Is Alonso arrogant?

[mstillhere]

Hi everybody,
I am wondering what's your take on Alonso's behaviour, lately. He has been showing off for a while, but I thought that it was OK, since he has won the championship twice in a row, the youngest driver ever to win, etc., etc., etc. and I have been ok with it. However, now he is starting to get on my nerves, especially after being interviewed today by a bunch of journalists, Spanish or not. I don't know if anyone on this panel speaks Spanish but if you do take a look at what Marca.com or As.com say about Alonso. There is no article in which the journalists don't feel obligated to mention that Alonso has won the worldchampioship twice. They might be taliking about Alonso, eating habits or whatever. On top of that, he is not gracious enough to Renault either. Check out what he says to Ted, when Ted's asking Alonso if he is missing Renault (http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&PO_ID=38256):

Q: Is there anything you will miss about Renault?
FA: I don’t know. At the moment I am not missing anything – I am really happy and have everything I want.

How ungrateful is that. Is he forgetting how kind was Renault to him allowing him to test a McLaren while under contract with the French team?
Or,"but Alonso has no doubts that the Woking squad can provide him with the sort of race-winning machine that allowed him to claim back-to-back world titles at Renault"
(http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=38249).
Has no doubts? Yarno, Kimi, Massa, Fisichella and so on don't talk like that. They are more cautious about their statements. I can't believe this guy. He is talking about McLaren (and the Spanish press as well) like they are this unstopbeble winning machine that keeps in winning one championship after the other. Boy I can't wait to see the first time his car blows up. He'll be crying and whine and accuse everybody for sabotaging his car, as he did with Renault when things were going down the hill for him. What a brat!!

[Ranger]

Personally, who cares? He's past the stage where he's done all his congratulating and celebrating with Renault, and now he is already moving on to the next stage of his career with a new team and new people.

After the initial celebrations and congratulations with Benneton in 1995, did Michael Schumacher say he would miss anything about Benneton when he was in Ferrari in 1996?

My guess is not, because most drivers who move teams by their own choice believe the team they are moving to is better and has a challenge to it. If they started missing their old team, that would suggest they are unhappy about where they are right now.

And, yes, Alonso is slightly arrogant IMO. If I was a 25 year old double world champion, I would be too. Is this really surprising to anyone?

[agwiii]

And, yes, Alonso is slightly arrogant IMO. If I was a 25 year old double world champion, I would be too. Is this really surprising to anyone?

I agree. It's hard to imagine a relatively unschooled person of his age, incredible achievements, and staggering money NOT being impressed with themself.

[PSfan]

Q: Is there anything you will miss about Renault?
FA: I don’t know. At the moment I am not missing anything – I am really happy and have everything I want.


I have a feeling he will start missing a little thing called "reliability" once he's experienced leading a race and having his engine go KA-POW

[AJP]

Of Course Alonso is arrogant....

All F1 drivers are... :)

[Cozzie]

He is not arrogant, he is moving on to something new and something he chose to do. If he didn't think McLaren would provide him with a better car than Renault then why would he have moved there!

[DimitraF1]

he will be forgotten soon or later like damon hill after he change the top team in 1997 and villenevne who try for 1998-99-2000-2001-2002-2003-2004!!"????? to come back

[Ranger]

he will be forgotten soon or later like damon hill after he change the top team in 1997 and villenevne who try for 1998-99-2000-2001-2002-2003-2004!!"????? to come back

Keep telling yourself that. :\

[pino]

All F1 drivers are... :)

Wrong, Jarno's not :p :

[Tomi]

Wrong, Jarno's not :p :
Agree, he is very slow, but not arrogant :)

[raikk]

Hi everybody,
I am wondering what's your take on Alonso's behaviour, lately. He has been showing off for a while, but I thought that it was OK, since he has won the championship twice in a row, the youngest driver ever to win, etc., etc., etc. and I have been ok with it. However, now he is starting to get on my nerves, especially after being interviewed today by a bunch of journalists, Spanish or not. I don't know if anyone on this panel speaks Spanish but if you do take a look at what Marca.com or As.com say about Alonso. There is no article in which the journalists don't feel obligated to mention that Alonso has won the worldchampioship twice. They might be taliking about Alonso, eating habits or whatever. On top of that, he is not gracious enough to Renault either. Check out what he says to Ted, when Ted's asking Alonso if he is missing Renault (http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&PO_ID=38256):

Q: Is there anything you will miss about Renault?
FA: I don’t know. At the moment I am not missing anything – I am really happy and have everything I want.

