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Assessing Fernando Alonso’s Formula One career is somewhat peculiar to say the least.
If you read any of the opinion pieces about the great man that have been published in recent days, including this one, you’ll see a recurring theme. They all have a kind of ‘what might have been’ element to them.
He won two world titles, numerous races, was a title contender in three other seasons (to the final race), and produced some of the finest moments of driving brilliance the sport has ever witnessed.
Yet, even with that kind of record, fans are still asking ourselves how much better a career he could have finished with.
Just eight more points spread the right way and Alonso would be leaving F1 as a five-time rather than double world champion – that would have been a much better reflection of his actual stature.
One of F1’s all-time greats bids the series goodbye at the end of the season, the final throw of the career dice that was his move back to McLaren having floundered on the team’s deep-seated problems.
He made some bad calls out of the car, none more so than in Hungary 2007, a misstep from which his career would never fully recover. Alonso’s subsequent row with team boss Ron Dennis played a huge role in the emergence of the ‘spygate’ scandal, when McLaren staff were found to have received technical information from Ferrari, as mentioned in the main article about his F1 departure. The McLaren infighting allowed Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen to snatch that year’s title.
Imagine if he’d stayed at McLaren first time around for the full three years of his contract. Both Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton made several crucial errors in their 2008 title fight and it’s difficult to imagine Alonso would have.
Then he’d have been in place in 2009 to have witnessed the rise of Red Bull – and maybe he’d have had the opportunity of joining Sebastian Vettel there from 2010 onwards. In fact, it’s widely believed in the paddock that he turned down an offer to drive for them around that time, perhaps sceptical of the viability of a newly-bought team run by a soft-drinks company being competitive compared to the long-standing, iconic manufacturers.
Had it happened that way, would anyone have some close to Alonso’s career stats?
That misstep ultimately created room for rival Lewis Hamilton’s career to grow in the way it did, by giving him a free run at McLaren and by relegating his number one rival to a lesser performing car for the duration of his career.
When Alonso took Michael Schumacher around the outside of 130R in Suzuka, with an apex speed of 208mph in 2005, it was as if a baton was being passed. He was already a newly-minted world champion at that point, but this single move was arguably a greater rubber-stamp of greatness than the title.
He prevailed again after a season-long fight with Schumacher in 2006 and, following the German’s retirement, might have expected to have enjoyed a period as the pre-eminent man of the era. You might argue he was unlucky that the one guy who would be able to challenge that status should come along in the very next season – and as his team-mate.
The paranoia that arose from that was natural. It seemed unfeasible that a rookie could be at that level and given that McLaren had backed Hamilton since he was 13, a British team investing in a British driver, alarm bells began ringing in Fernando’s mind.
In hindsight, his reaction to that was when his career began to be less than it was going to be. He’d had to fight his way through racing from a Spanish backwater without a silver spoon – and with no McLaren backing him through the ranks. He did so with a ferocity that’s said to be typical of the region. He was wily and smart but his was perhaps an unsophisticated intelligence.
His reaction to the Hamilton-McLaren situation – intensified by his firm belief that Dennis had promised him a number one driver priority and was not now living up to that - was not measured. It was uncompromising and raw. For all he was a double world champion, he was still young – and for one so strong-willed, circumstances couldn’t have been more unfortunate. That all came to a head that day in Hungary. There were those at McLaren and Mercedes who wanted him out of the car there and then. Wiser counsel prevailed and he remained there, but only until the end of the season.
He’s a really good guy and immensely likeable. But that competitive ferocity will take him to extreme places, and unfortunately it bruises people. Under just slightly different circumstances, that ferocity would only have fuelled more achievements. But just a slight tilt of circumstance put limits upon the possibilities of a virtually limitless talent.
At 37, he still remains one of F1’s best drivers. He may not be as ultimately fast as Hamilton, but he’s arguably more complete. His race craft, intelligence and engineering knowledge have enabled him to outperform his car on numerous occasions.
Of course, the complication is that Alonso’s total focus on success, and singular vision in how to achieve that, also made him difficult to work with, which hurt his career by eliminating his chances of securing drives at most top teams.
It’s not entirely his fault; his failure to secure a top drive is as much an indictment on the sport’s political map as his own demeanour.
Since the infamous Hamilton-Rosberg duels, top teams are reluctant to put two high-profile drivers together in the same garage. Mercedes and Ferrari are very content with Valtteri Bottas and Raikkonen playing second-fiddle to Hamilton and Vettel – even if they outwardly deny it – whilst Red Bull have built their entire marketing strategy around wonderkid Max Verstappen.
Why upset the apple cart now, especially as it would require forking out a huge salary? Sadly, F1 is often about the business and political practicalities rather than what the fans want these days.
Once again, we are left wondering what might have been.
