Did Fernando Alonso sabotage his own F1 career by playing politics?
Fernando Alonso's two-decade long year has been riddled with team politics.
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Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen (Credits: IMAGO)
Fernando Alonso is a two-time F1 world champion. The 42-year-old made his debut over two decades ago with Minardi. The Spanish driver is often regarded as one of the best drivers in the sport’s history. However, it’s been over ten years since Alonso won a race at the pinnacle of motorsport. Many believe that perhaps it was the behind-the-scenes politics that ruined his career.
Alonso won his two F1 championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006. Then-Renault Team Principal Flavio Briatore shared a great relationship with the Spanish driver which continues to this day. Subsequently, a young Fernando Alonso outperformed even the legendary Michael Schumacher and became the youngest world champion at that time.
However, this was the peak of the Spaniard’s career in F1. Alonso had agreed to move to McLaren for 2007 even before the 2006 campaign with Renault. The paddock had high expectations for Fernando Alonso and Ron Dennis at the Woking-based team. However, the two-time world champion was unsure of Lewis Hamilton as his teammate, claiming that McLaren would lose the Construtors’ that year.
Fernando Alonso left McLaren after just a single season
Fernando Alonso greatly underestimated Hamilton. The British driver was right on the pace from the first race of the season. Inevitably, this created tensions within the team. Alonso was certain that Ron Dennis was favoring Lewis Hamilton in this rivalry.
There were some heated moments between Alonso and Hamilton during their only year as teammates. At the 2007 Hungarian GP, the Spaniard even blocked his rookie teammate in the pits during Qualifying. Ultimately, the battle at Woking cost both drivers the world title. As Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was crowned the world champion at the Brazilian GP.
The rift created between Alonso and McLaren saw him exit the British team after just one season. The 42-year-old returned to Renault in 2008. Although the French team had become a shadow of its past. While Lewis Hamilton went on to win the 2008 world title with McLaren, the Spaniard only won a single race.. the infamous 2008 Singapore GP.
It is clear that if Fernando Alonso had not made statements against McLaren in 2007, he could’ve gone on to win the 2008 World Championship. Moreover, the two-time world champion could’ve stayed at Woking for the long term.
Fernando Alonso came close to winning the title with Ferrari
After a mediocre 2009 season at Enstone, Fernando Alonso got the dream call-up to Ferrari. The Spanish driver had an incredible first season at Maranello and was seen as the favorite to win the title. Unfortunately, a botched race strategy saw Alonso lose the title to a young Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.
Nevertheless, Fernando Alonso’s stint at Ferrari demonstrated his brilliance. The 42-year-old was the only driver who could come close to Vettel and Red Bull. However, the Italian team failed to deliver a car as quickly as Milton Keynes. Subsequently, Alonso found himself pushing himself to the limit and yet failing to match his German rival.
Tensions began to increase at Maranello by 2013 as Alonso failed to match Vettel to the title. The Italian press was ruthless and blamed the team as well as the driver. Certainly, this had a major impact on the Spaniard who was growing impatient.
The 2014 season would be another turning point in Alonso’s career trajectory. Ferrari had a disastrous power unit with the team falling behind the likes of Williams in the pecking order. Fernando Alonso was done with Maranello and looked for alternatives.
The two-time world champion had no options other than McLaren Honda for 2015
The Spanish driver failed to get a seat at Mercedes or Red Bull. Subsequently, Alonso wanted to stay with Ferrari for the following year. However, by then it was too late as the Scuderia had already poached Sebastian Vettel for 2015. Fernando Alonso decided to mend things with Ron Dennis and move back to McLaren as part of the return of McLaren Honda. This reunification proved to be yet another disaster in its first year.
While Sebastian Vettel took a couple of wins for Ferrari in 2015, Fernando Alonso struggled with unreliable power units. This frustrating period lasted for two more seasons with Alonso labeling Honda power units as ‘GP2 engine’ at the 2015 Japanese GP.
The fallout at Ferrari in 2014 cost Fernando Alonso heavily in terms of success. The Spanish driver struggled at the bottom half of the grid till 2018 with McLaren. While his replacement Sebastian Vettel found himself fighting for the title in 2017 and 2018. Perhaps, Alonso would’ve won the championship at least once if he was still at Maranello back then.
By 2018, no big team was even remotely interested in signing Fernando Alonso. The Spanish driver had become infamous for his political game behind the scenes. Ultimately, Alonso took a sabbatical from F1 and raced in the World Endurance Championship with Toyota. However, the two-time world champion made a surprise return with Alpine in 2021.
Is Fernando Alonso running out of time?
Alonso spent two seasons at Alpine and had a rather controversial relationship with teammate Esteban Ocon. Tensions had increased to a severe extent. However. the 42-year-old would then move to Aston Martin for 2023 and achieve multiple podiums for the Silverstone-based team.
However, the two-time world champion still has the hunger to win in F1 and seems to no longer be interested in politics. Perhaps Fernando Alonso has learned his lesson from the past which potentially cost him multiple world titles. It remains to be seen if the F1 legend could claim a third world title before he inevitably retires from the pinnacle of motorsport.
The Spanish driver turns 43 this year. Alonso’s current contract will expire at the end of the 2024 season. It remains to be seen if Aston Martin has faith in the two-time world champion to continue for another couple of seasons. For now, it is clear that Fernando Alonso will push himself to the limit this year.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)