Fernando Alonso prefaces that he doesn’t want to “disrespect” those who have begun to follow F1, and F1’s new fans are “soccer-like fans”, cars and their individuals. He says he focuses on results rather than subtle differences in performance levels.
Given the significant increase in F1’s popularity in recent years, recent fans may not know when Fernando Alonso was most successful.
Fernando Alonso feels that the front driver is considered the best driver, while no one in the back is considered to belong to F1 if he doesn’t really understand the difference in the level of performance of the car. He said it felt like a “roller coaster.”
Two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso won the 2005 and 2006 titles for the second time in a row, followed by near misses in 2010 and 2012, until he got into a car that was incapable of competing for victory. He talked about how his abilities have been perceived over time.
However, respect for Fernando Alonso remains high among paddock and F1 fans. On the eve of the 300th Grand Prix start, Lewis Hamilton named Fernando Alonso the toughest opponent in F1 in terms of pure speed.
However, he believes that recent performance fluctuations in the cars Fernando Alonso is driving have polarized him into more casual and core fans, depending on how the weekend progressed.
“I think external perceptions and feelings about me have changed from time to time,” Fernando Alonso told The Race.
“In 2007, people might have realized what I was as a driver or as a person. Then that changed when I was in Ferrari. I’m very into Latin teams and so on. It fits well.
“Now we have new fans, and in a way I don’t want to lose respect for them, but they don’t know much about F1.”
“They are like football-like fans. Just follow the results and the winner is the best, and the bottom is not at F1 level.”
“They don’t really understand the car performance and packaging they need, so how people feel about drivers is a roller coaster-like sensation.”
“When you have a good weekend, you look like a god. When you have a bad weekend, you look too old or too young.”
“But we’re all going through that stage. Now, just watching the race right away, I think the fans will feel good and switch off until next Sunday.”
“There is no longer a proper culture for F1”
Category: F1 / Fernando Alonso / Alpine