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[andrew]

Ichabod's corner is going to be rather busy.

[f1ea]

I also find myself veering towards Alonso. Never thought I'd say that!!!!! Which reminds me of something I read............but that's best on the Lewis thread!

+ vouching for a Massa back on form, and a hate for Mclaren... Maranello is calling.

Italian wine is pretty good you know. Better than german

[Hammer278]

I also find myself veering towards Alonso. Never thought I'd say that!!!!! Which reminds me of something I read............but that's best on the Lewis thread!

I still want Vettel to win the WDC this year even if Lewis prefers Alonso.

And to be honest, I can't see Vettel not winning it. Too much power with the Redbull for Ferrari to do anything now to be honest. If Alonso had a 20 point lead now, I'd still be calling it a slim chance for him to win it.

[LewEngBridewell]

I also find myself veering towards Alonso. Never thought I'd say that!!!!! Which reminds me of something I read............but that's best on the Lewis thread!

+ vouching for a Massa back on form, and a hate for Mclaren... Maranello is calling.

Italian wine is pretty good you know. Better than german

Italian wine is indeed very good. Just had a glass of red called the "Il Papavero", which was most excellent.

[What's Burning?]

Okay, since the Lewis thread is closed for remodeling, I figured this thread needed some help so here I is. I think this weekend is Alonso's (and Ferrari's) last stand.

[racechick]

Although Vettel topped the time sheets. It was Alonso and Lewis who were trading fastest laps on high fuel.
Another interesting snippet coming up. On the live update thing on a computer, during p2 Gary Anderson said. ..Hamilton is all over the place , he's up and down. That's no use to the team, they need him to be consistent. The very next update. A few seconds later was a message from Hamiltons engineer saying ...you're doing great times on this fuel load. Don't experts talk a load of poo sometimes.
Anyway it looks like Alonso and Lewis have good race pace. But I wouldn't count Vettel out. webber was fast too.

[bud]

I also find myself veering towards Alonso. Never thought I'd say that!!!!! Which reminds me of something I read............but that's best on the Lewis thread!

+ vouching for a Massa back on form, and a hate for Mclaren... Maranello is calling.

Italian wine is pretty good you know. Better than german

Maranello smells like tobacco still.

[vaptin]

Alonso's never lost positions on the first lap. Well apart from the retirements I guess.

[mnmracer]

Alonso's never lost positions on the first lap. Well apart from the retirements I guess.

Interesting stat.
Never this year, or never never?

[What's Burning?]

It's funny because today I found myself rooting for Lewis, and of course that was short lived, then I found myself rooting for Kimi and then for Alonso, what's going on?

Strange race indeed.

[darwin dali]

It's funny because today I found myself rooting for Lewis, and of course that was short lived, then I found myself rooting for Kimi and then for Alonso, what's going on?

Strange race indeed.

Maybe you started celebrating your trophy and that affected your judgment in different ways over time and consumption...

[Jabberwocky]

I have noticed over the last few races that Alonso does not seem to chat to the other drivers in the ante (spl) room before going onto the podium.

[bud]

And then he goes and ruins it.

Fernando Alonso has spent a season gaining our admiration for some of the most remorseless driving yet seen in an F1 championship. While his team-mate was floundering with the troublesome F2012, "Tenacious-F" (As Andrew Davies has dubbed him) grabbed the car by the scruff of its neck and scored points.

He could never qualify it that high up the grid but come race day a combination of supreme racecraft, some blinding starts coupled with dogged determination resulted in a championship lead that many in the pitlane couldn't quite believe, given that the benchmark car was battling it out with the mid-grid. Now, with the post-race farce of Ferrari asking the FIA to review the footage from the race in order to overturn the result, the Scuderia, pushed by Alonso, have gone too far.

Alonso seemed to have matured as a driver. This version seemed nothing like the paranoid individual who yelled at his own Renault team and accused them of not wanting him to win the title in 2006 because they knew he was off to McLaren in 2007.

