Fernando Alonso ended the Singapore Grand Prix in third place and dedicated his achievement to the deposed team boss Flavio Briatore. He obviously was not really thinking about his actions because by bringing up the name of Briatore gave away his intentions for 2010. Renault, his current employer, admitted the failings of the team last week at the FIA World Council meeting in Paris. It revealed that its examination of the story had revealed that Briatore was responsible. It threw itself at the mercy of the FIA. Alonso’s supporting words for Briatore might be judged by some to have brought the sport into disrepute, but that is not something for anyone other than the FIA to judge. However, the fact that Renault will be less than pleased about Alonso’s remarks, tells us a lot. Clearly the Spaniard feels more loyalty towards Briatore than he does for his current employer and, that being the case, it is fairly clear that he is not intending to stay at Enstone…
Fernando is off to Ferrari.
joeblogsf1 
I find it peculiar that this is endlessly debated. Alonso may go to Ferrari but that doesn’t mean he will start winning again as a lot depends on the car. At this moment I pity Massa having to have him as a teammate.
You could be reading a bit much in to this. If Alonso is going to Ferrari I doubt this is the give away comment. He was always good friends with Flavio and the fact that he pointed out that it was more to do with the great people that he had set up at Renault etc speaks more about that than any Ferrari deal. Nice try Joe…
I guess that is one interpretation – I found it strange after commenting so strongly on the team and the difficult times they have just gone through – also interesting that he didn’t mention Pat Symonds, with whom he has worked for many a year. I think this also tells us that Fernando reckons Pat was the culprit, not NPJ – don’t necessarily dispute the overall interpretation, though it will be interesting to see if Ferrari condone the comment or distance themselves…
Lucky race for Button though…
+1 to Nando for keeping it real.
Much though I’d love that to be true it is a bit of a giant leap of an assumption isn’t it Joe? .. unless of course you know more than you are willing to write here at the moment 🙂
That was my immediate reaction too when I heard, Joe, though I’m not sure I agree about the FIA being the only ones who can pass judgement on his comment. I reckon it’s pretty unsavoury, particularly in light of Alonso’s remarks earlier this weekend about his Singapore 2008 win having no reason not to stand. Brundle’s nickname for him – ‘Teflonso’ – makes me wonder if there’s yet more about all this that lots of people know but aren’t saying. Every respect for Alonso’s driving, but . . . .
EJ talked about F1 having to do everything it could to get the public’s confidence back, but the number of people standing up for Briatore this weekend just suggests that either they’re all as bad as each other, or else Flav’s reach is still great enough to worry a lot of people.
Bit confusing, this one, I mean he thanked the team, his mechanics, etc. too. That he is staying only so long at Renault was clear from the outset, he only returned because of the McLaren-thing.
The new Renault F1 boss declared on French TV after the race that they will miss Alonso, as well as Alonso will miss them, that he is a great champion and he will always be a part of the Renault family.
It seems pretty clear Alonso will be a Ferrari driver next year.
And dedicating his podium place to Briatore, is the very behaviour I do not expect from a world champion.
It shows not just how little respect he has for Renault, but for the sport of F1 as well. And that not for the first time.
He may be a great driver, but he doesn’t appear to be a great sportsman! Shame on you Fernando and I look forward to your complaints next year when your new Ferrari, is very many places behind next year’s Renault.
A very strange decision for Alonso to publicly dedicate his podium place to Briatore, after all the recent developments, especially at Singapore of all places! Maybe his heart really does rule his head at times, but it really does seem there was no benefit in doing this. Maybe he should have just sent Briatore the trophy afterwards.
There are surely times when F1 drivers need to keep their traps shut and I would imagine this was one of those times. What price the FIA taking umbridge at Alonso’s pronouncements, as mentioned? Further to that, if they do levy a penalty, will this make him less attractive to Ferrari?
As an aside, did you notice during Brundle’s gridwalk, he referred to Fernando as ‘Teflonso’? Amusing, I thought.
The dedication bit of course does reintroduce a few questions, such as Whose-idea-was-it-actually?
This is all starting to have the flavor of a parish scandal about who’s been buggering the choir boys. Not the sort of thing anyone wants to think on, much less pursue.
Meanwhile, will The Key to Formula One manage to furnish him a better car than Renault?
Tune in next year, if you care.
I jumped when I heard that, it was totally unnecessary. Flav is out for good, we’d rather not hear about him at all.