How ungrateful is that. Is he forgetting how kind was Renault to him allowing him to test a McLaren while under contract with the French team?
Or,"but Alonso has no doubts that the Woking squad can provide him with the sort of race-winning machine that allowed him to claim back-to-back world titles at Renault"
(http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=38249).
Has no doubts? Yarno, Kimi, Massa, Fisichella and so on don't talk like that. They are more cautious about their statements. I can't believe this guy. He is talking about McLaren (and the Spanish press as well) like they are this unstopbeble winning machine that keeps in winning one championship after the other. Boy I can't wait to see the first time his car blows up. He'll be crying and whine and accuse everybody for sabotaging his car, as he did with Renault when things were going down the hill for him. What a brat!!

If I wrote an article about how many times I scratched my arse I'd be considered a spamer lol... The point is.... Ya so what? It;s not like he called Flavio or Renault any names..

[wmcot]

Of Course Alonso is arrogant....

All F1 drivers are... :)

I agree, but I'd expand it to say that all major sports personalities are arrogant to some degree (with a few exceptions.) Let's hope that as he matures, his arrogance will be tempered.

[tsarcasm]

I agree, but I'd expand it to say that all major sports personalities are arrogant to some degree (with a few exceptions.) Let's hope that as he matures, his arrogance will be tempered.


probably so, (unlike his new boss 'uncle-grumpy-ron')

[raphael123]

I don't think he comes across as an arrogant guy. Confident, but not arrogant. And it's in the article where it mentions the fact he is a 2 WDC, not him. How can you blame him for that?
As for being ungrateful, I think he told them all thank you, and wished them the best for the future after the Brazilian GP which we all heard on the radio.
I don't think going to a new team, and saying 'I'm going to miss how.. and..the way they did at Renault' would make a great impression on a new team!
And what kind of World Champion would move to a Top 3 team, and claim they don't think they will win the title. A team like McLaren should be aiming to win the title every year with the resources and drivers they have. To say 'I'm only aiming for 2nd or 3rd' would be ridiculous from the 2 guy who has won the last 2 titles!

I think some people read too much into it, just to diss the guy because he's the best there is at the moment. The best will always get critizised.

[fly_ac]

I don't think he comes across as an arrogant guy. Confident, but not arrogant. ..................
Although I don't like Alonso I have to somehow agree with this. :(
There is a fine line between arrogance and confidence and however I would like to believe that Alonso is arrogant, I think he is more "arrogantly-confident".

I think in any sport one need to have confidence in one's abilities and equipment, and to stay ahead of the competition you need to have a degree of arrogance as well.


...................The best will always get critizised.
Like Schumacher who will always be criticised for this. It was said at times that Schumacher was arrogant,..........WRONG,.........CONFIDENT. :D

[Donney]

He is confident.

But what do you expect him to say I missed Renault so much that I want the Mc painted blue? He is in a new team so the past is gone, he has to look into the future.

It's OK that you don't like him but why don't you wait until something happens?

[fly_ac]

It's OK that you don't like him but why don't you wait until something happens?

OOooooh believe me I am WAITING. ;) for something to happen. :D

[jas123f1]

Yes, a bit arrogant he is , obviously .
It really looks like that Alonso has cleared his mind of everything what Renault is.. New team, new clothes, new car (only the number is the same as last year), new team mate (which is not at all dangerous for him - rather on the contrary – who will be helping him to remain as number one at least 2007). But that way it is - he is in a god team and believes in the future and in some way it’s included in his job to speak like that - only good things of the team. McLaren is a team which is “the best “ in to the last GP. Doesn’t matter how well its going on the track. When the car doesn’t work – Ron explains that it’s only temporary and the team is back on the top soon. We will see if that “soon“ is coming with Alonso – if not there are not any excuses left to Ron any more..
They was showing Alonso on TV today (CNN) there he was telling to us how happy he is to be at McLaren - in his mind the best team, in where any driver should like to be. ( I’m not quite sure if Kimi should agreed with him …. :)

[jens]

Wrong, Jarno's not :p :

Well, I have to agree to you to some degree. ;) But... Jarno has of course very high opinion of himself like other drivers and he might be even overconfident as I've seen from several articles. I think it was in September, when he told that he is as good as Alonso and why shouldn't he become champion as 'Nando has managed it...

Agree with those, who say that a top sportsman has to be arrogant to some degree to be successful. The main difference is that how often are they talking about it to media and what's their temperament level.

[pino]

Well, I have to agree to you to some degree. ;) But... Jarno has of course very high opinion of himself like other drivers and he might be even overconfident as I've seen from several articles. I think it was in September, when he told that he is as good as Alonso and why shouldn't he become champion as 'Nando has managed it...



That's right but You forgot to mention that Jarno said that after visiting his winery in Italy :p :

[agwiii]

I agree, but I'd expand it to say that all major sports personalities are arrogant to some degree (with a few exceptions.) Let's hope that as he matures, his arrogance will be tempered.

Is it arrogance or self-confidence?

[Mark]

Is it arrogance or self-confidence?

