Ferrari team in Ego-Fight after India GP?

Alonso furious at Ferrari in India
http://www.f1zone.ne...in-india/16451/

Fernando Alonso almost lost his temper ahead of last Sunday’s Indian grand prix, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reports. The newspaper said the Spaniard was furious after the Maranello based team’s technical boss Pat Fry blamed the drivers for a sub-standard qualifying performance.

“The result reflects our current potential,” said Fry after Alonso qualified fifth in India. “But in order to be where we wanted and where we were capable of being, we needed to be perfect today and we weren’t,” he added.

Alonso went into the Indian GP weekend bemoaning the fact that, despite always talking up Ferrari’s improvements, the F2012 has not substantially improved for several races. And his characterisation of his title battle as a head-to-head with Red Bull’s Adrian Newey might also be interpreted as a slight on Newey’s Ferrari equivalents.

La Stampa said that when Alonso heard about Fry’s post-qualifying comments, he “went into a rage”. “(Stefano) Domenicali tried to calm him down … but the discussion continued until 1am,” the report added.

The newspaper said Alonso drafted on his phone a message to his Twitter fans that read: “I want my 1.2 million followers to know that the key aerodynamic components at the rear of the Ferrari are still the same as they were in May”.

La Stampa reported: “It took a lot of persuading Alonso not to press the submit button.”

Domenicali commented: “You (the media) are good at creating stories that do not exist.”
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Alonso is right to push the engineers.”

Felipe Massa, meanwhile, revealed to Brazil’s Totalrace that his F2012 was not in the same specification as Alonso’s in India last weekend. “I had half as much as him,” said the Brazilian, “and even more will arrive in Abu Dhabi.”

Edited by BackOnTop, 30 October 2012 - 10:49.

It would have been funny if he had pressed the send button. Imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth here!

La Stampa is owned by Fiat, so it must be true!

FFS news based on sodding twitter posts is so pointless.

How exactly would anyone know the exact wording of a twitter message that was never sent...

Edited by johnmhinds, 30 October 2012 - 10:53.

As it leaked and went public it is almost the same like he would have pushed the submit button

It is certainly not only La Stampa. I posted this earlier, but it suits perfectly into this thread.

It is quite interesting that both La Stampa and the Corriere della Sera, which are certainly among the most prestigious of the Italian broad-sheets had articles with similar topics. Both seem to indicate that many in team were all but happy with the way Alonso handled himself before the race.

Una replica indiretta è arrivata sabato sera dalla Ferrari sul comunicato stampa di commento della giornata. Parole di Fry: «Per qualificarci dove volevamo (in seconda fila invece che in terza, ndr) dovevamo essere perfetti e non lo siamo stati». L’uso del «noi» in Formula 1 è un vezzo per sottolineare che si tratta di uno sport di squadra. Il vero soggetto della frase va individuato di volta in volta: in questo caso a non essere stato perfetto sarebbe stato il pilota.  
 
Quando l’ha letto, Alonso è diventato una furia. Domenicali ha cercato di calmarlo e rassicurarlo, ma la discussione è proseguita fino all’una di notte. Sentitosi sotto accusa, il pilota ha preso il telefonino e si è messo a scrivere un tweet: voleva far sapere a un milione e duecentomila follower che un componente fondamentale dell’aerodinamica posteriore della Ferrari era ancora lo stesso utilizzato in maggio nel Gran premio di Spagna, quinta gara della stagione. Altro che aggiornamenti tecnici continui. C’è voluta molta pazienza per convincere Alonso a non premere il pulsante di invio, operazione che avrebbe reso pubblico il dissidio con il team e difficilissimo da ricucire lo strappo. A fine gara Domenicali ha smorzato i toni: «Siamo bravi a creare casi che non esistono».

Alonso seems have become furious after Fry indicated that he as well was not performing as well as it was necessary to get into the second row.

Il suo compagno Felipe Massa (finito sesto e costretto a rallentare perché il motore consumava troppo) dice che di novità già ce n’erano qui in India: «Io ne avevo la metà rispetto a lui (non erano state prodotte in tempo, ndr). E ad Abu Dhabi ne arriveranno altre».

While Alonso lamentated the lack of new parts Massa stated that he had half of his new ones and that other new parts will be ready for Abu Dhabi.

While La Stampa talks about a crisis and a conflict between Alonso and part of the team the Corriere reports that Domenicali has to work very hard to keep the team united. It also observes that conceding an error is a quality Alonso lacks.


I usually avoid such topics but as few have direct access to the Italian press I thought it would be interesting for some to see what it has to say.

Edited by H2H, 30 October 2012 - 10:57.

