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Alonso exit inevitable

Formula One

by Andrew Benson - BBC Sport (U1647787) 02 November 2007

Fernando Alonso and McLaren was supposed to be a match made in heaven, but it turned out to be the marriage from hell.

That should not be a surprise, for as soon as it became clear just how good Lewis Hamilton was, something had to give.

Two great drivers never works in a Formula One team for any length of time. The demands are just too great - on the team's preparation, on its operations, on its management, and on the drivers themselves.

These are sportsmen of the very highest calibre, with a degree of competitiveness that most ordinary mortals simply would not understand.

That competitiveness extends to their self-regard. A great Grand Prix driver needs to believe he is the best. That is part of what makes him great. So competition from within his own team never goes down well.

It opens up insecurities, brings out weaknesses, as it did to both Alonso and Hamilton this year.

Ultimately, teams just cannot cope with the elemental forces unleashed when two men like that go head to head.

Normally, seniority in the team is established through the natural order of things: one driver is quicker than the other; one driver has better luck, and amasses enough points that the team has to focus its resources for that year on him.

But this year McLaren provided two great drivers with two great, reliable cars, and as the battle between them for the championship intensified so, inevitably, cracks began to emerge.

It made for compelling viewing, watching this drama play itself out.

There was the rookie phenomenon, the established legend fighting for his reputation, and caught in the middle McLaren boss Ron Dennis, trying to stop it all falling apart.

It is to McLaren's great credit that they kept it going as long as they did, and that they were able to allow both men to go into the final race of the season still in with a chance of the championship.

There has to be some doubt about whether there really was the claimed "equality" between the two men's treatment at the climax of the season.

Certainly it seems strange that suddenly Alonso was 0.5secs slower than Hamilton in the final two races when there had barely been a cigarette paper between them throughout the season.

But if McLaren did find a way to favour Hamilton in China and Brazil it would hardly be surprising - by then their relationship with Alonso had broken down to such an extent that a split was inevitable.

Despite his close battle with Hamilton, perceptions of Alonso's ability as a driver have in many ways been enhanced.

It is clear that Hamilton is one of those rare talents who will go down in history as one of F1's all-time greats, along with the likes of Fangio, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Prost, Senna, Schumacher - and Alonso himself.

And for Alonso to be able to drive at the level he did against such a talent while his relationship with his team was disintegrating around him displays incredible focus, determination and self-belief.

But his personal image has certainly taken a battering.

While you can see where Alonso was coming from when he talked about a lack of support from McLaren, he has in many people's eyes behaved very badly.

And that behaviour was given a focus when it emerged he had threatened in a row with Dennis to "shop" his team to the FIA in this summer's spy scandal.

Perhaps Alonso has been a bit spoilt, a bit childish, a bit selfish.

But he is not the first great driver to think first of himself - in many ways it is an inevitable part of the make-up of these men - and others before him have done far worse.

It is just that their behaviour stayed behind closed doors.

Neverthless, he has earned himself a bit of a reputation for being hard work, perhaps even a bit of a trouble-maker.

In the end, though, that is unlikely to harm him too much. In F1, it comes down to only two things, often intertwined - winning and money.

Racing drivers as good as this - among the top 10 or so in history, probably - do not come along very often, so Alonso will have no shortage of suitors.

At the age of 26, he is already a double world champion, and before Hamilton's emergence you would have been hard pushed to find anyone who disagreed with the assessment that he was the best all-round driver in the world.

I don't know where he will end up next year, although I have a hunch it will be Red Bull, notwithstanding the fact that Renault is the current favourite.

Either way, it will not be very long before he is a very different thorn in the side of the team who have just allowed one of the finest drivers of his generation to slip through their fingers to ensure they hold on to another.

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comment by valke4 (U10439975)

posted Nov 20, 2007

At last one senses the beginning of a wiser and more rational assessment of the 2007 season. There appears to be a growing recognition that FA achieved a lot more than he was being credited with during the course of the season even if his behaviour at times may have diminished his standing to some. And whilst it must be said that LH achieved great things as well, FA deserved better treatment from the outset and LH needed to serve out an apprenticeship.