I think Fernando was stupid to say what he did. The FIA gave him the benefit of the doubt over Singapore 2008. To slap the sport like that and particularly the governing body is not an intelligent thing to do. There are different kinds of loyalty. One can be loyal to one’s friends, which is admirable, even if they are cheats and liars, but he also owes the sport a lot and he should be loyal to F1 as well.
I wonder if Ferrari will regret that they let Raikkonen leave the team.
It seems that Ferrari is focused very much on Massa right now, talking about being part of the family, and critizing Kimi for being rather more detached.
At Renault, with Flavio at the helm and his manager, this type of role is/has been occupied by Alonso, and the number two driver was probably actually rather a number 3.
At McLaren, where Hamilton is in a comparable role like Massa at Ferrari oder Alonso at Renault, Alonso really struggled and rather took the team down with him, so now what happens at Ferrari with Massa being the focus on attention up to now.
I won’t be suprised if it is not going to work, it needs a Ross Brawn type of leader to make it work, and he is no longer there.
Kimi somes appears as if he does not care, he just drives as fast as he can, and maybe that really could be a reason why McLaren want him back. His performance seems not to be influenced by the attention his team mates get, there is no envy, so in the end Ferrari will be weakened a lot by his departure….
What a load of BS!!!!
1) Fernando Alonso is very good friends with Flavio Briatore, he supports him blindly in every situation, I think that’s fairly normal, you know, it’s called “friendship” and “trust”.
2) Fernando has always been loyal to Renault, but he also says what he thinks out loud, it simply comes out of his heart. There’s nothing against the team here, you’re fantasizing!!!
3) Renault will not react to this declaration of Alonso, it was just kind words. But you d$mned journalists always insist on putting other words in people’s mouths.
4) All this has NOTHING to do with his future at Ferrari’s, anoter dream of yours!
It’s articles like yours that bring F1 drivers in disrepute, you are DISGUSTING, like the others.
As I have said before, you have a right to an opinion. You do not have the right to insult me. If you do not like the blog, don’t read it. I am sure there are other places on the Web where you can read what you want to read which will confirm all your opinions about life, love and the universe. Say what you will, Fernando Alonso is going to Ferrari. In a few days when it is all confirmed I am sure you will be saying that you always thought it was going to happen. Sadly, this blog entry will remain, showing that sometimes we journalists get it right, and that you got it spectacularly wrong…
See entry further down on September 30…
I don’t think it’s about Alonso’s intentions at all, he made it clear well before the scandal that he was willing to join Ferrari at any time. The question is whether Ferrari can sort it all out with Raikkönen or not. I’d be really happy to see Raikkönen back in McLaren especially if he was financed by Ferrari, however Ferrari might not want to create such competiton and pay tens of millions for it. I wonder how much Alonso is worth for them.
I happen to think that he was thinking pretty clearly about his actions (words) when he dedicated the podium to Flavio. I find his I-dont-care-what-the-media-thinks attitude quite refreshing.
What Briatore seems to have done with the whole Piquet deal is not very elegant. Still, Alonso has a relationship with the man.
Can’t wait for Alonso at Ferrari
Great blog by the way
It didn’t go unnnoticed by members of the Bomber household that Mr Brundle referred to him as “Teflonso” during his grid walkabout yesterday.
I for one hope that he enjoys his tenure at Ferrari, and that he feels at home.
I believe he also claimed to have won Singapore ’08 on merit.
Astonishing that this supposedly “most complete driver” seems unable to get his foot out of his mouth. If he does go to Ferrari he will complement Ferraris apalling PR well!
I hope he trips on a strand of spaghetti on his way to Ferrari HQ and never makes it to the red cockpit…
This Alonso is really making me hate F1, every time there is a stink, he’s lurking somewhere around it….
I think, no, I’m sure he knew about Jr.’s crash, at least in the aftermath, if not before. his reaction as he jumped out of the car shouting “safety car safety car”seems to be a confirmation that Flavio promised him one if he stuck to this weird strategy…at the time he might of been oblivious, but not after that….
i have one question though, if Alonso does bail to Ferrari, will Flavio pocket the commission?
LOL. When has Alonso EVER shown any team loyalty? He was constantly sniping at Renault even while winning the WDC and left them as soon as he got an offer from Mclaren. He only went back there because he had nowhere else to go and now he’s off again.
Ferrari are in for a nasty surprise next year.
I loved the reference to ‘Teflonso’ during Brundle’s grid walk.
I also see Singapore’s turn 17 is to be renamed ‘Dropabolica’……
SS7
Let’s just hope that Alonso forms as good a relationship with his engineer as Felipe has with Rob….
And let’s not forget Michael will be around to edge things Felipe’s way as well….
