The most fun Fernando Alonso had racing in 2015

If F1 fans thought 2015 was painful to watch, imagine what it must have felt like to "Fred" Alonso: 

Sidelined by a yet to be (and probably never to be) explained testing accident, 7 DNF's, scoring a measly 11 championship points,  Alonso tried to convince anyone who would listen how he was certain his decision to "leave" Ferrari was the right one.

But that's the public figure. 

Underneath, Fernando the racer is still alive and well as Gordon Mellis tells us.

Fernando Alonso – Still a Winner Away From the F1 Circuit

A Good News Story from (just after) the Season Finale!
By Gordon Mellis

Formula 1 drivers are much maligned these days, accused of being devoid of any personality and shunning any real connection with the fans. Take the F1 drivers race day parade as an example, when the vast majority of drivers are too preoccupied amongst themselves to wave or even acknowledge the fans and Marshals trackside, (which after all is the whole point of the exercise!).

However, glimpses of personality and hope may be appearing for F1 fans from some drivers over the last few race weekends of the year, first we had Alonso relaxing in the chair photo and the Photoshop variations that went viral on the web, followed by the Button and Alonso mock pose on the podium after their retirements in Brazil.

Then last weekend we had Daniel Ricciardo’s impromptu dance session topped by the ever upbeat and increasingly affable Sebastian Vettel, when he elected to sing happy birthday to his Race Engineer at 300kmh while hitting every apex around the Yas Marina circuit during one of the sessions at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a gesture that surely gained him thousands of new fans (Including me).

This has all been a welcome contrast from the sulking and temperamental displays of Lewis Hamilton this year when he doesn’t :  a) Get on the top step of the podium,  b) Agree with the engineer’s strategy or c) Feel 100% of the love quota from the Mercedes team.

So you would think that given the torrid, horrible and totally demoralising season that former world champion Fernando Alonso has had to endure at the other end of the grid this year, that the last thing FA would be interested in would be grass roots motorsport .....in this case karting, arguably the purest form of motorsport and the first step on the career ladder to Formula 1.

But nothing could be further from the truth, for less than 24 hours after yet another lack lustre race in the season finale, where ‘FA ‘felt aggrieved by inconsistent officiating and an undeserved penalty, F1 superstar Fernando Alonso turns up at the ‘Dubai Kartdrome’, for one of the circuits regular Sodi World Series (SWS) races, first to present the trophies to the winning junior drivers on the podium, and then, to the absolute astonishment and delight of all the other competitors, enters and competes in the senior SWS races.

Alonso, an occasional visitor to the Dubai Kartdrome, had previously competed in the circuit’s prestigious endurance and leisure (but highly competitive) karting events, where he has driven, without any fuss, airs or graces, and has always willingly posed for photographs and happily signed autographs for the young kart drivers who aspire to follow in his tyre treads.

But on Monday night, in a search for the close wheel to wheel racing action that has been missing from his F1 season, the McLaren F1 driver quietly and effectively went about his business and was soon on the pace, qualifying second fastest. But despite his F1 world champion status, the races proved that track and seat time are paramount in any racing vehicle and with the spotlight on Fernando throughout, he could only manage 4th and a 5th in the races, still credible, but he did go on to show his prowess by setting the fastest lap of the entire SWS season in the final race.

But forget the results, Fernando proved that you don’t have to be on the podium to be a ‘real winner’, for in an absolutely epic demonstration of his character, stature and his absolute love of all things motorsport he unselfishly put aside all the disappointments and frustrations of Honda’s F1 unreliability, the semantics and political bickering at McLaren, the will he – won’t he race in 2016 speculation to give his fellow competitors and junior drivers a night they will always remember, creating countless opportunities for them to retell “when I raced with Alonso” stories.

