F1 Blog

The Y Series: There’s a Reason They Call Them Fanatics

Fan is short for fanatic. Fanaticism is “marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea.” Nowadays there is a distinction between being a fan and a fanatic, but the line between the two can be all too easy to cross. Such was he case this week and test held and the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Native son Fernando Alonso tested this week for the first time there since rejoining Renault last month, and it didn’t take long for his “fans” to turn into fanatics. Reports surfaced Saturday on Autosport.com stating that fans were, among other things, constantly heckling McLaren, displaying angry banners, and even throwing things at the McLaren cars as they passed. But this not the reason why I decided to write about the Spanish fans. It got worse when the fans decided to make racist chants towards Lewis Hamilton. Autosport.com stated that,

Reports in the Spanish papers suggested that some of the insults against Hamilton even had a racial element - with Marca claiming that shouts of “puto negro” (fucking black) and “negro de mierda” (black shit) were clearly heard, and that large sections of the crowd were involved.

Now it does strike me as odd that this happened now, since there have been 2 tests each at Jerez and Valencia since Alonso returned to Renault. Obviously both are still in Spain and should have produced the same kind of Alonso fans as the ones in Barcelona. However, as some of you may know, the people of Catalunya, the region surrounding Barcelona, tend to march to their own drum, as evidenced by the fact that they have been trying to break away from Spain and create their own autonomous region for the past several decades. Now I know that may be a stretch, but consider this. Barcelona and Jerez are separated by about 800 miles, which is also about the same distance between Chicago and Atlanta. That’s the difference between the heart of the Midwest, and arguably the heart of the South. Those of us in the U.S. know just how different the cultures of Chicago and Atlanta can be.

What’s most odd, and most revolting, is that Hamilton, as far as we know, played no role in the spy scandal that was part of last season. It involved mostly Alonso and Pedro De La Rosa. Judging by the fans reactions as Barcelona, you’d think that Hamilton was the one taking information from Mike Coughlan and using to illegally gain an advantage. Most ironically, the two drivers involved were both Spanish. Beyond that, it was Alonso who made it plain that he was no Hamilton fan. Alonso was the one who basically blackmailed Ron Dennis at Hungary, saying that if he wasn’t given number 1 status, he’d blow the whistle on the spy scandal. Alonso was the one that ran Hamilton off the road at Spa. And Alonso was the one who acted like JV (a whining prick) most of the season. But that wont stop Alonso’s supporters. They won’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.

What’s most upsetting is that the fans at Barcelona were hounding Hamilton simply because he was of a different skin tone than both Alonso and themselves. This was not a joke gone wrong or an attempt to have some fun. This was pure unadulterated racism. It would be one thing if Hamilton had someone undermined Alonso at McLaren, but he didn’t he proved he had just as much of a right to fight for the driver’s title as Alonso did. If Alonso didn’t like that, he could leave and find a weakling to beat up on, and that’s exactly what he found in Renault and Nelson Piquet Jr. In fact, as I stated before, it was 2 Spainards, Alonso and De La Rosa who were the cause of the spy scandal, and it was Alonso who, over the course of the season, became more and more belligerent towards Alonso.

The FIA stated on Monday that sanctions could be imposed, which could include the removal of both races held in Spain on the 2008 calender, the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, and the European Grand Prix on the newly constructed harbor streets of Valencia. Now I believe it is a bit to soon to go quite that far. This incident occurred over the weekend and hopefully is an isolated incident. However, there are two more 3-day tests planned before the Spanish Grand Prix. The first is from February 25-27, and the second from April 14-16. If another incident occurs despited this new warning from the FIA, I would be saddened, but supportive of the removal of both the Spanish and European Grand Prixs from the 2008 calender. Should that unfortunatly happen, the people of Spain will have no else to blame but the fanatics, not the fans.

Posted in Op-ed, The Y Series | 5 Comments »

Road to the Title

With everyone talking about how the baton has been passed from Senna to Schumacher to Alonso, it might be interesting to look at how each made his way to his first title.

Senna joined F1 in 1984 with the uncompetitive Toleman team, but immediately impressed with his pace and car control. He progressed to Lotus in 1985, then to McLaren in 1988, where he clinched the title at the age of 28. At the time he clinched the title, on his 79th race, he had 14 wins to his name. Senna will probably always be a legend of qualifying, so it is no surprise that he dominated his teammates early in his career. How his qualifying/scoring dominance went during those 79 races:

1984 (v Cecotto): qual 8-2; pts 9-0
(v Johansson): qual 2-0; pts 4-3
1985 (v deAngelis): qual 13-3; pts 38-33
1986 (v Dumfries): qual 16-0; pts 55-3
1987 (v Nakajima): qual 16-0; pts 57-7
1988 (v Prost): qual 14-2; pts 90-87


Michael Schumacher also impressed with his pace from his first moment in an F1 car. He had only a single race for Jordan, at Spa 1991, before being snapped up by Benetton, where he stayed until he won the title in 1994. At the time he clinched the title, he was 25 years old, and had won 10 of the 52 races he had entered. Michael will always be known as a better race driver than qualifier, but his sheer pace ensured that he almost always out-qualified his teammates:

1991 (v. deCesaris): qual 1-0; pts 0-0
(v. Piquet): qual 4-1; pts 4-3.5
1992 (v. Brundle): qual 16-0; pts 53-38
1993 (v. Patrese): qual 16-0; pts 52-20
1994 (v. Verstappen): qual 8-0; pts 50-8
(v. Lehto): qual 4-0; pts 36-1
(v. Herbert): qual 2-0; pts 6-0

Fernando Alonso’s claim to fame has always been his youth. He was the youngest driver to win an F3000 race, the youngest to be on an F1 podium, the youngest at everything. And now he is the youngest F1 champion, having clinched the title at the age of 24, on his 68th race, with 7 career victories. He, like several other exciting young drivers, got his start with Minardi, in 2001. After sitting out 2002, he moved to Renault for 2003, where he has stayed. Alonso has never been thought of as the absolute quickest driver in F1, but he has shown the ability to pick up championship points by the bunch. Even when he doesn’t out-qualify his teammate, he is likely to finish ahead. His qualifying statistics aren’t quite as impressive as Senna’s or Schumacher’s, but that is primarily due to being paired with a qualifying demon like Trulli for two years:

2001 (v Marques): qual 12-2; pts 0-0
(v Yoong): qual 3-0; pts 0-0
2003 (v Trulli): qual 8-8; pts 55-33
2004 (v Trulli): qual 8-9; pts 59-46
2005 (v Fisichella): qual 13-4; pts 117-45

There isn’t much point in using these statistics to compare these three drivers to each other, because the circumstances are different, the times are different, the teammates are different, the opposition is different, etc. But there is a definite pattern that is in stark contrast to virtually every other driver: each of these three immediately made his mark on joining F1, and progressed steadily to the championship. Notice that, while on his way to his first title, not once was one of these three out-scored by a teammate over a season. Many other drivers have legions of fans who will swear that their favourite driver would win the title under the same circumstances, but it never happens. These top drivers fight their way into a top car, and then waste no time taking home the title. Each of them won the title the first time his car was close to good enough.

Maybe this season will be the only championship Alonso wins in his entire career. Maybe in a few years we’ll be talking about how Kimi finally started winning titles in 2006 and never looked back. But Alonso has earned respect. He wasn’t dropped into the best car on the grid; he worked his way to the front by making sure he was never beaten by a teammate.

Posted in Nostalgia | 3 Comments »