This is Fernando Alonso's fate in Formula 1

Column

31 October 2022 at 10:06
  • GPblog.com

And again there was the clenched fist of frustration. Things have not been going well for Fernando Alonso for years. It seems to be his fate to be Formula 1's unluckiest driver, the man who has to entertain the public but would also like to cry it out in a corner from time to time.

Unlucky driver of Formula 1

Alonso is considered one of the best drivers, if not THE best, of his generation, but after two world titles with Renault at a young age, he has never been able to convert that potential into multiple world titles. There is no lack of work ethic, fight and ambition. However, Alonso has been haunted by bad luck for years.

Choices for teams over the years have never gone down well. In late 2007, he angrily left McLaren, who would become champions a year later with Lewis Hamilton. Red Bull Racing spoke to Alonso, but the Spaniard preferred to go to Ferrari in 2010. McLaren-Honda promised golden mountains, but the 'GP2 engine' turned out not to be as strong as hoped after all. Even a return to his beloved Renault, now Alpine, brings Alonso little good.

Indeed, besides his choice, things always go wrong on the track. In 2010, Ferrari threw away Alonso's third world title at Abu Dhabi with an improbably stupid strategy, and in 2012, too, a promising position was given up. At McLaren, Alonso was sidelined more often than he liked and became more a man of meme's on a beach chair than the great driver he once was.

Alonso the meme king

After forays into other classes, Alonso came back fresh and fruity, but his role within the sport still hasn't changed. Even at Alpine, he shows class, but the bad luck bird has not disappeared from his shoulder. If any Alpine has problems in 2022, it will be the Spaniard's. Much to the frustration of Alonso himself.

The clenched fists, thanking the crowd and then hanging over the wall. Alonso has experienced it so many times. With a multi-year deal at Aston Martin, he will be hoping for better luck, but knowing him, the unlucky bird just flies with him. Alonso's fate seems to have been sealed for years. He has become the man for memes. The man who stares sternly ahead, the man on a beach chair when he has failed yet again and the man of eternal frustration. 'What if', hangs on a tile on the wall in his house.