Alonso still thinks F1 not a sport

Normally I not the kind of guy that does a complete copy and paste from a news site, but this time I cannot resist.

[www.f1-live.com]

Alonso still thinks F1 not a sport
Formula One is all business and glamour
19/02/07 09:23

Fernando Alonso has refused to steer away from his claim last year that Formula One is not a sport.

The reigning world champion, who then went on to secure a successive drivers' crown, denounced the sport at Monza last season after stewards gave him a controversial penalty for allegedly blocking Felipe Massa.

"Formula One is business and glamour," an excerpt from an interview with Focus now quotes Alonso as saying.

"In the way that I define 'sport', I don't see that you can say that this is F1. Whoever disagrees with me is not opening their eyes."

Alonso apparently dismissed suggestions that, as the World Champion, he has a responsibility to deliver a better image of Formula One to the fans.

"In that way, all the drivers are equal," the Spaniard claimed. "If for example David Coulthard talks about safety, his views carry the same weight as mine or any other drivers'."



erhm, megalomania anyone? The statement that F1 was not a sport came from his penalty at Monza, with the proof being that the championship was rigged, and the penalty itself being evidence of that. As it turned out, Alonso was wrong, but now he is still claiming he is right?

Furthermore, his statement: "Whoever disagrees with me is not opening their eyes.". Murray Walker standard explanation is that F1 is a sport on 18 (or however many race events there are) weekends a year, and the rest of the time it was politics and business. Is MW wrong now, or has Alonso's ego grown bigger than he can back up?

And if it isn't a sport, why on earth is he preparing for a new season?!?

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2007 11:40PM by Morbid.

Maybe because he feels it's still a competition, he might not totally like what it has become these days but he still wants to compete with 21 other drivers for the championship.

although i dont like the guy, i agree with him. F1 stoped being a sport many years ago.

Interesting...

The normal definition of a sport is something like this: an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

So F1 does not require skill (sarcasm mode: is Alonso making a confession?), does not require physical prowess (they are still very fit people and work damn hard in that cockpit!)? It is certainly an athletic activity and there is certainly a competitive nature...

Where is it that F1 is not a sport?

And lemme ask you guys, if it is not a sport, then what are you doing?

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2007 11:55PM by Morbid.

we just like watching a business every 2 weekends

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

I dont see how you can accuse him of being egotistical when he states clearly that all the drivers are equal and what any of them say carries equal weight...



RedSam
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it's more the "whoever doesn't agree with me..." quote that Morbid is attacking him for.

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

Odd you picked that comment as that one was the only one I didn't say anything about. But now we are here, sure everybody in the Formula 1 community, especially the fans, echo what Sato says. You really see him setting the trend just as much as the WDC.

Red Sam Wrote:
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> I dont see how you can accuse him of being
> egotistical when he states clearly that all the
> drivers are equal and what any of them say carries
> equal weight...


Damn straight!

Muks_C Wrote:
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> it's more the "whoever doesn't agree with me..."
> quote that Morbid is attacking him for.


LoL

Muks_C Wrote:
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> we just like watching a business every 2 weekends
>

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2007 02:13AM by Morbid.

I think by "sport", he means "sporting", as in being sporting within the rules, which clearly went out of the window at times last year to try to fix the results, just because of whatever country they were in. Happens every so often - happened to Schumacher in 94 or 95, where they wanted Damon Hill to catch up, so they disqualified Schumacher for wearing the wrong type of underwear or something stupid every other race.

But hopefully it'll be slightly different, a lot of changes have happened over this winter compared with other seasons, mostly because Ferrari have dismantled themselves.

I think the point Alonso was making was that the interpretation of the rules change when it suits the stewards, and I have to agree with him.

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I think he's just mentally preparing himself for a crap year of mechanical failures, so when Massa or whoever beats him to the Championship he can just use this claim to protect his ego.

But I do agree with Lemming(maybe I am one!LOL) they really need to stop all the ass-clown antics by the stewards in various countries.

Fissi has sort of confirmed that renault use the same policy as ferrari i.e number 1 driver.

If a drivers has a better start to the year they get the no1 status and the other driver has to play 2nd fiddle.

I dont think Alonso will get this at mclaren as DC was always allowed to fight Mika until he could not win the championship

At no point in those quotes of Alonso does he refer to Monza last year, the context of the interview isnt present either.

So quite how you reach the conclusion of meglomania is amusing frankly.


Ayrton Senna also famously said he no longer considered F1 a sport you know




LS's Tip of the week
ESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2007 10:56AM by LS..

LS. Wrote:
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> (the) context of the interview isnt present either.

Not true. The journalist provides that for you in the second sentence of the article: "The reigning world champion, who then went on to secure a successive drivers' crown, denounced the sport at Monza last season after stewards gave him a controversial penalty for allegedly blocking Felipe Massa."

> Ayrton Senna also famously said he no longer
> considered F1 a sport you know

I didn't know. Would you care to elaborate on that?

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Senna made his comments in 1991 and again in 1993.

1991 he was having a go and the FIA
1993 he was having a go at Prost.

Senna nearly left F1 at the end of 1989 and again at the end of 1992.

Interesting...

So just like with FA, these comments came in the heated moments, and also as with FA, didn't stop Senna from soldiering on.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Senna did not keep on and on though he made the comments once and that was it but Alonso went on and on and is still going on.

Mika when he was penalised in the USA and moved down some places was angry at the time but said it once and that was it.

F1 has not been a sport for a long long time and finally Alonso relised it

The only sport left in F1 is the politics sadly, like Alonso said, its a business now.




LS's Tip of the week
ESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat

Morbid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Not true. The journalist provides that for you in
> the second sentence of the article: "The reigning
> world champion, who then went on to secure a
> successive drivers' crown, denounced the sport at
> Monza last season after stewards gave him a
> controversial penalty for allegedly blocking
> Felipe Massa."



No he is'nt, he's mentioning what happened last year when Alonso first claimed F1 not to be a sport.

He doesnt tell you what context was used in this particular interview to which Alonso answered.




an excerpt from an interview with Focus

That pretty sums its up nicely.

To form an objective opinion i'd rather read what the interviewer asked Fernando prior to his comment.

Journo's love taking stuff out of context as we all well know




LS's Tip of the week
ESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/20/2007 12:09PM by LS..

Morbid looking for another opportunity to jump on Alonso. Well since Schumi's gone we need a new bad guy!

I make it no secret that I do not like Alonso (and why should I?), but to say that it is a bad guy replacement for M$ leaving is absurd. Use the search button and get your facts right. I didn't like M$ either, but I rebutted the bashers a lot more than I ever attacked him.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.