Dubai Kartdrome Assistant Circuit Manager, David Bright commented on Facebook “It was great to see people's facial expressions last night at SWS Race night, when they realised Fernando Alonso would not only be doing podium presentations, but racing himself! Hats off to the guy....less than 24hrs after finishing the final Formula 1 race on the calendar, he enters an SWS kart race! The guy is a legend and true racer. A motorsport role model and a credit to the sport!” Hear Hear......Let’s hope the rest of the F1 grid takes note.......motorsport fans and the general public need (and want) to see the human side of the drivers and not just a helmet flashing by at speed.

So if you want to race karts and have a chance to get up close and maybe, just maybe race against a F1 world champion, get down to the Dubai Kartdrome and sign up to race in the Dubai SWS series.

Fernando, you are a class act! More of the same please.

Yes, Fernando is faster than (most of) you.

Watching Fernando Alonso going from last to first in couple of laps at an arrive & drive kart track in England reminds me a bit of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer dominates the dojo.  

We are guessing this was significantly more fun for the Spanish champion than the whole F1 season with McLaren so far.  

Fernando popped in to Daytona Sandown Park for a Dmax Arrive&Drive on Monday evening (7th July 2015). On Wednesday (9th July 2015), he came back with some friends and colleagues and raced in our Dmax karts on the GP Circuit at Daytona Sandown Park.

Like any competitive F1 driver, Fernando wanted to make it on to our Superstars Board and we all watched his laptimes as he mastered the track and our high-performance Dmax karts. Immediately Fernando managed to get in to 46 seconds laptimes but it didnt take him long to drop into the 45s.

With a ten minute practice session, a ten minute qualifying race and a 15 minute Final, Fernando′s last lap of the evening was his fastest: 45.627 seconds. As a result, Fernando goes third on our all-time leaderboard, just behind Formula E driver Sam Bird (who started his kart racing career here at Daytona Sandown Park).

OK so Sam Bird knows the track like the back of his hand, but this George Turner fellow must feel pretty good about himself today

F1 Shocker: Fernando back at Ferrari in 2016!

At the back of your head you knew the Alonso-Ron Dennis marriage could not last and today it's become known Fernando exercised a clause in his McLaren contract which allows him to jump ship should the car not complete two races in a row.


"To be honest, I don't even remember signing with McLaren"  Said Fernando after having lunch at Montana's restaurant, across from the Ferrari factory in Maranello.  "I thought someone had bleached my overalls in the wash,  that's why I did not show up in Australia".

Leaving Ferrari will be Kimi Raikkonen whose contract expires at the end of this year and who has found new peace in domestic bliss.

"IreallyfoundIhavesoomuchfunathomewithmysonRobinandespeciallywithMintooonacoolnight" said the Fin.

No word yet from Woking but it there was a tweet claiming Ron Dennis, locked inside an impossibly clean conference room, could be heard muttering "Serenity now,  serenity now..."

Alonso and McLaren, they both can't be right about the accident.

More drama in F1 ahead of the Malaysian GP as Alonso's version of events just raises more questions.

Fernando Alonso,  asked about his testing accident during the FIA Thursday press conference, flat out contradicted his team's version of events.  

After the crash, McLaren blamed a sudden gust of wind, something that was ridiculed by everyone but the most rabid McLarenistas.

"...even a hurricane would not move the car at that speed. Also if you have any problem, medical issue, normally you will lose power and go straight to the outside, never to the inside."

said Fernando adding:

"...It's clear that there was a problem in the car. It's not found on the data at the moment."

but at the same time Alonso said he

 "fully trust(s) the team. They have been one month looking at every single component on the car, doing so many tests, changing every single part which they had some doubts about."

The situation in a very odd one.  Does anyone really believe McLaren is not fully aware if the steering had locked, as Alonso claims, causing the accident?

Where is the video? Why are versions of event during and after the accident so different when told by Alonso, McLaren and emergency personnel?

We hope Alonso is as fine as he claims to be and can add some much needed spice to the race this week end, we are not sure the relationship with McLaren is necessarily off to the best of starts.

You can read the full transcript of Alonso's Press conference answers HERE

Alonso "Crashgate 2.0" getting downright weird as some suggest he lost his memory.

