Fernando Alonso’s confession of the Mclaren Period

“Fernando, how does it feel after becoming Spain’s first World Champion ?”

“Uuhh. It is a known fact that Bull Fighting is the preferred sport in Spain, and Formula 1 comes a close third preceded by Football. So for me, to win the Formula 1 crown will hopefully increase the following in the sport.”

This was Fernando Alonso after de-throning Michael Schumacher in 2005, declaring that the Formula 1 universe had overcome the Ferrari/Schumacher storm, and was now ready for a new beginning.

Following his feat in 2005, he added another feather to his cap in 2006, trouncing Michael Schumacher when the German was at his utmost best in a competitive machinery. Such maturity was last displayed by the Finns of Mclaren, and it was indeed an amazing achievement of being crowned a double world champion.

“What next, Fernando ?”

“I am joining Mclaren.”

“Mclaren ? They produced such a dog of a car in 2006. Why Mclaren ?”

“Dont worry. I have a trick up my arse. ”

Flashback 2007. Alonso is produced to the world in Mclaren colors, along-with the first ever Black Formula 1 racing driver.

“Fernando, that racing suit looks so amazing on you.”

“Oh thank you.”

“By the way, are you vary of your teammate ? I have heard he is very quick ?”

“Oh of course he must be. That is why he is my teammate.”

Circa Australian GP. Lewis Hamilton overtakes Fernando Alonso at the start, only to lose out his position to strategy. Fernando did beat Lewis Hamilton, but the psychological war had started.

“I dont think I was given justice at Mclaren, the time I spend there, it was the worst time of my racing career. When I signed for Mclaren, Ron personally promised me No.1 status at the team, just like Michael Schumacher enjoyed at Ferrari. And look what they did to me, allowing Hamilton to walk all over me, giving him a better strategy and allowing him to race me in 2007. This was not what I expected off him.”

“But Fernando, dont you think he was quicker than you ?”

“Queeecker ? What do you mean ? Are you telling me a rookiee can be faster than a double world champion ? What the ?”

“Maybe Fernando. He was. Now come on son, he did belt your ass in 2007, didnt he ? ”

“What are you talking ? Me and him had the same points in 2007.”

“Of course you did equal him in points. But not before some casual mistakes by the team and failures on the car in the last two races, which caused a massive point loss to him. If not for that, he would have won the title.”

“I dont believe this. I was not given the No.1 Status. They promised me that they would. After all I got them 6/10ths of lap time. 6/10ths.”

At this moment I shall remind you that Fernando broke down in tears. So we tried looking for a video where he overtakes Lewis. Unfortunetaley, we couldnt find any. So we showed him his championship winning race footage of 2005.

“There Fernando. Look. You just won the world championship. :)”

Fernando regains his composure after watching the video, and proceeds further, while wiping his tears.

“So talk us through the 6/10ths controversy.”

“You all know how stupeed the car was in 2006. Even Kimi, with all his speed and class, could not ween. And so, in winter testing, I quickly knew where the problem was.”

“Where was the problem?”

“It was underneath the floor.”

“So what did you do ?”

“I called an engineer, and showed him that there was a fixture issue underneath the floor of the car, and the bib was not screwed properly.”

“Was it for the 2007 car ?”

“Yes it was. So we got a screwdriver, and I went underneath the car, tightened the screws, and went for a drive on the track.”

“And the difference before the tightening of the screws and after the development done by you ?”

“Exactly 6/10ths of the lap time. I shaved off 6/10ths off my previous lap time.”

This clearly shows how influential Fernando was in Mclaren, developing the car along with the engineers so much so that he himself became a de facto engineer in the team.

“Is it due to the reason that since you played a huge role in developing the car, your racing skills were affected ?”

“No. It was not the case.”

“But you were most of the time found in MTC, talking to the engineers on how to make the cars faster. Sometimes you would come to the race 2 days before the others, so that you could spend some time at the track, understand the nature of the circuit. And then you would teleconference to the people at MTC about the prospective weather conditions.”

“Yes. I played a major role in strategy. I was on Ron’s personal friends contact on his blackberry. He even added me on gmail so we could chat on how to improve the car.”

“What would you guys discuss for so long ?”

“It was complex. The engineers would brief me more than Lewis.”

“As in ?”

“For Lewis it was a simple telemetary data. For me, I would go beyond telemetary and talk about the wings, downforce levels, rear grip and all.”

“All right. And your inputs ?”

“I motivated them. I nodded my head every time they told me something. I was aware of each and every detail of the car, such was my influence on the car.”

“Lewis never helped in development, did he ?”

“No. Never. It was me who stood by the guys, holding a plaster in one hand and a screwdriver in another, till the late hours of night, to help the engineers and technicians build the car. I was always there, bringing them coffee, buying them Pizzas and everything they wanted, so that we could develop further.”

“Such was your input in development Fernando ? Astonishing, truly.”

“Yes it was. And inspite all this, Lewis walked away with the laurels. And not me.”

Looking back now, we understand how much Fernando helped Mclaren develop the MP4-22.

“Even after so much inputs, you could not trounce Lewis on track Fernando. Why ?”

“It is simple. Car No.2 had a better package all the time.”

“What are you saying ?”

“Exactly what you think.”

Indeed Car No.2, in Lewis Hamilton, had a better package than Car No.1, in Fernando Alonso. But it beats my mind, to truly understand how could a rookie match a double world champion ?

“He was given my No.1 status.”

“Explain to us Fernando.”

“Ron came up to me and told me Lewis was their grown up kid. They raised him as a child. And they could not see him losing to me. So they preferred him over me, in strategies, everywhere, so that he could do better than me.”

“But why would they do that to you. After all, they signed you as a world champion ?”

“Probably to fuck my case in front of the whole world and show the world what a big idiot and a dickhead I was.”

“Indeed Fernando, indeed.”

And so we are. An honest confession from the words of Fernando Alonso. The world finally knows the truth.