Alonso has a massive ego, that's not news. So long as his driving can cash the cheques his ego writes it's not an issue either. So far his driving has been honoring his cheques

Wow, sounds like Nando was pissed (if the story is true, and that's a big IF). I hope this gives Ferrari a wake-up call.

Need to confirm if its true first. hilarious if it is though. Alonso is not too happy with frye building him a go cart this season.

Probably a storm in a teacup but there is no doubt that Ferrari need massive improvement and this seems to just reflect the frustration of where things are in comparison to Red Bull.

Fernando said 1 hour ago that it's false. It's the same because people will think whatever they want to think.

When the whole Alonso vs Hamilton vs McLaren broke up in 2007, how did it all start? Gossip awkwardly leaked to the press? I really don't remember.

When the whole Alonso vs Hamilton vs McLaren broke up in 2007, how did it all start? Gossip awkwardly leaked to the press? I really don't remember.

nah it was a pretty public meltdown in Hungary I think

(meltdown in the relationships I mean)

Ah! I was already missing the "Alonso: your favourite villain" stories. The only stories in the press that are considered facts even if there are indeed no-stories. I'm tempted to post a few articles from Spanish journalists to see the same people saying it's all BS

The twitter thing sounds like complete balls. Alonso isnt that stupid. Hamilton has already done this and Alonso wouldnt.

Same old Alonso then.

I'd understand that Fernando was pissed about what Fry said, but I also would understand that Fry could have been pissed that Fernando said there is only much talk about updates while other teams are not talking but delivering updates that work.

Fernando said 1 hour ago that it's false. It's the same because people will think whatever they want to think.

I have nothing against Fernando, but I wouldn't take this sort of statement at face value. The sensible thing to do is to just deny the story, and focus on the next race. It does however appear to contradict with Luca's statement, unless it was said in relation to something else.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Alonso is right to push the engineers.”

In other news, a racing driver is discovered to be egotistical and self-centred.

Like Hamilton...
Like Vettel...
Ad infinitum.

I don't see the big deal, in all honesty.

I am far from an Alonso fan, but I think he is within his rights to kick up fuss. The main reason Ferrari still have a chance of a title this year is down to Alonso's consistency and ability to squeeze every last ounce out of the car. If he loses the championship it will be down, IMHO, to Ferrari not keeping their 'foot on the gas' regarding developing their car during the season. I certainly wont be pointing the finger at Alonso. Hell, I don't particularly like the guy, but he has been as close to flawless this season as I recall.

La Stampa is owned by Fiat, so it must be true!

All F1 gossips starts out with a small leak. So far, the hit rate has been very high with gossip coming true in recent years related to drivers, team rifts etc.

In any case, Alonso with his "Newey" praise comment only helps to degrade relationship with Pat Fry & his entire team who are working hard on their job as well. Fry looks like the type who sees through this Alonso ego-boosting bullshit & ready to let the drivers know Ferrari is the boss, not The Drivers.

This, along with Vettel rumour, looks interesting.

Alonso - Vettel switch in 2014 coming?

If true (big, big if), it's uncalled for behaviour that indicates a temper, but I can sort of understand the frustration. He's been driving his socks off for the past 6 years, generally agreed to be the best driver or in the top 3 and never got a championship again. He's in the 3rd year of this Ferrari project, supposedly the very best team, driving better than ever and everyone else on the grid, yet it's not enough to beat the opposition, and now he perceived the team was criticising him. That situation would bring out irrationality in most people.

Still doesn't excuse it though and I'd be pissed if working at Ferrari and doing my very best to satisfy Dear Almighty Lord Alonso's demands.

Fernando said 1 hour ago that it's false. It's the same because people will think whatever they want to think.

As someone said earlier, La Stampa is owned by Fiat... I don't know if it's true or not, but i perhaps some elements of it history is true.

I don't see the problem, Alonso should tell them like it is. And ofcourse they will deny this.

Edited by Smile17, 30 October 2012 - 11:46.

Alonso furious at Ferrari in India
http://www.f1zone.ne...in-india/16451/

Fernando Alonso almost lost his temper ahead of last Sunday’s Indian grand prix, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reports. The newspaper said the Spaniard was furious after the Maranello based team’s technical boss Pat Fry blamed the drivers for a sub-standard qualifying performance.

“The result reflects our current potential,” said Fry after Alonso qualified fifth in India. “But in order to be where we wanted and where we were capable of being, we needed to be perfect today and we weren’t,” he added.

Alonso went into the Indian GP weekend bemoaning the fact that, despite always talking up Ferrari’s improvements, the F2012 has not substantially improved for several races. And his characterisation of his title battle as a head-to-head with Red Bull’s Adrian Newey might also be interpreted as a slight on Newey’s Ferrari equivalents.

La Stampa said that when Alonso heard about Fry’s post-qualifying comments, he “went into a rage”. “(Stefano) Domenicali tried to calm him down … but the discussion continued until 1am,” the report added.

