Fernando Alonso, defying the father-son duo of Lawrence and Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, is the top man on the team. With six podiums in eight races, he has showcased that he is above the Canadian race driver in race skill, even at the age of 41. In the recent Beyond the Grid episode, Alonso’s former teammate Giancarlo Fisichella reveals why Alonso is always the most prolific personality in an F1 team.
Fisichella was Alonso‘s teammate when the Spaniard was with Renault and bagged two world championships in a row. Those days, a young Alonso showcased how a team needs to follow his needs to be successful.
The same thing has continued to date, and that’s why Alonso is also probably a tough athlete to handle for most teams. And Fisichella reveals the trait that often makes Alonso a huge influence on any side.
Fernando Alonso is ‘too political’
Fisichella, while talking about what kept Alonso so successful at his time in Renault, is that he was ‘too political.’ Though, according to the Italian race driver, it’s not something bad.
“Very political, but that’s part of the job,” said Fisichella. “In the team, he was quite strong. [Flavio] Briartore was his manager. The main sponsor was Telefonica (a Spanish telecommunications company). So he was quite strong in the team.”
Show host Tom Clarkson then asked whether that meant he got better resources. Fisichella responded with a no and claimed that once Alonso was a stronger person on the team, he felt obligated to assist him. But surely, such strengths remarked by Fisichella signal that he was indispensable with Renault back then.
The Paradox of Brilliance
The Spanish race driver is surely an asset for every team. However, his strong personality can come with a cost. If things are not going at the pace of Alonso’s expectations, then it can transform into a messy affair.
The history is evidence of it, as failing to clinch a title from Red Bull for four straight years soured the relations between Alonso and the Italian team. Then, McLaren’s failure to manage him and Lewis Hamilton made things unpleasant at the Woking-based factory.
Surprisingly, McLaren once again pulled to turn Alonso away when he joined them back in 2015, and in his four-year-long spell, he had to tolerate cars that were far from challenging for the title. And finally, the recent falling out with Alpine (earlier Renault), when the French team tried to underpay him as per his expectations.
So, while Alonso can overperform in a car, he must be fuelled with ambition and dignity. And Aston Martin, having a blood relation very evidently right in the ownership, can get exposed to the breaking down of a delicate alliance.
