He clashed with teammate Lewis Hamilton on and off the track, tried to influence McLaren into favouring him over the debutant (Hamilton) in the 2007 title fight, even threatening to report them to the motorsport’s governing body Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) over the Spygate scandal, where Ferrari’s confidential technical information was leaked to McLaren. That one-year relationship ended in perhaps the worst possible way for any driver-team combination. After winning titles for Renault in 20, he left the team acrimoniously for McLaren in 2007. He has had a turbulent relationship with nearly every team he has driven for. This has been the big chink in Alonso’s otherwise near-perfect armour. That ability to get yourself in the right position and when you do that, the ability to work with the people you are with, helps you as an F1 driver." Alonso’s relationships with people have been a problem. However, there is another aspect to a racing driver, that is relationships. “You cannot blame him for being angry because Ferrari haven’t given him a good car. “For a driver of his ability, Alonso should have won more than two world championships," says noted F1 commentator James Allen. The Scuderia believe they need at least two years to rectify their car, which has perhaps strained the relationship between Alonso and the team. Even in this season, when the new F1 rules have came into place, Ferrari have produced a car that stands fourth best in the championship. Coincidentally, Ferrari finished as the second best team behind Red Bull only once during this period (2012), outlining the fact that Alonso had been overdriving a below-par car all this while. From 2010-13, when Vettel garnered accolades, Alonso managed to finish second in the Drivers’ Championship on three occasions (2010, 20). Alonso’s time spent with Ferrari coincided with the Adrian Newey-led aerodynamic phenomenon that was the Red Bull chassis and driven to near-perfection by Vettel who won four consecutive world championships.
The problem is two-fold: Red Bull Racing and Sebastian Vettel. Why then could this driver-team pairing not win a single title in five years?
They have arguably the best resources to deploy in their quest for victory. Ferrari exist in this sport only for winning-such has been the team’s culture since it first competed in F1 in 1950. Alonso is the best, nay, the most complete driver on the F1 grid today. On the outset it seems a baffling premise.
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