The newspaper said Alonso drafted on his phone a message to his Twitter fans that read: “I want my 1.2 million followers to know that the key aerodynamic components at the rear of the Ferrari are still the same as they were in May”.

La Stampa reported: “It took a lot of persuading Alonso not to press the submit button.”

Domenicali commented: “You (the media) are good at creating stories that do not exist.”
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Alonso is right to push the engineers.”

Felipe Massa, meanwhile, revealed to Brazil’s Totalrace that his F2012 was not in the same specification as Alonso’s in India last weekend. “I had half as much as him,” said the Brazilian, “and even more will arrive in Abu Dhabi.”

Alonso has been saying all season long that his Ferrari was the same as 6 races ago. He NEVER talked up improvements, quite the opposite. He keeps saying how the F2012 is the worst of the top cars and how Ferrari hasn't brought any updates for so many races.

Fernando said 1 hour ago that it's false. It's the same because people will think whatever they want to think.

Whether it's true or false, if you expected Alonso to say anything different than that it's not true you're delusional

Scuderia Ferrari ‏@InsideFerrari
IND - Fry: "With a driver like this, we can fight all the way to the end"


This was actually twittered... but who cares?

This story sounds like absolute bollocks, there are no quotes and anything that went on till 1am would have been noticed by some media source and get brought up before the race, paddock gossip spreads like wildfire. As for composing a tweet and not sharing it instantly sounds farfetched, Alonso is a twitter addict and his tweets are pretty spontaneous, this sounds more like a newspaper desperate to print a story leading up to a GP.

This story sounds like absolute bollocks, there are no quotes and anything that went on till 1am would have been noticed by some media source and get brought up before the race, paddock gossip spreads like wildfire. As for composing a tweet and not sharing it instantly sounds farfetched, Alonso is a twitter addict and his tweets are pretty spontaneous, this sounds more like a newspaper desperate to print a story leading up to a GP.

I don't think la Stampa is a desperate newspaper.

Alonso has been saying all season long that his Ferrari was the same as 6 races ago. He NEVER talked up improvements, quite the opposite. He keeps saying how the F2012 is the worst of the top cars and how Ferrari hasn't brought any updates for so many races.

Ferrari was talking up the upgrades, not Alonso Next time try to read the text without the hater glasses, it will avoid you further embarrassment.

I don't think la Stampa is a desperate newspaper.

I didn’t say they were a desperate newspaper, just desperate to print a story before the teams start giving press conferences for this weekend’s race.

Anyway, i think it's normal to have some "fights" during a season in a team. i don't see where is the problem.

I didn’t say they were a desperate newspaper, just desperate to print a story before the teams start giving press conferences for this weekend’s race.

It's a newspaper owned by FIAT... I think they are well informed about Ferrari..

Least he didn't break the door on his motorhome this time.

He should tweet some telemetry unless I don't believe.

Anyway, i think it's normal to have some "fights" during a season in a team. i don't see where is the problem.

Dragging it out into the public.....

Please discuss the article quoted in the OP. This is not a thread for you to now express how much you have always disliked Alonso or drag up other incidents unless you directly relate it to what happened here. It is not a bashing thread it is for you to discuss whether the articles reflect the truth, or not, of what happened at the weekend.

The article appears on an Italian F1 website as well

http://f1grandprix.m...rrari-in-india/

So what if it's true? Even the placid Damon Hill hurled a helmet around his garage once in an absolute rage (Canada, 1995). These are higher pressure situations than anyone on a BB really knows.

As I discussed with kosmos in the Ferrari thread. Not too sure about the tweet portion of the article but there definitely was something going on between Alonso and the team last weekend.

I think Fry was gatvol of the criticism from Alonso regarding updates especially the Friday article, which was said in a rather harsh tone, and decided to throw in his own little piece with regard to being on the second row.

I'd prefer these little things to remain in doors.

Anyway, if the team wasn't happy with his qualifying performance, he pretty much answered that criticism in the race. I would thin kthey'll move on and concentrate on Abu Dhabi.

Yes, Ferrari sacked Prost in 1991 when he publicly referred to his car as a tractor, but they were widely pilloried for that and it cost Fiorio his job.

Anyway, if the team wasn't happy with his qualifying performance, he pretty much answered that criticism in the race. I would thin kthey'll move on and concentrate on Abu Dhabi.

Yes, Ferrari sacked Prost in 1991 when he publicly referred to his car as a tractor, but they were widely pilloried for that and it cost Fiorio his job.

I think it was a Truck.

I have no doubt all this is true, since Fernando showed such poor driving on sunday and he only managed P2 from P5. He had clearly something else on his mind and he was not focused enough.

