There is a little children’s story that here I recant.
There was a bat that lived in a thick forest hanging upside down from the branch of a tree. He was so tired that he just fell off the branch. A mongoose lived nearby and it was about to pounce on its prey calling it a bird, the bat reflected and said that it was a mouse and escaped the clutches of its predator.
Another day, it fell off its perch again, and yet another mongoose called it a mouse—its enemy. This time the bat reflected and called itself a bird and flew off.
The moral of the above story is to not lose one’s calm in difficult situations. The unseen moral is also to be different from the rat pack and to rise to the occasion as also to be the one who defies the odds and not succumb to the inevitable.
Fernando Alonso is the bat among the mongoose. Nando (familiarity breeds contempt!) is techno savvy. He puts his mind where it matters.
Of course, he has become a champion when he was young. Of course, there are a lot of things that have changed his personality. Of course, he is not on many people’s party list. Of course, he is not many people’s favorite.
One has to give credit where it is due. His two years in Renault are a case in point and it was Flavio Briatore his boss and manager, who negotiated the deal with McLaren. When the going got tough in McLaren for Fernando, he pulled out of a place where he was not given his due space and place to be the master of the circuit.
- B/R Ticket Guide
The McLaren stint taught him that some circuits are not his to master. He went back to Renault knowing that he had work to do, not just on the car development front but also in getting Renault to come up to speed. 2008 was not meant to be Renault’s.
Earlier when Michael Griffin made his predictions for the Singapore GP, I said, “Fernando Alonso” and I feel vindicated. I did not quote from mystic credo or from gut feeling. My expression was purely based on logic.
Fernando Alonso is an intelligent race car driver. He spends as much time in the workshop as on the race track. That is what sets him apart from the rest of the race gang on the track. He deems it important to understand his car and fine tune himself to the car and fine tune the car to him.
He is the epitome of “engineering his own destiny” adage. He is a strict adherent to the seminal logic of understanding a car and its mechanism. He knows that having a good car is half the race-won and that to get the setup and the equation right is also a driver’s job. You can’t just come there on race day and hitch up a ride to the checkered flag. That does not work in most conditions.
Singapore is a new track and it had its peculiarities. He was perhaps one of the first drivers to point out the Turn 10 safety concerns. He was also perhaps one of the first drivers to inspect the track. No doubt, his practice run made him understand that little island’s first F1 race track, but it must also have rekindled that desire in him to excel at the only thing that he knows, i.e., racing.
Fernando Alonso is not a great talker and he might have shown signs of having been infected with the virulent strain of a foot-in-the-mouth-disease. But N-A-N-D-O sure knows to race and knows to seize the moment.
Yes, it is exciting to see Fernando Alonso take the checkered flag. Lest, we forget, it was he and not Lewis Hamilton who put an end to the supremacy of Michael Schumacher. He is known to rewrite and challenge history, so I await the further run of Fernando Alonso—may not be in season 2008 but at the least in season 2009, provided Renault returns to form.
[Photo Credit: Alonso Online]
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about 1 month ago
I think the Renault suited Singapore. You need neither brute horsepower or brutal straight-line speed. The track played into Renault's strength. A driver that knows his car and how to set it up to extract the utmost performance out of it. Massa did the same for his Ferrari but we all know where that went. Alonso , Heart of Lion.
from about 1 month ago
Massa had sound engineering to back him up while Alonso could have been faced with a similar run as in Qs. Massa's was hara-kiri from pole because of a hose while Alonso's is sheer logic and precision...thanks for the fav tag Anthony...FA sure enough showed who is the King of the Jungle!
about 1 month ago
Nice article Sarah, I always have had huge respect for Alonso. Pound for Pound I think he's the best driver in F1 at the moment. I'm sick of hearing about Lewis Hamilton B-O-R-I-N-G.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Maire. That is what even Ross Brawn says-that Nando is the best driver in F1.
about 1 month ago
Nice to see, someone other than a Team McLaren or Ferrari driver win and exciting to see F1 finally have a night race. Hope they add more, being a NASCAR fan I love the night races with the dayglow paint, sparks flying and it's great to see F1 start to have them.
about 1 month ago
i did not get the Batman drift ? why is he batman again ....
If anything, FA is selfish and does sort of shoots himself in the foot - and Batman actually fights for the common ground of Gotham's welfare
what am i missing here Sara ?
other than that - liked the recap, I also had a gut instinct for FA - but not as strong as yours
from about 1 month ago
He is the bat among the mongoose (what is plural for mongoose? goose is geese, but mongoose?- hate to google these days)
from about 1 month ago
mongooses
from about 1 month ago
so - the topic is
BAT-MAN
and not BATMAN
i thought you were referring to Bruce Wayne (christian bale) and got confused
about 1 month ago
There is so much respect for FA this season, he has shown the sort of determination in adversity that makes a true hero. I must write an article about that.
from about 1 month ago
adversity - most of it self-inflicted we must add ! (most, not all)
about 1 month ago
Excellent read, Sarah.
While my knowledge of F1 is severely limited, I have seen FA perform very admirably on the few occasions that I've been able to watch a race. There's a lot to be said for a man who works so hard at his craft and understands the technical nuances of auto racing. No wonder he has been able to be so successful at such a young age.
about 1 month ago
When I watched the practice session I said oh christ, Sara could be right on the nose with this. Then when his car came to a halt in quali I rejoiced in the hope that u were wrong, and then he wins. Bloody hell, do u have special powers or something, because I thought he would win in Valencia and he went out on the first lap.
Well done for getting it right though, never have I been so amazed at the accuracy of a prediction. Well, apart from my one-two BMW prediction in Canada.
about 1 month ago
Well done sarah, and seriously after prac1 I was thinking that alonso might actually qualify in top row and take victory (unless and until Lewis or Kimi did something....'coz u know Massa will be tossed around by the likes of Alonso if Massa happens to be behind FA :))... and it broke away after Q2 (as everybody's) but really Nelson has given Alonso unknowingly just the right combination of chance....
Great win for him.... no complaints.... I always felt that it would be tough for LH if he is stuck behind DC... thats what happened, hence FA and Nico drove away at their own time with no pressure at all. Good writeup!!!
about 1 month ago
FA is the best driver nowadays but he needs a better car to be competitive in every race. It could be great FA in ferrari Vs LH in Mclaren!!!a real show!!!
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