Where do you get such an attitude that says it's ok to harass someone and their family just because they have achieve some fame? How would you feel if a someone tried to take pictures of your wife to put on the internet?
Does privacy mean nothing to you. If not, go buy yourself a camera and join the paparazzi but don't expect much respect for your work.

Of course and they are completely right wanting their privacy, but they took this to another level. They make it attractive for the pap to hunt them down. They should stop with that 'secret thingy' all the time, they have quite a history with the paparazzi (especially on holidays) I know Alonso is a jealous guardian of his private life, but he should take another approach, what they are doing right now is counter productive. Though I have to say Alonso seemed very calm and reasonable when he asked the photographers to be given some privacy at the airport, nothing wrong with that. Played it really smart too.

When did this thread become The Sun's material? Bashing Alonso for what he does or doesn't on his holidays seems a little bit obsessive to me. I don't like certain drivers but I couldn't care less about what they do on his private life. Thank God next week there will be real news to talk about.

Post of the day ..

Frankly im with Alonso on this one .. FFS can the man have some privacy ?? Everyone needs their down time without some tosser flinging a camera in your face no matter how famous you are.

Apart from that i hope there is some decent news next week on the status of the team and its cars. I never have been a fan of the reds .. but i respect them as being dangerous in the chase for the championship. So good luck to them and may the best Driver/Team win.

I didn't mean the publications, I meant the people buying them! Our celebrity obsessed culture provides the demand for the photos the paps take.

I'm not sure Lewis is a good example after his complaints about the attention in the UK, although it would always be difficult for someone of his age achieving instant stardom. Weirdly he doesn't seem to have any issues since him and nicole got together but perhaps they're not that big a draw in the US.

I'm thinking more of people like George Clooney, who seems to just have a chat with the paps, they take a few pics and then leave them alone, and a couple of other celerbrities who have remarked that it is possible to avoid the publicity if you want by living as normally as possible, not going out with an enoutrage etc.

No idea how alonso handles it, nor how much influence the individual can have over it versus other factors. I suspect those that most fiercely guard their privacy may find it counter productive versus say coming to arrangement where they give them a few photos and a bit of time in exchange for being left alone.

None of the above is meant as a criticism of alonso.



My thoughts above seem quite similar to yours.

Well the Rich and the Beautiful seem to have really big problems
they can live their luxery life because of the people who pay to see them
There are whole islands only for the quiet holidays of rich and famous/prominent people, there are expensive exclusive clubs, they could charter yachts etc. etc.
There are billions of people all over the world who never ever have gone on holidays who can never afford any vacations

Yes, the papparazzi seem to be a "pest" but, hey, it's the prize famous people have to pay for their stardom
nobody forced Alonso and other F1 drivers to do what they do, au contraire to the most of the people who never have the choice what they should/could do in their life.
This holidays will not be the best Alonso ever had, but nothing serious happend, next time he will be a bit more clever with his choice of his holiday resort

I don't know how anybody can stick up for people that pester / inter fear in peoples lives, famous or not famous. It would piss me off too if people were constantly taking photo's of me, and bugging me with questions. Just because famous people are famous, doesn't make it right that they can't have a holiday in peace. I feel sorry for Alonso that he can't holiday closer to home!

so now his wife breaks into homes because someone took a picture, come on how can some of you believe crap like that, unless she was nude or giving alonso a bl...... i find that hardly credible, the internet is full of pictures of her , some in skimpy skirts

how can some of you defend paparazzi, the guy is on a vacation , nothing to do with formula 1, he is entitled to his privacy. why should he have to respect them if they dont respect him and his privacy, these as...... should have been outlawed a long time ago, i am not surprised he has no tolerance for them and their crap

What's next ?

The people of Porto Santo will burn down to ashes the Santander Branch in the Island ?

The Alonso's must be possesed...
somebody better call the Winchester Brothers, bcs it is... SUPERNATURAL.

The quote below is from Alonso too:
"I never asked to be number one driver in any team in my career and that's coming from nowhere, and keeps repeating again from a minority," "But what I don't want to be, for sure, is number two, like it happened sometimes in 2007."
Difficult to know what went on, isn't it?

Famous people are famous because they want to be famous
Alonso could leave F1 , live somwhere as an average guy
and nobody would take care of him after a short time

The drama-less off-season is seriously affecting the mental health of some. Several pages to bitch and moan about nothing shows some serious lack of life.

I've mentioned this elsewhere but mark hughes's book on hamilton had a lot of insight on 2007.