Quite simply - Mclaren tried to live a dream that was not possible � giving LH an equal shot at the title to FA a 2x WC, because he was their prot�g� and then losing both titles when they were within their grasp! They shot themselves in the foot! This was not 1988 with Senna and Prost so dominant when Mclaren were able to take advantage of changing engine suppliers that Williams couldn�t offer a challenge. However, there was a lesson in that season which they never carried with them. When Senna took Prost out in the Japanese GP, here were 2 very competitive (the 2 best) drivers not prepared to give an inch and it ended the season on a very sour note. The sport lost even if Senna and Mclaren won. No one then would stand in Senna�s way as the sport/FIA would now � FA was penalized for baulking LH having himself been on the receiving end of petulant behaviour from LH, and yet Senna walked away scot free with a WC following far worse behaviour. Was it such a surprise then, that a highly competitive Spanish WC tried to force RD�s hand with info on the spy scandal!? This man was frustrated to the enth degree in a very English team. No team can afford to split themselves so equally without recrimination and heart break. Perhaps RD was the weakest link in his illusory pursuit of the impossible and FA was na�ve to think that he would be afforded No. 1 status?

It is hoped that FA can find himself a good team and remind us all how good he is; and that Mclaren can find it in themselves to learn from their mistakes over driver combinations, as well so many repeats of poor race strategy that go back to the MH/DC and KR days as well. Isn�t it ironic that Ferrari didn�t need BE this time, thanks to Mclaren�s mistakes. It was thanks to Berrnie that we still had a race for the WC title right to the end. If Max had has his way then Ferrari would have had everything on a plate!!

Valke4.
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

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comment by MOOGLESS (U5372844)

posted Nov 24, 2007

I beg your pardon? Moaning Hamilton? Good gracious me, I think you have got the two men confused.I rather think that Fernando was the moaner, don't you?

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comment by king_of_ukrane (U6808248)

posted Dec 5, 2007

Yet another article that proves how subjective the media is in this and every country...

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comment by swnyrmor (U9920810)

posted Dec 5, 2007

united_dreamer - I am not a LH basher as you put it. But Hamilton messed up big time,(remind me again how many points ahead was he)? and no amount of excuses from you or any other LH fan can change that. As for the team should have done this or that to ensure his win, what about him using his own initiative,he had the BEST car on the track, and all this pandering to him is pathetic.

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comment by swnyrmor (U9920810)

posted Dec 5, 2007

moochi1 -- Best Wishes to Dubai! Sensible folk, know a champion when they see one!!

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comment by swnyrmor (U9920810)

posted Dec 5, 2007

Valke4 - At last a sensible post, well done!

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comment by grandrolo (U9781520)

posted Dec 18, 2007

Ecah country is subjective to their driver, which of course, is ineveitable, but its doesnt reflect reality. Instead, it clouds people's judgement. Peopel are so wrapped up in Hamilton that they've overlooked Alonso. Alonso has been blamed for everything. He is the black sheep, whilst Hamilton is the golden boy. It seems that the Hungary incident is forgotton. Funny how that happens. Let talent do the talking, rather than the potency of media. 2008 is going to be brill.

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comment by capricornvladimir (U9282076)

posted Jan 4, 2008

KR is good no doubt, but has been lucky though enough to cash on the internal struggle of the McLaren team that and mainly that helped him to secure his first title.
Has the McLaren team behaved as any F1 top team would have in the same situation, the title would go naturaly to Fernando Alonso.

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comment by doctorhub1 (U10891765)

posted Jan 22, 2008

Hamilton is a decent driver, but he has always had the very best of equipment. Ron has made sure of that and it goes a long way to explain why Lewis has made such a big impact so soon. If you go way back top their early carting days the Scots lad Paul Di Resta had him well eclipsed, and a year younger, so Lewis is by no means the best of his generation.

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comment by swnyrmor (U9920810)

posted Jan 22, 2008

doctorhub1 - Yes indeed1!

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