So the latest reports, which originate with Spain's El Pais and Germany's Bild, are that Fernando Alonso suffered amnesia after his testing accident.

"I'm Fernando Alonso, I race karts and I would like to drive in F1 one day"

According to Spain's El Pais that's how the McLaren driver answered emergency personnel who intervened after his testing crash in Barcelona.   Alonso, the article continues,  had lost the last 20 years of memories and was convinced it was 1995.

Germany's tabloid Bild instead reports Alonso started speaking Italian after that accident and was adamant he still drove for Ferrari.   Given the performance of both Ferrari and McLaren there is a tinge of the comical to this assertion.

Of course concussions are not funny and it's right Alonso's doctors and F1 are taking all precautions necessary after Nando got his bell rung.

What is not right is trying to hide things.   On the one hand there are the "nothing to see here, move along" journalists and on the other the wild conspiracy theorists.   The truth is most likely somewhere in between.

Certainly very few are buying the "it was a gust of wind" explanation from McLaren.  Auto Motor Sport reports Fernando entered the turn at 215km/h then, mid-corner, hit the brakes and downshifted three gears before turning into the inside wall.  Maldonado, yes, you might not question it but Alonso?  And there are still questions as to why it was necessary to sedate Alonso  after the crash.

One thing is absolutely certain: the Nando and Ron show, season 2, is off to a complicated start.

McLaren issues statement on Alonso's crash, many are still skeptical.

Pastor Maldonado crashed in the same place in 2014/

With Fernando Alonso still in the hospital under observation and  talk of his missing the final pre season test,  McLaren's official explanations don't satisfy.


McLaren issued a press release blaming the accident on a sudden gust of wind and categorically denying there was any mechanical or electrical issues with the car.

McLaren should have done this immediately after the accident rather than wait for people to come up with their own explanations.  

Not that the official version completely satisfies all questions, especially since F1 teams are notoriously unreliable when it comes to admitting technical failures.

Sudden gusts of wind are indeed common at the Circuit de Catalunya yet the photographer who took the only know pictures of the crash said that at that moment the wind was not strong.

McLaren said the wind gust blew Alonso onto the Astroturf (in a somewhat similar dynamic to Maldonado's practice accident last season) yet the same photographer claims the McLaren never put a wheel off on the outside.

Others are wondering why there is only one tire skid mark.  Is that an indication of a possible brake by wire issue?

If it was just a "normal testing crash", why did Alonso stay inside the cockpit for 20 minutes and had to be sedated?

If it was not a mechanical issue, why did McLaren stop Button who was scheduled for the afternoon?

The one guy who saw better than anyone was Vettel of course who was right behind.  He saw Alonso just turn into the wall. "It was strange" he said.

Yes,  strange indeed.

I wonder if F1 might consider mandating concrete walls be protected by Safer barriers as NASCAR did for Daytona's inside wall after Kyle Busch's crash.   If a relatively slow speed hit in what might possibly be the safest racing car designed by man can put a racer out of commission then, perhaps, it's time to act.

Alonso in heavy testing crash.

It's tempting to start thinking of Fernando as a tragic figure, a supremely talented driver that will just not catch any breaks.   McLaren Honda is behind while Ferrari is instead showing promise now a heavy crash in practice.

It happened today at the Circuit de Catalunia in Barcelona.   Alonso lost control of his Mclaren-Honda coming out of turn 4.  From the pictures it's hard to tell what the dynamic of the accident might be but the car does not look severely damaged.

However Alonso was in the car for 10 minutes before medical personnel extracted him.  Reports say that Alonso complained of dizziness and was then loaded onto a stretcher and taken to the hospital for observation.


His manager, Luis Garcia Abad tweeted:

 "Fernando está bien y consciente. Muchas gracias por vuestro interés. Fernando is OK and conscious. Thank you !"

Hopefully, nothing too serious.

You can see the whole photo sequence over at MARCA

Unguarded

A rare unglamorous, unguarded moment, one F1 would probably not want you to see but in our opinion,  precisely the kind of honest,  human insight the sport desperately needs.