"I want my 1.2 million followers to know..." Yep, that is the kind of tweets he does and the words he often use...

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Alonso is right to push the engineers.”

Alonso - Vettel switch in 2014 coming?

Yeah swap one egotistical pain in the arse for another. I think they will do that.

Alonso furious at Ferrari in India
http://www.f1zone.ne...in-india/16451/

Fernando Alonso almost lost his temper ahead of last Sunday’s Indian grand prix, the Italian newspaper La Stampa reports. The newspaper said the Spaniard was furious after the Maranello based team’s technical boss Pat Fry blamed the drivers for a sub-standard qualifying performance.

“The result reflects our current potential,” said Fry after Alonso qualified fifth in India. “But in order to be where we wanted and where we were capable of being, we needed to be perfect today and we weren’t,” he added.

Alonso went into the Indian GP weekend bemoaning the fact that, despite always talking up Ferrari’s improvements, the F2012 has not substantially improved for several races. And his characterisation of his title battle as a head-to-head with Red Bull’s Adrian Newey might also be interpreted as a slight on Newey’s Ferrari equivalents.

La Stampa said that when Alonso heard about Fry’s post-qualifying comments, he “went into a rage”. “(Stefano) Domenicali tried to calm him down … but the discussion continued until 1am,” the report added.

The newspaper said Alonso drafted on his phone a message to his Twitter fans that read: “I want my 1.2 million followers to know that the key aerodynamic components at the rear of the Ferrari are still the same as they were in May”.

La Stampa reported: “It took a lot of persuading Alonso not to press the submit button.”

Domenicali commented: “You (the media) are good at creating stories that do not exist.”
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Alonso is right to push the engineers.”

Felipe Massa, meanwhile, revealed to Brazil’s Totalrace that his F2012 was not in the same specification as Alonso’s in India last weekend. “I had half as much as him,” said the Brazilian, “and even more will arrive in Abu Dhabi.”

It is quite an elaborated story, with quite a lot of quotes and referring to what usually are respectable sources, so it is strange to say the least...

On the one hand, IF the team had the data to show that the drivers did underperform (we know Massa did, and he could have improved on Alonso's time on Q3; and if the piece about the updates is true, then Alonso certainly failed to deliver at the critical moment), then as any employer, Ferrari is within its rights to criticize its drivers for delivering below what was expected.

IF on the other hand, the data showed that the drivers placed the car on a pace consistent with predictions, then they (both Alonso and Massa) are more than right to defend their position, and to clarify some of the information to the public.

The twitter bit, I still don't believe (but similarly, I didn't believe Alonso blackmailing Dennis at first about giving him #1 status, and promoting the (by then) championship leader to play second fiddle to Alonso). EVEN if Alonso went to do something public, he would go with something that is true. Not something along the lines of "we haven't done anything on the rear since the championship began".

Also, this is consistent with Alonso behavior when things don't go his way. At China'06 he blamed Renault of wanting him to lose the championship (even though they had Fisichella first acting as a mobile chicane for the grid, and then moving over for him); we all know the McLaren story, and now this new tantrum would fit the mould. However, it looks a very random one, and with quite a weak trigger (we didn't qualify as well as we should have).

Yeah swap one egotistical pain in the arse for another. I think they will do that.

Alonso has an immense talent, but sometimes he loses is temper and manages to get in bad positions. 2010 was one of those years. He'd better not lose his calm or he will lose the championship again.


[I hope e does. ]

Alonso has been saying all season long that his Ferrari was the same as 6 races ago. He NEVER talked up improvements, quite the opposite. He keeps saying how the F2012 is the worst of the top cars and how Ferrari hasn't brought any updates for so many races.

This article from July seems to suggest something different, and so does this one from October.

What do you base your opinion on?

Sounds like some made-up garbage to stir up drama. And no doubt huge chunks of people will bite, as shown here by people acting as if this story is true.

Alonso has an immense talent, but sometimes he loses is temper and manages to get in bad positions. 2010 was one of those years. He'd better not lose his calm or he will lose the championship again.


[I hope e does. ]

I dont remember Alonso losing the championship because he lost his calm.

But I'm sure thats what you've convinced yourself happened because you clearly dont like him.

I'm taking a break from this forum for a while(til next race weekend at least). The level of posting is beyond crap sometimes.

Edited by Seanspeed, 30 October 2012 - 12:31.

Alonso - Vettel switch in 2014 coming?

Maybe you have hit the nail on the head.

Alonso reportedly(!!) furious with Ferrari, people in the team reportedly(!!) not happy with the way Alonso conducted himself, Massa retained, Vettel to Ferrari rumours - I won't be surprised if there was a connection between all these somewhere. We can be certain of the connection if "Alonso loses motivation" stories come out at the end of this season or at the start of the next.