The only difference between the two is perception.

[agwiii]

The only difference between the two is perception.

Plus how you wear it on your persona. I think they all must be extremely confident.

[Mark]

I remember Martin Brundle saying on many occasions that F1 drivers have to be self confident in what they are doing, otherwise you aren't going to get any results.

He often spoke about top drivers (i.e. not him :p ) having such self belief that they knew they were going to win the race, to the extent that they wouldn't always seem that happy to win because well, they expected to win so it's not a surprise.

[agwiii]

I remember Martin Brundle saying on many occasions that F1 drivers have to be self confident in what they are doing, otherwise you aren't going to get any results.

He often spoke about top drivers (i.e. not him :p ) having such self belief that they knew they were going to win the race, to the extent that they wouldn't always seem that happy to win because well, they expected to win so it's not a surprise.

Absolutely correct! I think people whose career puts them in harms way must be supremely confident -- a doubt could create a mistake. Ayrton believed that God intended him to win -- I can think of no greater sense of confidence than to believe your success in racing was part of God's mission.

[airshifter]

I don't think he is arrogant. With all the press surrounding these guys, it's surprising they don't stick their feet in their mouths more often.

To suceed at the level they are competing, they must be confident, and show confidence in their teams by making sometimes bold statements.

Had Alonso made the same statements in the past couple of years and finished at the back of the pack, they would hound him for that also. Similar to the way they do DC. ;)

[Big Ben]

should he have said: "Actually I think Mclaren is a pretty weak team and we stand no chance. I surely miss Renault and regret this stupid move!"? That doesn't sound "sane" to me. I think it's part of their duty to say how well they think they'll do... that's what fans want to hear... and sponsors even more. IMO.

[Mysterious Rock]

I agree, but I'd expand it to say that all major sports personalities are arrogant to some degree (with a few exceptions.) Let's hope that as he matures, his arrogance will be tempered.

Sato is not either, he will give time to ne one

There is no article in which the journalists don't feel obligated to mention that Alonso has won the worldchampioship twice.

Well, he is a Double World Champion, so it is very likely that every journalist will refer to him at some point as such.

It would only be arrogant if Alonso insisted that they wrote "soon to be Triple World Champion".

But he hasn't, so he isn't.

[OTA]

Not only he's not arrogant, but he has been quite a humble person. Regardless of success he still has a lot of respect for rivals, and insists that without maximum effort from him and his team success cannot be achieved.

And besides not being arrogant he is quite realistic of his duty, and has no problem in admitting that after such a change, there could be no honest aim but to do it again. He might succed or not, but he's out there to take honors or failure, no excuses.

Cheers
David

[ioan]

Not only he's not arrogant, but he has been quite a humble person.

I'll go check up the definition of humble, again, cause last time it was different from anything FA is.

[Dagman]

As one who wished him luck in Indy and was completeley ignored even tho he was 12" away...I would say he is arrogant for sure
And afraid of spiders too.

[Mickey T]

well, i sat next to him for 15 minutes or so at lunch two days ago, and he didn't come across as arrogant.

he came across as self assured, composed and comfortable in his skin. he also came across as down to earth and constantly defered to the job of making sure the car is right, rather than anybody gearing their life around him.

as for Renault, he said he would always have a soft spot for the team, that he had a lot of friends there and, if McLaren could not win the championship this year, he hoped Renault did.

that doesn't sound like somebody slagging off Renault to me.

even though the other clearly defer to him as McLaren's team leader, he did nothing or said nothing to demand this. it's clearly just the way the others felt.

I was actually quite impressed with his manner.

[Dagman]

well, i sat next to him for 15 minutes or so at lunch two days ago, and he didn't come across as arrogant.

he came across as self assured, composed and comfortable in his skin. he also came across as down to earth and constantly defered to the job of making sure the car is right, rather than anybody gearing their life around him.

as for Renault, he said he would always have a soft spot for the team, that he had a lot of friends there and, if McLaren could not win the championship this year, he hoped Renault did.

that doesn't sound like somebody slagging off Renault to me.

even though the other clearly defer to him as McLaren's team leader, he did nothing or said nothing to demand this. it's clearly just the way the others felt.

I was actually quite impressed with his manner.

Fair enough but it does sound like there is a relationship there, are your press or with Macca?

[Scuderia ferrari]

Well, i agree that a double world champion should start to watch his mouth, espacially as he will have alot of challengers this year.

Renault infact said that they were suprised when Alonso suddenly quit on them.

[Mickey T]

press.

had not actually met the bloke before and expected someone very different.

if anybody's interested, i can post a transcript of bits and pieces of the lunch. (with FA, lewis, Norbert, Pedro and Ron - though ron is, as usual, ron).

also got the quotes on mpeg...