This picture of Fernando Alonso is worth the proverbial 1000 words, more probably.  It comes via Nando's most ardent chronicler,  Antonio Lobato 

Alonso's silence explained

Where will Alonso go in 2015?

That has been the soap opera for the second half of the season.  People are down on Fernando for keeping mum but there is a very simple explanation:  Lewis Hamilton.

When things were not going his way this past summer, Hamilton started making noises about his contract renewal with Mercedes.  Mercedes, not wanting to lose their marquee driver came down hard on Nico after the Spa contact.   Nico did not recover until the penultimate race of the season in Brazil.  Score one for couch man Hamilton, tactic must have worked.

Now as the season finale looms, Hamilton is still keeping the contract renewal over Mercedes's head. If he wins on Sunday he will renew with the additional leverage of a two time world champion.  Should he lose, he will not stand around the Mercedes garage as Rosberg's sidekick and sign with Mclaren. Pressure's on Mercedes to avoid a DNF,  a DNF in the final race of 2012  marked the end of his Mclaren days.

That will free up a spot for Alonso at Mercedes and, as he himself said many times, it will be obvious why he waited.

Alonso drops a bombshell: Ferrari might be best option.

In the seemingly never ending saga around his future employment,  Nando dropped a bomb at Interlagos but, curiously, it was for the most part ignored by British media and only reported by Spanish and Italian publications.

"I have the option to go to any team i want for the final years of my career. I have to evaluate what is the best option for me, if to renew with Ferrari for the long term, something we have been discussing all year"

Boom... except with the UK crowd, who generally despise Alonso and will certainly have little patience with being trolled like this by the Spaniard.

At this point the Alonso saga is almost more gripping than the actual racing.  What's interesting is those reports of a door slamming-name calling fight between Alonso and Marco Mattiacci came from a UK source while we can report (and a number of photographs seemed to confirm) that our own CG saw Alonso and Mattiacci laughing and joking with each other in the paddock in Austin.

"From the outside it's true that the situation is not so clear, everyone thinks that Mercedes, the team that is dominating at the moment, will dominate next year. We probably though the same last year of Red Bull when they won nine races in a row and then this year they managed only five laps in winter testing.  You never know how things will change from year to year, you have to study the projects, evaluate the prospects and follow a direction.  At this moment my priority is Ferrari, because we are racing here with 75 people who are working on two cars to achieve the best result possible."

What will happen?  We think Alonso is the perfect driver for Ferrari and even a pairing of Alonso and Vettel would be epic and would make the pairing of Hamilton and Rosberg seem bland.  The resurgence of the Ferrari will be the storyline of the next few years in F1, maybe Fernando has figured it out?

As usual, leave your take below.

Deal with the devil?

One of the inevitable questions about Alonso' future many are asking is, how could he go to Mclaren and why would Ron Dennis ever want him back after the fallout of the "spy gate" scandal of 2007.

Mclaren were slapped with a $100 million fine for getting a hold of Ferrari inside information and though the team was later able to write off the the penalty as a loss, it was still a big enough blow that Ron Dennis stopped away from racing for a few years.

Now he's back and first thing is he hires Alonso?

it turns out, Alonso is still the bane of his existence because, as you know, Mclaren will be the only team to get the new Honda power units in 2015 and guess what comes in a package with the Japanese engines?

You got it,  Alonso will not sign with Mclaren because, it's been said, he signed with Honda for a hefty 35 million Euro a season ($44M).   It also means that, theoretically, Alonso would be free to move to any other future Honda powered team should it prove more competitive.  Alonso would return to Mclaren not as a Mclaren employee.

This must drive Dennis bonkers,  he needs Honda money and motors and having to take his old nemesis back must be a bitter ofpill to swallow.   Of course, in this devil's bargain, he's getting the best and possibly the hungriest driver in F1 at the moment so he'll be all right with the right antacid medication and some xanax.