I fact I can see the fur flying at Maranello next year…
(Alonso’s totally misjudged accolade for Flav shows that his moral compass and general common sense leave something to be desired….)
By careful what you wish for Luca… somehow it never works out the way you expect…. as Ron would tell you…
There are suggestions in one or two places this morning that he may be going to Brawn. I find that hard to follow!
No, I think not.
I’d consider that ‘benefit-of-the-doubt’ to be rather misguided after re-reading a few pieces from around Singapore 08.
Specifically the Fuji race coverage, where multiple pundits were impressed by the way Alonso dictated his race strategy on the fly, telling his engineers what tyres to use, and were impressed by both his spare mental capacity and level of authority within the race team.
This of course being the same driver who accepted without question a deeply unorthodox startegy at the previous race..
Its interesting though since Flav used to manage Alonso but is no longer ? How was he able to terminate the relationship, I assume that it must not have been a good deal business-wise for Flav ? So does Alonso genuinely have a good relationship Flav (a la Webber?) or is the comment more of a snub at Renault/F1?
I am just going to take it at face value as a genuine thanks because he was after all the leader of the team that brought two championships. When I don’t know the people personally, don’t know the truth/circumstances to what happened last year (and i don’t believe anyone will either unless your name is Flav/Pat/NPK), don’t know who really came up with the plan..so on… how can one pass judgement on their characters ? You can’t. Anyway, F1 a show, good for entertainment every other weekend (plus the gossip on the weekdays) and thats all that really matters to me. Who cares if Alonso or Flav or Max or whoever is evil or not, it does not matter to you !!
I’m with those who rather admire Alonso for saying what he thinks, and not kicking a friend when he is down. Ronman and friends are evidently going to spend the rest of their lives reliving 2007. As for it being a coded signal that he’s leaving Renault, I suspect he’s known this for so long that he’s forgotten that’s it’s still fresh news.
btw I hear rumours that Alonso is trying to ensure that MS is detached from the Ferrari organisation before he arrives – a smart move, given the amount of support Massa gets from him. Kimi no doubt underestimated its effect.
Can’t wait to see KR going head to head with LH.
@F1 Kitteh First off good question… will Briatore be running his driver stable via a proxy? I seem to remember reading the FIA had put some sort of block on that, but can’t find the reference now.
Second; I don’t care who came up with the plan. The fact that it was even contemplated is reason enough to be able to judge the character of the respective participants.
I’m shocked by Pat’s involvement; I thought he was a true racer and had the F1 credentials to slap down any consideration of the plan to cheat.
I’m not shocked by Briatore’s involvement. He has been too close to previously questionable activities before, amongst other things, to not believe there isn’t some fire behind the smoke.
I have no sympathy for Junior. He’s old enough and had the counsel of his father to have been able to resist the temptation. And he was the one who actually created the accident.
I have nothing but contempt for Alonso. To suggest the 2008 Singapore win was untainted and there was no reason to consider relinquishing it is the mindset of the jungle and no place in a sporting competition.
Third; I would prefer my F1 entertainment to be of the sporting variety, rather than the soap version, so I DO care if Alonso or Flav or Max or whoever is evil or not. It does matter to me!
Damit, I knew I should have copyrighted ‘Teflonso’…
I agree with many of the comments on this site. I suspect Ferrari will rue the day they signed ‘Teflonso’ – well done Martin – what do you know that we don’t? Do tell!!
Disgusting british blog.
I love to read gp.com and this blog for great info.
Among all I didn’t expect Joe to level this low. The supreme hate for Alonso is disgusting and really doesn’t add much for ‘racing’. Quite the oposite – possibly Flavio english accent isn’t class for him.
It’s beeing a long time since drivers or teams were loved not by their nationality. It’s quite funny but now that the world is becoming more global people tend to support in first place xenophobics.
Briatore is a controversial person: some love him and some hate him. That’s how a person that achieved something in their live is to be remembered. British tend to be the one’s that criticizes him. But they are british and defend Denis and Hamilton at all costs. Pity they forgot Williams as soon as he lost the plot with the stupid Bmw withdraw.
And Alonso is quite free to remember Flabio. Claubet Renault didn’t chalenge him fortunately.
Keep opinion high comment. It’s your great virtue this days.
Luky,
I am happy for you to say whatever you like on the blog. I prefer intelligent comment and I do not like rudeness. It is unnecessary. If you don’t like the blog, go and read a blog that you like. Don’t be rude about something that costs you nothing. I do it because I want to share my passion. I do not understand why you have to resort to being rude to express yourself. I do not have a “supreme hate” for Alonso. I think he is a great driver. But he has a dark side which we have seen in 2007 at McLaren. That is not an opinion, it is a fact. Where you have gone skidding off the road is in your assumption that any remark about a non-British driver is xenophobia. Why do you think like that? Open your mind to the possibility that there are people in the world who think beyond nationality.
