F1nsider wrote:
Going through old article is very entertaining.
If McLaren were not caught, they would've still lost the WCC to Ferrari, again, because of Alonso. In Hungary, it's not that only Alonso got the penalty, the team got their points from that GP docked (need to double check), so that will make Ferrari have higher points at the end of the season.
This guy is a destruction machine. He goes to McLaren, makes them lose not only the WDC but the WCC and causes the biggest fine in F1 history. Goes back to Renault and causes the Crash-gate and because of him Massa lost an almost certain WDC. Goes to Ferrari, makes them fire their last WDC and then causes the "Fernando is faster than you" scandal
Unbelievable.
I agree, what you wrote is unbelievable.
Alonso baulked at Hamilton not honouring a qualifying agreement that Alonso himself had honoured throughout the season, the blame could not possibly fall entirely on the Spaniard. What's more, you conveniently choose Hungary and no other race from that year where McLaren or another driver at that team competing for the championship, let's call him Lewis Hamilton, threw away that points lead in Shanghai.
Alonso caused Crashgate? Not only is there no proof of his complicity in the planning, nobody forced Piquet Jr to drive into that wall. Nobody at all. That was certainly his choice, Alonso didn't remotely drive Piquet Jr's car. I believe Nelsinho only went public because he lost his seat. We didn't know about the scandal until he was out on his ear. I can't prove that, but no more than anyone can prove that Alonso planned Crashgate.
Massa and Ferrari lost the title because of their stupid pit lane traffic light system, which should have been changed after the near miss in Valencia. I was not alone in screaming on the forums for them to change that system after that race. As it transpired in Singapore, it cost them more than the points they needed to take the title in Interlagos, even if Crashgate had never happened. They lost so much time with Massa sitting at the end of the pitlane alone. The race fixing scandal just exacerbated the scale of Ferrari's embarrassment that day, but didn't actually alter the outcome of the championship. The Crashgate is just a big "what if" used to beat Hamilton over the head, just as the current green flag/yellow light on steering wheel will be used to beat Vettel over the head with in years to come.
Alonso made Ferrari fire Kimi? One of the biggest teams in the sport, with the financial backing of Philip Morris and other sponsors in addition to Santander, and he single handedly prevailed in the boardroom before he joined the team? Hell, that's amazing, the only reason Newey is not at Ferrari must be because Alonso isn't trying hard enough. He's already running things according to you. Raikkonen was a WDC yes, so was Alonso and you already wrote that Massa lost an almost certain WDC and finished close to Kimi in 2007 and was running with him in 2009 so forgive me if I don't back you on that theory either.
"Fernando is faster than you." Guilty as charged, though Ferrari weren't the only ones to have used team orders after 2002, they just weren't very subtle on that day and were fed up of the deceit up and down the pitlane. They opened up the debate and there was consensus among commentators that whether you agreed with the ethics or not, Ferrari were not the only ones.
Alonso is a driver where scandal is never far away, I acknowledge that. If the FIA had not given him immunity in exchange for his evidence in the 2007 scandal he would probably have faced some sort of ban, but the need to charge Hamilton too, as both were aware, under requirements of consistency put paid to that. Losing two star drivers would have been disastrous and Bernie was constantly trying to intefere in the case.
You and others are really giving him too much credit for what he is capable of. As far as him having problems when he loses, he took a long time to recover from 2007, I think he didn't truly recover until he moved to Ferrari. He had a mediocre season in 2009, even accounting for the car.
This season, he has said a few things, but this has been under adversity after 6 seasons without a championship. I think he is much stronger now. I have a yearbook from the 1998 season, Schumacher was not always complementary about his team, or happy about things.
In 2007, Alonso was the double world champion in a very quick car and should have been mentally stronger. The way in which he lost his mental discipline was quite different to now.