The incident happened after the 2006 Chinese GP where Michael Schumacher took control of the Drivers' title race after some botched Renault tyre stops handed him a win and almost promoted Fisichella above Alonso. Alonso accused his team of only wanting to win the Constructors' title and that there were those in the team who didn't want to see him waltz off with the No.1 to McLaren in 2007.

In the end he calmed down and after Michael Schumacher's failure in Japan he became World Champion again.

The following season and Alonso thought he'd be walking into a McLaren team where he was a definite No.1 and Lewis Hamilton was No.2 - and expected to be favored. When McLaren turned round and told him that they gave their drivers equal equipment and equal treatment he was not impressed.

This was at the time when McLaren were up to no good and using illegally obtained Ferrari designs via Mike Coughlan (McLaren) and Nigel Stepney (Ferrari). So when Lewis Hamilton annoyed Alonso in qualifying for the Hungarian GP and Alonso retaliated by leaving his car in the pitbox so that Lewis couldn't get a final qualifying run in and beat his pole time, the relationship between Alonso and team boss Ron Dennis achieved meltdown.

The FIA intervened (quite unfairly because it was an intra-team argument) and pushed Alonso back to sixth on the grid. The points he lost that day ultimately lost him the World Championship. On the morning of the Hungarian race Alonso allegedly threatened to go to the FIA with evidence of Spygate unless he got his own way, so Dennis then phoned FIA President Max Mosley himself.

At the subsequent FIA inquiry in Paris, Dennis revealed that Alonso had deliberately not attended the Paris hearing, even though the Spaniard had been asked to by the team.

Fast forward to this season and the moment Sebastian Vettel overtakes Alonso in the Drivers' title race, the Ferrari press team give a briefing to the BBC that Vettel has reached an agreement to drive for them from 2014. Vettel denies it fiercely and has to issue strenuous denials to his team and his fans.

After the race in Brazil last Sunday Vettel revealed that he was proud to have won the title without resorting to 'dirty tricks' which was a reference to that particular piece of gamesmanship. Judging how mentally unhinged Alonso sounded after the Chinese GP in 2006, when Schumacher took over the lead of the championship, you even have to wonder if Alonso encouraged the release of that piece of dis-information.

The clutching at straws represented by Ferrari (backed by Alonso who tweeted about enforcing the rules) studying Vettel's whole race to see if he made a mistake that could gain him a penalty is a sad reflection on the psyche of someone who we admire for not giving up, but who needs to know when to give up. There is a thin line between absolute determination and raving obsession and in pursuing the title victory after it's been well and truly lost, Fernando's showing us an unhealthy aspect of his personality that doesn't seem to have matured as well as the public image.

In 2007 there was a big controversy after the Brazil race that Kimi Raikkonen won (Massa handed him the win) because many of the teams were using illegally cooled fuel. This wasn't spotted by McLaren but actually brought to the attention of the FIA by technical delegate Jo Bauer. Cars that had finished in front of Lewis Hamilton could very well have been disqualified making him World Champion not Raikkonen.

After the 2007 race Fernando was asked by Spanish radio station Cadena Ser what his reaction would be if they gave the title to Hamilton: "It would be a joke, and we've had too many already," was Fernando's reaction. "If something like that happened, it would end up burying the sport." (And in this case McLaren were going on information supplied by an FIA official, not on claims brought up by evidence the team had dug up themselves).

We had an epic 2012 racing season, with an amazing finale and a miraculous finish for Vettel. Alonso along with Stefano Domenicali had won plaudits for their unceasing struggle against faster cars and a wind tunnel that wasn't calibrated properly. They took the prize for being gallant losers. Not any more. Strike the word gallant.

Dave Jorgensen

well said.

[vlad]

Great text!
I almost forgot most of those things, but I can't forget that pit incident with Hamilton.
Btw, everyone praises on his good starts, but people don't understand that it's a car thing, Massa has even better starts off line. That's something Ferrari is really good at.

[andrew]

There's not a lot of Alonso supporting going on in the support thread. Does anyone like him?