1: I have no problem with Fred’s comments on Flavio. He
has been with Flavio pre-Minardi days…….
2: IMO…. Fred will fit in very well with the Scuderia….. I’ve
heard Gian Carlo Minardi speak very highly about Fred
as a person and as a fantastic driver….. that’s good
enough for me…………….
3: I hope that Robert Kubica leads Renault to a successful
2010 season………. they both have allot of work ahead
of them.
4: Kimi better bring his “A” game to McLaren if he has any
hope in challenging Pinocchio next year…… anything
less and it could get ugly for him……….
5: To Peter Windsor…… please, just say NO to Jacques
Villeneuve at USF1……………
These are my opinions/thoughts …..and ya don’t have to
read them………………
ciao
murph
Renault not pleased with Fernando’s remarks?
(Team manager)Caubet also said that he had no problem with Alonso dedicating his podium finish to Flavio Briatore – even though the former team principal has been banned from F1 for life by the FIA for fixing last year’s Singapore GP.
“Not at all,” he said when asked if it was a problem what Alonso did. “We won two world championships with Flavio and we will keep a very good relationship with Flavio. This was reported on Autosport today by Mr. Noble.
Whilst I think Alonso’s comments were misplaced at best, I’ve got to laugh at the collective reaction of so many people. We’ve been desperate for the F1 drivers to show a bit more life, a bit more flair, a bit more character, and as soon as one does show a desire to contradict the corporate line, we all drop on him like a tonne of bricks!
What a great bunch of moaning minnies we are.
Loyalty to F1?
Mr. Ecclestone and Mr. Webber have made supportive remarks about Briatore this past week, does this mark them as disloyal to F1 too?
I have no problem if people want to say nice things about their friends. But in Alonso’s case I think he is very unwise to have said that a few days after escaping punishment for Singapore 2008. The FIA may have cleared him of any involvement but a walk around the paddock does not reveal an army of people who think he knew nothing about what was happening. It is true F1 folk tend to be very cynical, but it is the fact that Fernando is intelligent which in this case works against him. Why would an intelligent driver adopt a strategy that was doomed to failure unless there was a Safety Car on a very specific lap? One can gamble when you are lower on the grid than you should be, like Liuzzi did this this year, but Fernando’s strategy 12 months ago mad made no sense.
Well it seems like Fernando, a driver I like very much, just said F1’s new F-word: Flavio. I too was surprised, for sure FB has done a lot of good to Alonso, but the momentum to say such things was just bad. It makes one wonder: did Alonso already got his tickets for the FB party or did was he desperately asking for tickets?
But seriously, it made me think again about the whole thing once again. What did Alonso know? He is the man who was leading the championchip in 2006 and felt unsupported by his team. This was very hard to imagine, because Fisi was nowhere. Still he claimed strange things like the team (Renault) was against him. In 2007 he tricked Hamilton in Hungary, because of team-tactics, the rest of his McLaren experience is history. So a guy who’s so sceptical about his own team, does not get involved with his own racing strategy? I find that very hard to believe. I’m not saying he knew about the accident, but claiming to not -at least- question a very aggresive racing strategy is something I think is very strange. Still the FIA let him go, quite easily, I think having heard the MP3 provided.
Saying the thing he said after race is strange and could easily trouble him… so why did he say it? He has a Ferrari contract (since a long time), so there’s no reason to snub at Renault. It was also Alonso who ‘betrayed’ FB by singing at arch-rival Ron Dennis’ McLaren, remember that. Why so much sympathy? Maybe he was just honnest and thankful to the man who brought him into F1 and one should not read too much into it.
One more Latin at Ferrari can only be a good thing. Collectively they are bound to make a hash of it.
I say good on Alonso… the FIA were on a witch hunt – by offering two culprits immunity – it was obvious who they were really after.
I have no love for Flavio – but have no issue whatsoever with Fernando dedicating his podium to the guy that helped get him where he is today.
This is raking over old stuff, but you’ve brought it up, Joe, so here goes.
You’re obviously better placed than most of us to comment about Alonso and McLaren in 2007. But I think using phrases like “the dark side” is a wee bit OTT. FA went to McL as double champion, he arrives and works like mad on the new car to get it up to speed. Then his rookie team-mate pinches his settings and proves to be a real hotshoe. So far, so classic.