For his part, Fernando is off somewhere enjoying some water sports and tweeting #TheBestIsYetToCome...  hey, is that a Honda water bike?

Buen fin de semana a todos!!! #loMejorEstaPorLlegar 😜😜😜 Enjoy the weekend!!! #theBestIsYetToCome 😜😜😜 pic.twitter.com/vOwYDXcUDD
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) October 18, 2014

Typhoon Alonso hits F1 in Japan

Alonso will leave the Scuderia, Sebastian Vettel will take his place in 2015.

The storm had been in the forecast for a long time but nobody was confident enough to predict its path. No, we are not referring to Phanfone, the meteorological phenomenon which has put this week end's race in some doubt but of Fernando Alonso's divorce from Ferrari.

As much as anything can be definite in F1, you can consider this a done deal. Ferrari cannot guarantee Alonso a dominant car for next year and Alonso has no incentive to spend the next couple of seasons developing a car he will ha likely have to hand over to a younger driver. At 33,  he does not want to risk the same treatment Schumacher got at the end of 2006.

Official announcements aside, confirmation comes from a piece Pino Allievi wrote for Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport today.
Simply put, Allievi would not have written that piece if he was not solid on it.

OMG, he's not Joe Saward, can we trust him you say? Yes, he knew Montezemolo was leaving before everyone else and he was the one who broke the Alonso phone tap scandal in the Mclaren spy gate days. It's happening.

The other bombshell in the article is Vettel in Fernando's seat right from 2015.

This was also the rumor of the last few months and an accepted career path for the German for the last few years. What's different is that it was not supposed to happen for one more season.
If that what was to be inevitable then perhaps everyone realized the change might as well happen sooner rather then later.

James Allen points out how Bernie's hand might play a role as it did in getting both Schumacher and Hamilton at Mercedes.    One could argue to that there was an effort made by F1 to make sure Mercedes was happy and in the best possible position to win and stay in the sport.  The new bosses at Ferrari are bit of an unknown for F1, they showed they are willing to make drastic changes. It is not unthinkable an effort would be made to set the Scuderia on a path to success as quickly as possible.

Vettel's incentives are the challenge of winning with a different team and making sure the new car is developed in a way that suits his tastes.

Alonso has two paths: Mclaren and Red Bull. Allievi. in the article. mentions Ferrari had also targeted Hamilton but in the end preferred Vettel.
Hamilton's only reason for leaving Mercedes would have been if he were to have a major hissy fit after losing the championship to Rosberg anyway.

Red Bull, you might think, has no need for Alonso with Ricciardo driving very well and Kvyat in the wings.  But careful. that driver combo, while fast would leave RBR without the prestige of a world champion and top driver behind the wheel unlike all major competitors. That's not something to be underestimated.  For similar reasons, Ferrari would not be happy with a Raikkonen-Bianchi lineup, even if temporary.

Mclaren Honda is the other path but can anyone imagine Alonso and Ron Dennis in the same room? Mclaren seems like a chilly place to begin with, that would make it positively arctic. On the plus side, Fernando would have plenty extra cash to keep his Dasha in Chanel.

Presumably, at some point, Ferrari would lose Banco Santander's sponsorship and a major opportunity will open up for branding. Finding out who'll pony up to put their stickers on certainly the most prestigious side pods in F1 will be interesting and a measure of F1's health.

It's all not confirmed of course and not likely to be until after the big FIAT-Chrysler's Wall Street debut on October 13. Sergio Marchionne will officially step in for Luca di Montezemolo at the helm of Ferrari and it will be a whole new chapter for the Scuderia.

What Fernando Alonso and Kim Kardshian's butt have in common

"Views are down Smithers,!  Quick, produce me three new listicles on the many sides of Kim Kardashian's butt, or you're fired!"

CelebrityCarBlog.com

F1, in recent weeks has had it's own version of surefire click bait with innumerable articles about Fernando Alonso's future plans.  We might have reached "peak Nando" today with the publication on Sport Bild of an article claiming that it's  pretty much a done deal next year: Alonso will be at Lotus, the team revamped with Mercedes engines and bought out by (noted Ferrari collector and past team sponsor) Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll.   

