Spanish whiner, sour grapes
Posted by Bill Thomas at 4:00PM on Tuesday 12 June, 2007 27 Comments
Just finished reading a story on BBC Sport about Fernando Alonso (read it here).
Am I mistaken, or is Fernando becoming something of a moaner? Ooh! Ooh! Do I detect moaning? Saying he's 'not complaining' doesn't immediately make him not complain, which is precisely what he does. He complains.
'Not comfortable' at McLaren, eh? Should think not after being soundly trounced by Lewis in Montreal at the weekend.
But forget Hamilton, there are a few other drivers out there who should make Mr Alonso 'uncomfortable' - like Takuma Sato, who nailed the world champion into the last corner with three laps to go. Alonso had no answer. He was clearly 'uncomfortable' as the Super Aguri braked later, sailed past and took a point off him.
How important will that point be at the end of the season? Probably not that important, because Lewis will have won the championship with three races to go in his debut season like a God of driving, the greatest driver God in the history of man! (Sorry, Hamiltonitis struck me momentarily, there, sorry, sorry).
"I have a British team-mate in a British team, and he's doing a great job and we know that all the support and help is going to him and I understood that from the beginning."
Cue cry-baby noise: whaaaaaaaaa! Fernando, let's not forget that at Monaco, thanks to your 'British' team, you were protected from Lewis to guarantee your victory - if the race wasn't quite 'fixed' to let you win it, then that's how it looked to some outsiders.
And at Montreal you lost it at the first corner at the start, then went off at the same corner a further three times during the race. 'Braking problems' or not, these were mistakes Lewis didn't make, and Lewis had never driven the track before.
Fernando would do well to forget about Lewis and concentrate on qualifying. Based on race pace, Lewis is the Spaniard's equal or better, so Fernando will need that couple of yards advantage off the start, every time. Assuming he can keep it on the track through the first corner, that is.
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27 Comments for "Spanish whiner, sour grapes"
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I can't stand any one of those two. And Raikkonen will win the world championship anyway, so who cares?
Too right. How can Alonso say that Hamilton is being favoured when McLaren specifically ordered him off at the Monaco Grand Prix?
This is just pathetic. Alonso's cage is being rattled because he's finally realising he has less talent than a rookie team-mate!
Sounds like sour grapes to me. Hamilton has put his money where his mouth is this season and has been the measure of Alonso. Alonso needs to do the same - shut up and let his driving do the talking for him.
Maybe Alonso is a little disgruntled that McLaren had the audacity to hire another top driver, perhaps he wanted a solid number two, like Sato (or maybe not after Canada!!!)
Whoever wins the WDC this year, Lewis is going to be competing with Alonso for a number of years in the future - Alonso had better get used to it.
As far as his criticism of the British press is concerned, F1 was of no interest to the Spaniards till Alonso came on the scene - surely the Spanish Press must have had some responsibility for that?
Has anybody else noticed that the only overtaking Alonso has done for the last year has been done under the blue flag or in the pits? Maybe McLaren finally noticed that he isn't the great racing driver he's cracked up to be and they are going for the most talented driver, namely Lewis.
I just came back from Montreal and it was clear to see that Hamilton was cool and in charge and Alonso drove like a hack.
Fernando, get used to it - Lewis is here to stay. Granted you had some bad luck with the safety car timings coinciding with your pitstop strategy, but you spent more time on the grass on Sunday than Bob Marley ever did, so stop bemoaning your lot.
Fernando only did bad in Canada because the car aerodynamics were damaged
I know he has made a few mistakes but Lewis's time will come or when the car has a mechanical failure.
Can't really make any final decisions or judgements until a couple of races are left.
Just read the story. Alonso says that he feels that the team celebrated Lewis's success more than his but, isn't that obvious? I mean, he's just won his first race; Alonso has won two so we expect it.
I think he's just scared of how good Hamilton has turned out to be. I mean, it's the first time he's had a team-mate who's on the same level as him!
Well, let's be fair. It was Lewis who was whining after Monaco, saying "it's clear I'm the no.2 driver in the no.2 car". Ron Dennis has done a mind job on these two, only a third of the way into the season.
I'm just wondering what the hell is wrong with Kimi. In my opinion he is still the absolute best driver in the world today, and I'm still betting on him.
Because we all know that Fernando's complaints are gonna cause McLaren to fall apart this year, and Lewis is gonna start wrecking like a Nascar driver, and that's when Kimi will make his move. Go Kimi!!!
Welcome to the real world, Freddie, where class competition will eventually rise to the surface - even if it does come from within your own team... You should have stayed with Renault where you could have remained the top man on the totem pole, instead of seeing a rookie make all of you in Formula One seem rather overpriced!
Alonso is definitely a moaner, I'll give you that, but I am truly ashamed at how partial the British media can be. He did make more mistakes than usual, but third place was definitely a feasible result had it not been for the ill-timed pitstop, and that was just sheer bad luck.
After that he drove a strong recovery to 6th place, but that was too much for the soft tyres and after that the car clearly needed much more space to brake, hence Sato's overtaking. Does anyone remember Alonso keeping Schumacher at bay for 14 laps on that same track?