It's clear that they both felt the other was getting better treatment at certain times and also that mclaren's way of going racing conflicted with alonso's in certain ways, for example freedom of strategy and also things like alonso having to get a quicker q2 time than lewis to justify first choice of strategy for q3, not sure which of the early races it was, oz or malaysia I think but alonso wasn't happy about having to waste tyres to go out and beat lewis's time.

I don't thnk many people would argue that alonso felt he was coming into the team as the guy to win back the WDC for them and didn't expect as much competition as lewis provided..mclaren thought both these things too.

Him not being happy about having to 'win q2' to get optimal strategy for q3 and not being allowed past when he perceives himself as quicker (US 2007) show that he did feel he should be the number 1.

The thing is, as a hamilton fan, I can understand his point of view. That expectancy would become less justifiable as the season went on and hamilton proved he was on a par with alonso pace wise but if you view yourself as the team's main WDC hope andt the quicker driver then you don't want to be messing about having to prove yourself in q2 or risking hitting your teammate to get past.

Equally you can see macca's point of view of allowing both driver's to race and also their jubliation when hamilton proved to be so quick given he'd grown up with the team. As soon as lewis showed he was as quick as alonso they faced an impossible task keeping them both happy, both utterly convinced in their own minds they're the best and both equally paranoid, alonso because he was against the british driver in a british team that had 'raised him' and lewis because he wa the rookie to the double WDC who'd been brought into win the WDC for the team.

So what am I trying to say? I do think alonso expects number one treatment because he perceives himself as the best and doesn't want his or the team's championship hopes hindered by unnecessary in-fighting. For example with ferrari this year, his view (and the teams and many fans) is that massa being ahead of him in germany was simply down to circumstances and an incovenience that needed to be rectified...in his mind he was the guy who could win the championship for ferrari so why would they want to keep massa ahead? impeccable logic from a championship point of view...only problem is it conflicts with why the majority of fans went to the race in germany i.e. to see a genuine race...which is why we have all the issues with team orders. I suspect alonso felt exactly the same way in 2007, the crucial difference that lewis proved that he was on a par with alonso and as good a bet for he championship. I don't think this made sense in alonso's mind, just as someone being quicker in the same car would make sense in lewis's mind...hence paranoia. In fact you could arge alonso was a better bet for the championship because he had more experience and, if lewis was held back, he would probably have raced better. Lewis's mistakes at the end of the season seem to back up this theory but on ther other hand you could argue alonso threw it in the wall in Japan and it was the team's error in china plus the gearbox glitch that really cost hamilton. I think it was good for the sport that they didn't hold lewis back though, perhaps not for those that support a team and simply want to see their team do well but for those that want to see the best drivers up against each other the season could have been a snoozefest with alonso sailing to that title and maybe 2008 too with lewis not being at the front of the field at all.

Sorry for the long post!

What he did in Porto Santo is just another disgrace, but typical for the bad character he is. They should throw him off the island. The media has every right to take pictures in public palces. If he does not like it, he should quite driving F1 and the women should stop trying to sing.

Alonso never asked to be #1, but in Indianapolis 2007 he was swinging his car behind Lewis in the main straight trying to get P1 by pressing the pit to release team orders.

It seems the credible 'British Tabloids' have not jumped on the bandwagon to have a dig about Alonso afterall. I think if anyone puts themselves in Fernando's position they will relate to how annoying this situation would be.

It might surprise some people around the globe but Fernando does have a fair amount of 'British' fans and not everyone lives up to the stereotype that is handed out.

Ah fair play to him, he wants to have a holiday with his wife, no problem, they should give some space to him

I heard that they killed a baby panda and they enjoyed it too...

sounds like happy holidays.. imagine spending all the time on the beach in paranoia who watches you and whether they take pictures.. he'd having a better experience if he organized some public tshirt signing sessions for an hour and letting people take pictures with him... give an interview or three to journalist.. and then they'll all leave them in peace.

This, or he sells the rights for holiday fotos exlusively to some print magazine
than they bite away the other paps.

Sure, that's how it works.

I suggest you try that method in case you ever visit a very poor region in a third-world country. Give the first three men who ask a bit of cash and then try to enjoy your peace.

Along those lines, I think he played it very badly indeed. Going up to paps and threatening them is akin to sticking ones hand in a hornet's nest. In fact, had it been someone a mainstream celeb, say Lindsay Lohan for example who did that, she would have been labelled as a publicity seeking _ _ _ _ _.