Of course, always according to SportBild, Stroll's son and current Ferrari Academy driver Lance would drive as Fernando's teammate.

Click...

OK, so that's just the business of journalism these days, and yes, it's amusing to speculate.  You might agree with us that the least of Ferrari's problems is their driver line up.   Even if you believe those who say the new "Agnelli/Marchionne" regime is tight with the pursestrings, even if you believe Honda would be willing to cover Ferrari in gold to have Alonso,  I'm not sure I see an obvious solution here.

The two big "market forces",  if you can call them such, are Vettel's supposed need to prove himself somewhere other than at Red Bull and Fernando's biological ticking championship clock.   There had been  a third one, Hamilton's escape from a Mercedes led by world champion Rosberg but that now seems less and less likely.  Plus, only a fool would jump off the Silberpfeil juggernaut at this point.

Back to Vettel and Alonso.   Just a bunch of questions, really.  

Of Vettel at Ferrari there has been talk of since, at least, early last season.  For many that he will be in Red from 2016 is a given.   But would Alonso and Vettel coexist at Ferrari?  Could Alonso and Vettel coexist at Ferrari?  Could Ferrari, or anyone, pay that bill?

Ferrari is going through a rebuilding cycle,  why would Alonso accept to stay during this period and leave right when it might be time to pick the fruits?   Or, why would he want to stay at all if he know Ferrari would dump him for Vettel after next season? 

In any case, Vettel is confirmed at Red Bull for 2015 so that talked about swap is (and my many years following F1 always advise me to hedge) ...unlikely.

Does Fernando  have that many attractive options?   Mclaren?  It's a lot of money potentially but Honda power is an unknown and in any case, exclusive to Mclaren for only one season.   What is know is that Ron Dennis hates his guts and that he is the polar opposite of a "Mclaren" driver.     That would be a big risk for him.

Red Bull won't have him, doesn't need him.  Hell, Red Bull does not even need Vettel at this point and Helmut Marko has already declared Max Verstappen "just like Senna".  That must cheese Hamilton to no end by the way.

Mercedes is not a realistic option either.

So, barring a Copersucar-esque move to a revamped Lotus or retirement, I don't see too many good options outside of Maranello for Alonso.

For Ferrari, there is no option of rebuilding the team with Raikkonen, a driver who has said he would retire come 2015 and a second tier driver.   The Scuderia's biggest error over the past five seasons was in staying loyal to Massa.   Had they hired a driver capable of taking more points away from the competition it's likely  the 2010 and 2012 championship trophies would be on Alonso's mantelpiece and we would not be having this discussion now.

Here is Fernando Alonso driving a Ferrari at LeMans.

Before waving the French flag at the start of this year's 24 Hour of Le Mans, Fernando Alonso got a chance to drive a long tail Ferrari 512S around la Sarthe.
 It was the first time an official Ferrari driver stepped into a red prototype car at Le Mans since 1973 and comes amid a flurry of rumors and official "non-denials denials" from Maranello about a possible future return to the French classic.

What is certain is Luca di Montezemolo's call for a summit to discuss a complete rethink of future of Formula 1, it will be interesting to see how other teams react:

"Maranello, 15 June – Ferrari has had Formula 1 coursing through its veins for over half a century and that’s why it has decided to make a move to turn the sport away from the wrong turn it appears to have taken.

The Maranello marque has decided to do this through the means of a formal act, which is a concrete proposal, in the form of a letter from its President Luca di Montezemolo to the Formula 1 rights holder, Bernie Ecclestone and to Donald McKenzie, the president of the company that owns Formula 1. It is not an ultimatum, nor a threat, but a proposal to call together all the key players in the sport to sit down around a table and come up with new ideas that will see Formula 1 continue to set the benchmark in motorsport, on level terms with global events such as the Olympics and the football World Cup.