[Dagman]

press.

had not actually met the bloke before and expected someone very different.

if anybody's interested, i can post a transcript of bits and pieces of the lunch. (with FA, lewis, Norbert, Pedro and Ron - though ron is, as usual, ron).

also got the quotes on mpeg...

Mickey, the transcript would be great,thanks

[Roamy]

I agree. It's hard to imagine a relatively unschooled person of his age, incredible achievements, and staggering money NOT being impressed with themself.

unschooled???

I think he has a Phd from the school of high speed driving. If you think a degree would keep a 25 yr old WDC from arrogance I highly doubt it.

[XSARA]

Q: Is there anything you will miss about Renault?
FA: I don’t know. At the moment I am not missing anything – I am really happy and have everything I want.

How ungrateful is that.

Uhh, I might be missing something here but that doesn't sound all that ungrateful... :mark: He says that he's happy and has everything he wants...he never said that he's happy BECAUSE he's not in Renault anymore and McLaren is giving him everything he wants...can't the guy just generally be happy??? :confused:

[harsha]

where does he sound arrogant :?: :s

[mstillhere]

I'll win for sure the champioship, and so on.....

[harsha]

i agree with Mark...it maybe more a case of confidence rather than arrogance.In order to succeed in this business,you have to have confidence,confidence in yourself and confidence in your team,Alonso's statements shows that he has that level of confidence...

what other statement would you expect a 2 time WDC to make :?:

[samuratt]

I think that Alonso is becoming, more and more everyday, the next Schumacher, not because his achievements in the sport, but because of the way people just hate him because he is the best.

In the spanish interview i could see on the tv he was asked to say which one is goint to be the biggest surprise in 2007, he said: Kovalainen. He is being so ungrateful with Renault... When asked about his major rivals next seasson he said: Ferrari, Renault and Honda. If he is so arrogant, why he did not say McLaren's reliability????

[Donney]

I get the impression that many people think he won his WDC's thanks to Renault only. I won't be the one saying he didn't have one of the best cars but he drove it brilliantly.


He is in a new team, has wished the best of lucks to his former team, he thinks Renault may be one of his main rivals this year.

I think he's been very correct to say the least.

[Big Ben]

Hi everybody,
I am wondering what's your take on Alonso's behaviour, lately. He has been showing off for a while, but I thought that it was OK, since he has won the championship twice in a row, the youngest driver ever to win, etc., etc., etc. and I have been ok with it. However, now he is starting to get on my nerves, especially after being interviewed today by a bunch of journalists, Spanish or not. I don't know if anyone on this panel speaks Spanish but if you do take a look at what Marca.com or As.com say about Alonso. There is no article in which the journalists don't feel obligated to mention that Alonso has won the worldchampioship twice. They might be taliking about Alonso, eating habits or whatever. On top of that, he is not gracious enough to Renault either. Check out what he says to Ted, when Ted's asking Alonso if he is missing Renault (http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=General&PO_ID=38256):

Q: Is there anything you will miss about Renault?
FA: I don’t know. At the moment I am not missing anything – I am really happy and have everything I want.

How ungrateful is that. Is he forgetting how kind was Renault to him allowing him to test a McLaren while under contract with the French team?
Or,"but Alonso has no doubts that the Woking squad can provide him with the sort of race-winning machine that allowed him to claim back-to-back world titles at Renault"
(http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=38249).
Has no doubts? Yarno, Kimi, Massa, Fisichella and so on don't talk like that. They are more cautious about their statements. I can't believe this guy. He is talking about McLaren (and the Spanish press as well) like they are this unstopbeble winning machine that keeps in winning one championship after the other. Boy I can't wait to see the first time his car blows up. He'll be crying and whine and accuse everybody for sabotaging his car, as he did with Renault when things were going down the hill for him. What a brat!!

Now that you've seen all these answers have you changed your mind?

[I am evil Homer]

He's the youngest ever WDC and won it back-to-back. I'd be confident if I was him. Seems to be very sure of himself rather than arrogant.

[odykas]

I forgive him because he kicked schumi's a$$ :D

[harsha]

yeah!!!!! :D ,i forgive him for beating kimi too.....but he beat Schumi,that's what counts :D

[donKey jote]

I forgive him because he kicked schumi's a$$ :D

:rotflmao:

[jso1985]

I forgive him because he kicked schumi's a$$ :D

:up: :D

Where's the arrogant Alonso when he said he's happy in McLaren? :s did you expect him to say "Renault was much better, I'm here only because I though Renault weren't going to be here by now"? :rolleyes:

[luvracin]

One man's arrogance is another man's self-confidence.

You need a certain degree of self-confidence/arrogance in order to be successful in your chosen proffession.

Many of us, including myself, could be considered "arrogant".

[Ian McC]

Things have been said about him as a person, especially when the pressure is on, I guess the test will come if the McLaren fails to perform.