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Fernando Alonso has cost himself multiple F1 titles by refusing to ‘stick to driving’, according to former Ferrari colleague Aldo Costa.
Alonso is a two-time world champion but many in F1 feel this doesn’t reflect his talent. He finished as the runner-up three times when he was with Ferrari and only missed out on the 2007 title by a single point during his first stint at McLaren.
Despite being regarded as one of F1’s all-time greats, Alonso also has a disruptive reputation in some quarters, and Costa’s comments on the Terruzzi Racconta podcast will only enhance it.
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‘I didn’t get along well’ with Fernando Alonso because he tried to ‘manipulate’ Ferrari – Aldo Costa
Costa joined Ferrari in 1995 and worked in the design team until his departure in 2011. Alonso joined the Scuderia in 2010 and immediately went close to the title, losing out to Sebastian Vettel at the finale in Abu Dhabi.
History would repeat itself at the 2012 Brazilian GP, and Alonso is still chasing that third title, perhaps in vain, 14 years later at the age of 44.
While Costa regards him as an ‘incredible talent’, he thinks Alonso’s efforts to ‘manipulate’ teams behind the scenes have hurt him on track.
“Alonso, I have to say, quite honestly, I didn’t get along well with him,” he said. “He’s a teammate who pushed for maximum results, but if he stuck to driving and pushing for development, he’d be perfect.
Is this the reason Fernando Alonso hasn’t had more success in F1?
An ex-Ferrari engineer says he gets caught up in team politics
“He probably would have won seven, eight championships himself. In reality, he goes further and tries to influence the team’s personnel selection, to manipulate the team from an organisational standpoint.
“That’s where some disagreements arise. I fear it’s a character trait, so much so that he found himself at a point where, despite having incredible talent, no one was enjoying [working with] him.”
Alonso handed out envelopes of money to McLaren colleagues back in 2007, which left sporting director Dave Ryan furious. Ryan demanded that the staff return the money and warned Alonso not to do it again.
Alonso had apparently done the same at former team Renault, though engineer Mark Slade is confident that he wasn’t trying to buy their allegiance.
Why Mercedes rejected Fernando Alonso when Nico Rosberg retired
It recently emerged that many Mercedes staff wanted to sign Alonso in 2024 when Lewis Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari.
Likewise, there were calls for the Silver Arrows to sign him at the end of 2016 when Nico Rosberg made the shocking decision to retire. But Costa says that former Mercedes chairman Dieter Zetsche was against the move, along with star driver Hamilton.
He said: “When there was talk at Mercedes between Rosberg and Bottas of going back to Alonso, there was a chain starting with Dieter Zetsche, Hamilton, everyone, who said no.”
Longtime agent Flavio Briatore says the idea that Alonso is ‘difficult to manage’ is pure ‘rubbish’ peddled by the media, without basis in fact.
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