The President wants to see a collective brainstorming from the group to act for the good of Formula 1. Contributions from all areas are of value; teams, sponsors, promoters and media, so that the key values of Formula 1 can be reestablished. President Montezemolo would also like to see other high-end players invited, those who are currently not involved or only partially so; new media, social networks and colossi such as Google and Apple.

Formula 1 has to be based on technical innovation, research and development, but this must all be done with sustainable costs and above all, must be moved forward as part of a product that can put on a show. Because it is the show that draws in the commercial partners, the sponsors and, above all, the fans, who are the real end users of the Formula 1 product.

Finding the right mix of these ingredients will be vital for the sustainability and the future success of our much-loved sport."

Alonso was checking out an Audi R18 E-tron

with engineer Andrea Stella at the FIA awards ceremony in Paris yesterday.

Let's see if that picture he snapped ends up on Twitter or Instagram...

(h.t. andreadebi)

Did Alonso really sustain a 28G hit at Yas Marina?

It was one of the key episodes of the Abu Dhabi GP, Fernando Alonso's Ferrari had to take to the curbs to avoid contact with Jean Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso as he tried to beat Massa back onto the track after a pit stop.

Luis Garcia Abad/Twitter

It looked like a pretty rough ride but Alonso went on to finish the race setting fastest laps in the process and avoiding a penalty after Vergne admitted he had not seen him ad had not given him room.  After the race Fernando was giving interviews and seemed fine which explains the surprise then pictures popped up of him being taken to a  hospital strapped to a gurney like a salame.

What happened?  F1 regulations state that a driver must be checked out at a hospital is a g-force sensor alarm, installed in every chassis is triggered.   The sensor is there to alert medical personnel of the severity of an accident and is triggered at 18G.   Well placed journalists like the BBC's Andrew Benson reported the sensor had measured a whopping 28G.

28 G is a heck of a hit,  for reference what happens when when a pickup truck slams into a solid wall at 30 mph.  The Ferrari tub and Alonso's butt are very strong but perhaps the real figure was much lower as suggested by Autosprint who say the sensor came loose and registered a much higher energy spike.    

Ferrari has had no comment either way.

Let's talk about Alonso and Raikkonen...and a bit about Massa.

Since the Raikkonen announcement, the only ones more giddy than Ferrari fans (and Bernie Ecclestone) have been the, mostly British, Alonso haters convinced the Iceman will wipe the floor with him and force him into a hissy fit.

Got news for you guys:   not happening.

Kimi and Fernando are now seasoned professionals:

Kimi will be 35 next season, Fernando 33.   They have been around the block.  It's not to say Fernando might not get impatient with the team but if he does it will be because Ferrari will not have been able to come up with a competitive car not because of Raikkonen hiring, an operation apparently a year in the making.

But, with Hamilton at Mclaren you say: 

Very different situation.  Alonso went to Mclaren in 2007 convinced he would be the #1 driver (he was a 2 time Champion after all) he found the team had other ideas to go along with stolen owner's manuals.    With Ferrari next year, it's clear the whole point of hiring Raikkonen is to change directions away from the champion and brazilian doormat driver combos the Scuderia had for the last 13 seasons.
Since the Mclaren days  Alonso had changed and matured tremendously, his never give up attitude now a model for Hamilton 2.0, you may have noticed.

Oh but Kimi will be faster than you Fernando, you say:

No,  Kimi will push Fernando hard but there is no doubt Alonso is, all else being equal, the strongest driver in F1 today.  If anything Alonso should feel measuring himself in the same car against one of the other three top drivers of the moment is much more satisfying than being faster than Massa,    Red Bull for Vettel picked an obviously "#2" second driver.

I also read comments from Brazilian fans lamenting how Ferrari ruined Massa's career, forcing him to be subordinate.  Massa  was touted as Schumacher's protege but then when the big man retired Ferrari hired Kimi as #1 and after Massa almost won the championship, Ferrari hired Alonso.
Did "Felipe, baby" stand up and leave? No, he (understandably) wanted to be a Ferrari driver so badly he accepted the subordinate role.