As for the "team orders" in Monaco, it seems that the British media have enough influence to pester the FIA into carrying out an investigation that was not really necessary, as some highly regarded ex-F1 British drivers pointed out.
Journalists should eat some humble pie and listen to the opinion of real experts, bitching over one of the clearest results of a FIA investigation ever borders on ridicule. Maybe they are just desperate for a decent British driver, after ages of Button being "the great promise".
Everybody can see that the buzz in the Mclaren camp is all around Hamilton at the moment, and certainly Alonso can feel that.
And Ronny, we still need to see Hamilton in a real dogfight...
Don't get me wrong here, I'm a Mclaren fan and I like the way Hamilton's going, but I also have great respect for Alonso.
Give him a bloody break huh!
Yes, Alonso moans. But he does it a hell of a lot less than Schumi ever did, yet Schumi finds himself in the motorsport hall of fame.
Two years ago, Alonso did the unthinkable and beat him fair and square. Last year he did the same, so let his driving do the talking in judgement of him. And anyway, did anyone see Ron Dennis crying when Alonso won? I must have missed that one.
They're racing each other, and F1 is about racing, so ignore the moaning and watch the racing!
Sorry to say, but Bill Thomas and most of the comments here prove Alonso's point. If the McLaren team is anything like the people posting here (and I suspect they are), then of course Alonso wouldn't feel comfortable.
Alonso was 'protected from Lewis to guarantee' his victory? Highly doubtful as Alonso drove a solid race in Monaco and would have held off Hamilton since his car was NOT damaged like it was in the Canadian GP. The bosses at McLaren obviously didn't want to risk having one or both cars knocked out so they told the drivers to maintain position.
This article is simply a 'pro-British' backlash at mere thoughts expressed by Alonso and nothing more. You're just proving his point. If you want to see Alonso whine, go back to the 2006 season.
This article is just pure propaganda aiming to vilify a great two-time world champion. Why not celebrate the fact that Alonso's on the back foot instead of trashing him?
Alonso has nobody to blame but himself for the first-corner calamity. Definitely rattled.
We, the British people, reserve the right to put people on pedestals and bring them crashing down whenever we want.
Thank you.
This is some really biased writting and I am disappointed.
What Fernando said is true, only a fool can't tell the team's happier with Lewis on Pole than Fernando.
Alonso was champion when Renault were at their peak, and Ferrari at their weakest in years. Alonso isn't that good, he just happens to drive for a superior team. Same story this year with Mclaren!
My hat's off to Hamilton (coming from a Ferrari fan, that says a lot)
Alonso is struggling with the Brigestones, and the McLaren is not designed for his type of driving style. He has failed to adapt. Hamilton had the advantage of a blank canvas in terms of F1, and has adjusted much quicker.
A world champion that can't handle any challenge from a newcomer is not a worthy champion. Full stop.
What Alonso refuses to accept is competition. Winning the championship two years running, quite comfortably, has made him complacent and now he refuses a challenge.
If you ask me coming to Mclaren is turning Alonso into Raikkonen. Maybe he should go to Ferrari as another Schumacher wannabe.
I would reserve further judgment until I see Lewis in a real cat and mouse situation, but so far he's really impressed me. Let's keep in mind that he's up against a two-time world champion who (like Kimi) is still adapting from last year's car with different type of tyres from this year. We still need to see Nando's and Kimi's true colours when they really settle down in their new teams.
When will we see the first F1 driver who just confesses that he screwed up? "Sorry guys, bad day at the office, my mistake!"
Better treatment for my team-mate because he is English? Anyone who knows just a little about F1 can tell those things just don't happen at McLaren.
If he was driving in an unnamed red car with a prancing horse on the front of it, with an Italian co-driver, yes, he would be right. But in this case, Fernando: get your act together and shut up!
All this b******* is the result of some people taking stuff said by certain people, and then interpreting and re-interpreting it until there's absolutely nothing left of the original meaning of what the person said.
Similar case in question: a jokey remark from Kovalainen about Piquet Jr. was re-interpreted into a full-on war for the second Renault seat between them. The press tends to put the pump into things and inflate them up to detonation point.
OK, OK, OK, OK!!! Alright, I'll come clean, this blog was a bit of a wind-up - a bit of a one.
Yes, these comments from the World Champ were taken out of context as Renaultfan suggests - it's not quite fair to rib Alonso over his words. No, I don't actually think he was whining, particularly - not sure that's in his nature. And the main thing is, I'm not sure whether he isn't going to teach Lewis a lesson or two as the season progresses.
At some stage or other, Lewis will probably hit a patch of bad form and bad luck, while Alonso nails it. It's a very, very close-run thing, but given Fernando's speed and experience, you'd expect him to just edge Hamilton.
However, he's got some work to do - if Hamilton can finish the next four races on the podium, Fernando will struggle to make up the eight points.
I'm an equal fan of both these guys and the fight will be incredibly interesting. Thanks for your comments, they were great - and I agree with all of them in some way!