Where it went wrong, it seems to me, is in the team’s (= Ron’s) reaction. Absolutely no question of WC status in the team, on the contrary, a certain favouritism towards the rookie (his protegé, and British into the bargain) to the point where he starts talking in the team about Alonso as the rival and Lewis as the great team hope.
Alonso has always said that his problem was not with Lewis or the team but with Ron. Hence some of the less than elegant things that happened subsequently. But if you cst your mind back, what do you think Prost, or Senna, or Schumacher would have done in these circumstances ? Much worse things, I suspect. Perhaps most great champions have a “dark side”.
Mr. Saward,
In the 2008 Singapore qualifying Alonso had shown the speed to challenge for pole but a mechanical problem (clutch or battery I think) in Q3 meant 15th spot on the grid.
Singapore is a street circuit, it’s the first race at this circuit and Alonso has a fast car. I think most intelligent racers in F1 would reason that the only way to reach the podium is to use a strategy to take advantage of race incidents including safety car periods. We have seen others use such aggressive strategies in such disadvantaged positions many times.
That an unknown source of such an incident should benefit a racer who had planned a strategy to take advantage of such a situation is good luck, smart planning and not cheating.
The investigation by the FIA found Alonso innocent in his conduct at Singapore.
There are those who, for their own reasons, can not believe Alonso could be innocent. Where is the hard proof of this?
Innuendo might sell papers but it doesn’t prove a thing.
I am not selling anything. This blog is free. I am simply telling you what the F1 world is saying. You don’t have to listen.
@joesaward: your “friend” Gabriel never denied the fact that Alonso is probably going to Ferrari next year. It sucked he insulted you, but you also got wrong his comment: he just thought your comment was tendentious.
This quote courtesy of grandprix.com:
“The team have been fantastic. All season I think we have had a fantastic team. The mechanics, engineers, everybody in the factory, did their maximum. Sometimes we did get some good results, sometimes we have been a little bit unlucky. But finally this podium in this particular moment after what happened from Monza to here with the team. It has been a difficult time for the team. Now we put that behind us and we concentrate on the remaining races. I dedicate this podium to Flavio (Briatore) at home as he is part of the success we had today.”
Forget about Singapore 2008, that is what it is, what we all know now…
How long before people start “reading between the (last) lines” only to find yet another conspiracy…(to secure 3rd place nonetheless!)…?!
A dark side at work indeed…
What?
BTW Joe, who does the moderating of the replies? Is calling some one an idiot for a truly idiotic remark, in the most unequivocal, unbiased, objective interpretation, considered to be rude or insulting to the point of warranting being censored?
Big fan of grandprix.com, GP+ and the blog…keep up the good work!
I moderate and I allow pretty much everythong that is not libellous, even abuse of my efforts
Thanks for the reply, Joe.
As to the moderating, that’s what I thought. I just commented on a very simplistic remark from a blog commentator the other day calling him an idiot, which maybe was a bit harsh, but accurate nonetheless, and certainly not libelous. For some reason, I never found back my entry, which prompted my question. Anywayz, getting a bit off topic here, sorry.
Your efforts are much appreciated. As I mentioned before, I’m a big fan of grandprix.com, GP+ and the blog (underwhelming comments from participants notwithstanding).
And bless you for your tolerance Joe, but there is a saying in blog/comment board administration: “Please don’t feed the trolls” – it only encourages them!
However I’m sure you are fully occupied with flying from one exotic location to another via very humdrum airports, and are not thinking of them either way. 🙂
And why should we believe that you know what “the F1 world” is thinking? The F1 world consists of thousands of peoele (ultimately) working at most races, and an enormous press corps – granted, a press corps that is increasingly home-based due to the cost of travelling to events, but still a significant number in the press rooms, especially at the European races. So I take it with an extremely strong pinch of salt when you generalise about what “the F1 world” thinks. I don’t think you can authoritatively speak for the F1 world. I think what you mean is the particular networks within that world that you inhabit, but noe more. If you read such publications as L’Equipe, for example, there is no “lingering suspicion” about Alonso. Furthermore, you insist that F1 is moving on from the Singapore ’08 scandal, yet whenever anyone questions your own view of it (i.e. asking for some proof that Alonso had some prior knowledge) you pipe up about it again! Either it’s dead or it isn’t.
Dear John,
Believe what you like… It is free and I really don’t care whether you like it or not.
Dear Gabriel,
You might like to read the announcement made on September 30…
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has announced that it has reached an agreement with the driver Fernando Alonso. The agreement covers three racing seasons, starting in 2010.