Ferrari for their part have been very loyal to him, perhaps more than any other team would have been, maybe because he was happy to wear the Santa suit at company christmas parties.

I don't see where he could drive next year,  Sauber perhaps if the Swiss team can find a way to keep Sirotkin as test driver for the first year.  There he would bring good relations with engine supplier Ferrari and a wealth of invaluable experience.

Alonso's tweets mysterious...

Sunday evening and Fernando Alonso unleashes a cryptic tweet, first in Spanish

Tengo noticias importantes estos próximos días... Estad atentos aquí en Twitter y la web cuando lleguen..!!!!
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) September 1, 2013

then in English

I have important news coming these days ... Stay tuned here on Twitter and on the Web.. !!!
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) September 1, 2013

Given recent events and supposed tensions within the Scuderia, what's this all about?

Rather than get too excited I'll defer to an analysis by a publication that lives and breathes all things Ferrari for the past fifty years or so. Autosprint.

Publisher Alberto Sabbatini goes through a process of exclusion, and I paraphrase:

1. the idea Alonso would announce a switch to Red Bull is pure science fiction as would be an announcement about a retirement from racing.

2. Announcing a new secret weapon development breakthrough for Monza would be stupid and self damaging

3. Alonso is not sending Luca di Montezemolo unconventional or ironic birthday wishes since the big boss' birthday was August 31.

So that is, according to Sabbatini, what Fernando is NOT up to so by exclusion  two possible hypothesis remain:

He's announcing his webbing with Dasha, his Russian girlfriend

or

He's going to announce the name of his teammate for 2014, Kimi Raikkonen.

And very possibility it is this , according to Autosprint, that is behind the tension between Alonso and Ferrari of late, because the Spaniard realizes he is about to lose his unchallenged #1 status within the team. Perhaps, Webber's announcement about Ricciardo was an inspiration.

Alonso, like any driver, believes having a clear #1 is more efficient and indeed that has been Ferrari's policy since the arrival of Schumacher in the mid 90s.

Ironically the only period in recent times when Ferrari had no clear #1 was 2007-2008 with Raikkonen and Massa, the result then were both driver and constructor championship wins.

Stay tuned and feel free to speculate!

UPDATE:  It's none of the above!  Alonso bought a cycling team....     6 M Euro to rescue the Basque team Euskaltel Euskadi from bankruptcy.    Alonso earns about $30 M per year from his Ferrari contract.

Three amazing moves Alonso pulled off at Spa.

Alonso may have messed up qualifying but in the race he was something else gaining eight places,  not because of strategy or attrition but by getting 110% out of what was a very good Ferrari.


The Start.



Starting P9, Alonso first dodges a slow Di Resta in the Force India then threads his way on the very inside of La Souce and manages to find enough grip to drag race Webber and get some pay back for the Aussie's pass at Eau Rouge last year.

No Lift.



Lap 2 and it could have been all over for a lesser driver faced with a similar butt clenching moment at the exit of Radillon. Alonso never lifts and just keeps going after Button for P4

Braking School



Hamilton has just done a fast lap as the clip starts but surely knows Alonso is coming up fast behind. Lewis either is thinking strategically or simply blows his braking at La Source. Alonso sees the hole and pounces and doing so crosses the DRS activation zone ahead of Lewis handing the advantage to his rival.
Alonso's clever enough not to use his KERS right away but save it for the end of the Kemmel straight, where Hamilton will attack with DRS. He outbrakes Lewis, supposedly the best in the business on the binders, just barely hangs on to the car and he's off.

Amazing stuff.

Now if he only stopped putting himself in a hole on Saturdays...

Fernando in La Ferrari at Fiorano

There are few guys in the world who could describe the La Ferrari as  good for a road car.    Fernando would be one.

Here he is  giving it a go at Fiorano in his shorts,  all you "I drive flat out" types who show up at track days with a full fire suits, take note....