have been looked at with a magnifying glass.
And it is that this is not, far from it, the first time that Bellot was in the stewards room when Alonso has been harmed. One of the most remembered this day was his decision to not sanctioning Sebastian Vettel at the 2012 Brazilian GP, when a huge stir arose due to an alleged overtaking with yellow flags that gave much to talk about. If they had punished him, Alonso would have won one more title.
One year later, at the 2013 Spanish GPBellot was also among the stewards who asked to investigate Fernando Alonso in what, until today, is his last victory in Formula 1. The reason: he took out a Spanish flag to wave it before his public. She came to nothing, but the fact that Bellot was born in Barcelona (she grew up, as they say, in Montmeló), did not help calm things down according to which sectors
Alonso has not been the only ‘victim’ of his decisions, which have never been taken individually. in the controversial Saudi Arabian GP 2021when Hamilton and Verstappen touchedBellot was on the list.
Beyond likes and dislikes, something that neither Alonso nor his most extreme fans can demonstrate when talking about the commissioner, this episode has once again highlighted the serious problem of self-control that there is between an increasingly noisy sector (but not numerous) of the fans of Formula 1 and, therefore, of other sports. That Alonso himself has taken out the shield to defend a judge is quite a statement.
