I’m going to start here by saying that I have had a rollercoaster ride when it comes to Fernando Alonso. I liked him when he dethroned Schumacher, and still liked him when he moved to Mclaren.
However, as per the essay from @magnificentgeoffrey it all started to unravel for me in Hungary 2007.
I was actually at that race, and watched with horror the evil deeds with Alonso blocking Hamilton in qualifying.
At that point I declared hatred for the man, and his subsequent heavy involvement with the Spygate scandal, and the fact that he was in the Renault team and benefited from the Piquet scandal (something that whilst unproven, I’m certain he must have been at least vaguely aware of), has only added to this.
Then there was the Germany GP team orders incident, which I wasn’t surprised by, but just adds to his evil spectre. He even looks like a baddy!!
That being said, I still think he’s the best driver on the grid, and have a good deal of respect for:
1) How he has performed this year;
2) His attitude and maturity on track – sure he complained about Vettel at Monza, but EVERYONE would have done exactly that…
One point on Geoffrey’s otherwise excellent essay that doesn’t sit well with me is the Vettel comparison at the end. Vettel is excellent of course, and he is quite likeable in interview / quite funny, etc. However, to suggest he doesn’t have an immature arrogant side, petulence and a sense of entitlement, is very rich. He’s got all of them in droves – probably moreso than Alonso actually.
I’m pretty sure I’ve missed the point here, but in amongst the above, are quite a few reasons why people would hate Alonso….