I just found
here an extract of an article of the F1 magazine "F1 Racing", regarding Alonso's driving style. It's in Spanish, so I translated it (apologizes for my bad English).
In it's September version, their star editor Peter Windsor (he is the guy that makes the questions in the FIA press conferences), spent 10 pages analyzing Alonso's driving style. This is an extract from the large article in this month's mag, labelled "Alonso, a champion's profile".Simple, clean, effective. Such an easy technique, in fact, that no one in this planet has managed to do it in the same way yet.Therefore, under these simple looks, there is an actually more complex driver, a driver who has the same creative talent that Michael Schumacher has shown all these years. I say "creative" because Fernando has observed, experimented, and then found his own way. There is nothing artificial nor premade in Fernando Alonso, despite the stablished parameters by the technical briefings, full of data. He drives his own races, he thinks his own ideas.
So we start from the beggining; from the entry of, let's say, a right hand corner in second gear. There are a lot, they are characteristic in the F1 calendarCompared to the entry of Jarno Trulli, Michael Schumacher, or Fisichella, the initial steering wheel movement of Fernando is amazingly sudden. Period. You can see it in TV shots. And one thinks "Damn. Interesting. Different. Passionate. Fast." And then think "In that case, why don't the others do that?"
But do what, exactly? No doubt, in this initial phase of the corner, he steers faster and more than Michael and Kimi, and no doubt that Michael and Kimi do have an aproximate idea of what they try to archieve. The curious thing is, Fernando does not generate any oversteering with his initial movement, while Juan Pablo Montoya gives energy to the rear, for example. Or Felipe Massa. Then again, why? The Renault remains basicly neutral, but he does it within such a high aproximation speed. So, he is not clean because he is slow, it's obvious by the way. He is clean. And fast. And agressive.
So, let's study his breaking, the action inmediatly before his amazing aport of steering. In the beggining, almost in a non noticiable manner, Fernando touches the brakes before slamming heavily, more heavily than Fisichella, for example. He generates an enormous initial negative G force, reducing the speed of the car efficiently when the aerodynamic help is bigger, he then releases the pedal in a smooth movement which reflects perfectly his force increase in the corner.
Now, his breaking is incredibly precise and smooth, and it's directly related to his initial steering movement. He starts to steer exactly when he starts to release the brake pedal.
But here is the key: in that point, the Renault does not start to understeer in the classical sense of the word (with the slip angle of the front wheels larger than the rear wheels throught the corner), it doesn't makes a sudden oversteering movement which destroys the tyres and makes him lose time either (because of polar momentum effects). Instead, he adopts the rarest thing in F1: "neutral steering", capitalised by a temperature increase of the tyres, and by the transitory effects of the polar momentum of the car. So, with faster entry speeds than his team mate, Fernando can carry the Renault to the minimal speed in the middle of the corner (usually near the geometrical apex), change quickly the direction (steering more against the decreasing pressure on the brakes), and then give the R25 a dragster like exit.
The bennefits of the neutral steering? I think the answer is that usually Fernando can develop greater entry forces, throwing the car further than the initial oversteering or understeering, allowing the front displacement angles to react greatly and quickly in the temperature of the tyres. The front end of the car gains grip almost when it loses it, and Fernando amplify it by keeping the weight of the car away from the front end, when the turning angle increases.
This way, Fernando breaks the mould. He found a way to increase the grip of the tyre without depending of the usual (and weak) circumstances: a perfect use of the steering, brakes, and throttle to manipulate the car's mass and maximize the tyre grip. Fernando's style is more adaptable to changing conditions, the biggest enemy of the drivers.
In the first place, he manages with this to never brake too much to throw the car to the apex. He generates his grip with the direction and sensible use of brakes, not because a not compensated steering nor excessive use of the brakes (which usually make other drivers lock their front wheels). Fernando's style allows him to avoid all that, being able to be disciplined enough to slow down in the middle corner to allow the fastest possible exit.
Alonso's style is indicative of his amazing talent and intelligence.