The Spaniard is the driver with the most Grand Prix races in F1 history, 353 ahead of Mexico, but failed to finish the race up to 73 times
The gesture of Fernando Alonso putting his hands on his knees after struggling to compete in the United States GP before knowing what awaited him with the controversial sanction that took him out of the points and pulled him out yesterday is, any opinion, a symptom of what he is as a pilot. So much effort, many times, for nothing. So much swimming, to end up on the bank.
The Asturian has earned the weight of being considered a legend. Not only because of his successes – two World Championships, 32 wins, 98 podiums – but also because he is still hungry despite having suffered too many times.
To date, Alonso is the driver with the most races, with 353 races, but he hasn’t finished them all. In fact, it’s been omitted in two out of ten, which isn’t an anomaly, far from it.
Nearly all pilots have similar rates, fluctuating between 17 and 22% dropout, although not always for the same reasons. While Alonso is one of those least likely to fail at his driving style, others with a similar number of dropouts have not seen many breaks in their cars, but rather self-inflicted accidents or inappropriate mistakes by professional drivers, as the case may be.
One of the major problems Alonso has had is his poor judgment when choosing a destination. There’s no denying it: he left Renault in 2006 and various circumstances went from bad to worse.
Clearly, in that sense, his worst choice was to return to McLaren in 2015, after a disappointing time with a Ferrari team that still has him as one of its greats today, despite not sustaining a single wound.
That famous “the best is yet to come” that he used as motivation for himself and for his own fans when he returned to Woking turned the gestures of optimism and illusion into sardonic smiles, as Honda destroyed the options for him and the team itself, whose aftermath they are still suffering in 2022. The “GP2 engine”, as Alonso called it, perfectly sums up what it meant. It was the black hole of his sports career that cost him to get out.
Without going that far, it is only necessary to look at the present itself. Alonso returned to what he thought was Renault (renamed Alpine) with the illusion of reviving its former glory, with acquaintances he still had from the time and above all with an extra experience that could have helped him succeed in the project. Alpine has failed more than Alonso: at times there were moments that smelled aromas, similar to those nightmare years of McLaren Honda.
Another one of the major problems Alonso has faced throughout his extensive career, to the point where the other 19 drivers on the grid grew up watching him race and some even considered him an idol to follow, was managing the expectations. He has often come across him: does anyone remember ‘El Plan’? Those that do, have they recovered from the bump?
As Alonso spiraled unstoppably, others took over the scepter that was destined to become his own. First Sebastian Vettel, then Lewis Hamilton and now a Max Verstappen who has just surpassed him in number of wins (33 for the Dutchman to 32 for the Spaniard, so far), alongside tying him for world titles. And yet, all three have similar dropout metrics. The Spaniard’s 73 seems a lot in absolute terms, but you have to check the percentages.
With this data, it is therefore possible to answer the great question that haunts the minds of those who do not place him even today in the Olympus of the greatest: to what extent is Alonso a jinx? The answer is clear: no more than others. The history of Formula 1 is full of great drivers who left with far fewer World Cups than their qualities and predictions indicated, see Nigel Mansell (a title and thank you), Alain Prost (who despite winning four, lost several due to a minimum with legends such as Niki Lauda or Ayrton Senna himself) or further back Jim Clark (triple champion) or Gilles Villeneuve, who met death long before their turn.
That’s not to say the fans eager for wins think Alonso’s record should be any higher. The Asturian has been too often at the worst possible time and the odds are running out for him. It remains to be seen whether the bet, the last of this long game, for Aston Martin will come true for him or not.
Source: La Verdad
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