It's Hard Being a Double World Champion
At the time of writing Fernando Alonso is the only World Champion in Formula 1. With that comes certain pressures, certain expectations and certain stresses. And at
McLaren these factors have been amplified tenfold by a certain Lewis Hamilton. So difficult has the situation at
McLaren become, that right now the only World Champion in F1 has no certain future. But how did it come to this? How did the
laid back, quiet and
superquick Spaniard, end up as a hate figure ousted by his own team?
Cast your mind back to 20
th December 2005. News broke that Ron Dennis had snapped up the recently crowned World Champion to drive for
McLaren. An incredible story, genius on Ron's part, but why had Alonso turned his back on Renault and more
importantly on his manager and mentor,
Flavio Briatore? At the time it was actually a no-
brainer from Fernando's perspective. Renault's F1 future was looking decidedly
shaky and Alonso's stock was high (much higher than his Renault pay-cheque would suggest),
McLaren had just signed a deal with
Vodafone to enter the new non-tobacco F1 world in a very comfortable position, and what's more
McLaren had produced the fastest car of 2005. The decision was easy, even if it meant betraying
Flavio (something Alonso is lucky not to have to regret). The short of it is that in December 2005 the future looked bright for Fernando.
Come the end of 2006 and the decision looked a little more
dubious.
McLaren had endured a torrid season struggling to come to terms with changing tyre and engine regulations. However, it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Both
Raikkonen and Montoya had left the team thus paving the way for Alonso to take up the number 1 post. Now, this is important Alonso was coming to a new team where there was no obvious rival, in his mind he was number 1. Potential team-mates were Pedro
de la Rosa, Lewis Hamilton and possibly
Mika Hakkinen. On the 24
th November 2006 the speculation ended as Lewis Hamilton was confirmed
McLaren's '2
nd driver'. From Alonso's perspective that was fine, a rookie team-mate - no problem. The team was his and with some hard work over the winter
McLaren had every chance of being competitive in 2007.
And so we finally reach 2007 and everything was set up for Fernando to succeed at
McLaren. Two races in and on the surface it looked like the potential was being fulfilled, 2
nd place in Australia and 1st in Malaysia. But dig a little deeper and it was clear that all was not right. From the Spaniard's perspective his start to the season should have cemented his role as number one at
McLaren yet all the buzz remained around his younger team-mate. The team was offering equal support to both drivers but with all the Hamilton hype it was easy to look past the achievements of Fernando. And when those achievements are analysed they were really rather incredible.
The
McLaren MP4-22 is a car far removed from the Renault R26 Alonso had become at one with the year before. The weight distribution and centre of
aero pressure on the
McLaren is forward biased essentially the opposite to what Alonso was used to at Renault. This posed some major problems for Fernando who had become accustomed to inducing a huge amount of
understeer in the Renault when approaching mid-speed and slower corners. The rearward biased R26 would dutifully comply waiting for the
Michellins to load up before rocketing towards the apex allowing Alonso to get back on the power early with minimum
oversteer or need for correction. This simply didn't work in the
McLaren. Alonso was constantly struggling with front tyre
graining in the first half of the season, the
McLaren shod
Bridgestones simply couldn't cope with Alonso's aggressive style. The 2007
Bridgestones require a softer touch, a more delicate turn in and
essentially a car with forward bias in
weight and
aero pressure. Renault's struggle this year is testimony to that fact.
Something had to give and
McLaren weren't about to change their car dynamics to suit Alonso's style. The previous year Montoya had complained about the
McLaren's handling characteristics and demanded a new development path - the result was messy and
McLaren lost all sense of direction. Instead Alonso had to change and that was cause for contention. As early as Bahrain Ron Dennis was having to mollycoddle his new driver into settling in at
McLaren. The first sign was when Dennis and Fernando sat open to the world's press in the middle of the Bahrain Paddock deep in conversation. This was of course a meticulously staged piece '
Ronspeak'. The objective was to present an image of solidarity and
openness between driver and team, the reality was much more sinister.
Fernando wasn't entirely at home in the MP4-22 and the publicity surrounding Hamilton was worrying him that he might not get the vital support he needed from the team. The subsequent 5
th place in Bahrain was the proof in the pudding. The frustration levels rose for Fernando and mistakes
began to appear. The first corner at Spain was the earliest on track
sign that Alonso was starting to crack. It was these early trials and disappointments that created the problems that eventually snowballed into the Alonso we have today. The first five races or so with McLaren were the foundations for Alonso's season - they set the tone. At first glance everything seemed fine, two wins in Malaysia and Monte Carlo and a share in the championship lead. Look closer though and the foundations weren't set on solid ground. The relationship is now falling like a house of cards leaving both Alonso and McLaren in a very awkward position.Yet what is remarkable is Alonso's ability to come throiugh all this and remain on track for a third consecutive title. Sure he's been overly paranoid and at times made major errors of judgement but he's also achieved more this year than any other driver on the grid. Alonso's driving has been sensational. In the past two years he's been super quick by developing the aforementioned driving style, but this year that's all gone out the window and he's still super quick. Alonso has completely changed his driving style to accomodate the new car and tyres - to be frank his achievements have been miraculous. Contrast the steering inputs of 2005 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4DgDBr6VBU&mode=related&search= to his more recent efforts -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fk9_7t1w2A&mode=related&search=. It's unrecognisable and still he's been stupidly fast. Add to that the tension he's endured at the team and that, essentially, he has done it all by himself. Raikkonen has had similar problems this season but now Ferrari has found a set-up to suit him - Ferrari have supported him. Alonso hasn't had the same support yet he is getting the same results. It's incredible.
Now that's not to say Alonso has done it the right way. To go the Raikkonen route and work with the team (something that is not attributed to Raikkonen very often - and unfairly so) would have made more sense. But it hasn't been that easy for Alonso and McLaren as we know. Instead he has relied on sheer dertermination and effort. The result is sensational self-improvement, uncomaparble with any other driver this year. To put it simply, asking a racing driver to change the way they approach a corner is the same as asking Simon Cowell to lower his waistline - it ain't gonna happen until he gets desperate. Alonso's ability to redress his style then is quite remarkable, espiecially as he's done it in such a hostile environment and to such magnificent effect.
So, that brings us to Interlagos. Can Alonso do it? Well it all rests on what Hamilton doesn't do. If Hamilton doesn't finish in the top three you can guarantee Alonso will be doing everything he can to win. What's more Alonso has nothin to lose. If we have a repeat of the Eau Rouge incident in the Interlagos's Senna S you can gaurantee Alonso won't lift. That is for certain.
Qualifying in Brazil was a perfect example. Hamilton had got in Raikkonen's way during the Finn's final flying lap and probably caused Kimi up to 3 tenths in the second sector. Yet there wasn't so much as an utter of appeal from Raikkonen. Hamilton even admitted, after a grilling from a French journalist, that he had apologised to Kimi - essentially admitting his guilt. Any response from Kimi? None at all. When you consider what a fuss Massa and Ferrari made of Alonso's actions in Monza last year you realise quite how easy Lewis got off. Instead Raikkonen rolled up to P3 on the grid, made the start of the season and put Hamilton in a position that he couldn't recover from. It was probably some of the most aggressive defensive driving all year. Yet it was incredibly subtle and devastatingly effective. When you can do that on the track then there is no need to go crying to the stewards when another car gets in the way on a flyer. 