It would have made far more sense for him to just go about his usual business, let them take their photos for a bit, talk freely and they would have left him well alone after a while. He's an F1 driver, not a Hollywood actor. F1 is a popular sport and sure it has a wide following, most fans being interested in the sport itself and a good many having a passing interest towards the off-track stories during the off season. Even the most ardent Alonso fan will have only so much interest in seeing a shirtless Alonso and bikini clad wife on the beach, provided they're not doing anything controversial, before moving onto far more interesting things. It's not the same as George Clooney and his latest squeeze cavorting on a beach where hundreds of millions of bored housewives are desperately waiting for the latest issue of Woman's Day magazine to come out revealing all the shots. Paps will spend days chasing those celebs around.

Case in point, the UK paps are renowned as one of the worst in the world. Yet Jenson and his far more attractive (IMO) Jessica get a few photos taken, a few questions asked and the paps move on to find someone that can bring them far more $$$$. The only time paps specifically target, focus and harass non-mainstream celebs is when they are renowned for doing something controversial enough to turn it into a good story. Alonso did just that this time. He's made himself far more interesting to the mainstream non-F1 watching public than would be usual for an F1 driver. Not all that different to Lewis with his hooning in Melbourne. That too was stupid, with a driver having a bit of fun with his colleagues in the back of a quick Merc, not even remotely considering the possibility that he could get caught by police for it. But this Alonso saga is a whole new twist, if even half of it is true, threatening paps, missus running into someone elses house..sounds like a Jerry Springer show. All he's guaranteed for himself is that he's a good bet for a juicy story and the paps will be far more willing to poke him with a stick if they don't get an immediate bite.

The F1 season can't start soon enough.

I watched the video, it really wasn't that big of a deal.

I didn't say Kimi's reputation was tarnished so badly that no teams wanted him. I'm saying that his previous reputation of being the quickest driver in F1 was proved to be false, and that even though a lot of pundits, commentators, etc. accepted that he was the quickest, we found out that he really wasn't.



That is the point I've been trying to make, my friend. Massa's reputation as an Interlagos specialist seems a little bit like Kimi's reputation as the quickest driver in F1 - both are generally accepted and believed, but neither actually deserved the claims. Massa, as I've stated previously, got his reputation from beating Kimi in the Ferrari, their cars which have always gone very well at the circuit. He only had one benchmark to measure against so it could be that Interlagos is Kimi's weak track as it could be Massa's strong track. I hope you get what I mean.



Your Nadal example if not comparable to Massa's. Nadal as a clay specialist has been proven to the point it's almost beyond any doubt. He has beaten so many players and not just at Roland Garros but in the Master Series tournaments like Madrid Open, etc. This is exactly the point I'm making about Massa; he has only beaten one driver at Interlagos. You cannot compare the two.



No one will know for sure if last season's Massa was the same as before. I'm not disputing that he might have problems with the car nor claiming that he was beaten on raw pace alone. What I'm disputing is the claim that he is an Interlagos specialist. There simply isn't enough evidence for that.



Same to you

Massa didn't merely beat one driver at Interlargos. He also beat around 20 other drivers. That's what happens when you win a race...

Back to Alonso, as this is his thread after all, although his 2010 season was great, I think he can do much better. It really was a missed opportunity for him as he could have won at least 2 more races if he didn't make mistakes. Judging by him form from the second half of the season, I think it's safe to say that he managed to find his 06 form again and that's why I think he's favourite for the title next year. I wanted Vettel to win last year so he can take the youngest WDC record, but now I want Alonso to be a triple WDC It's crazy to think he won his last title 5 years ago, I doubt anyone could have predicted that in 2006. He needs to make up for lost time

Then you've completely missed my point...

Did I understand well or is this guy threatening to kill someone???

You should watch The Godfather movies (the first 2), they're pretty decent.

Yep. The way some here are going on about "threats" and "threatening" is a bit rich, hey?

Indeed, but the press very rarely do this unfortunately. What Fernando said was hardly out of line IMO.

This

I'm really enjoying Fernando at the moment, he's becoming more and more like a dastardly, pantomime villain, swarthy and scowling as he berates drivers who have the temerity not to let him past and photographers who have the barefaced cheek to take his picture. I hope things go badly for him next year so we get some more of the Machiavellian malcontent. It's very amusing...

He did basically say that he would slander the place if they didnt stop. And when he did that, then everyone would think that Porto Santo was *and then he did the thumbs down*. Sounds like someone thinks a bit too highly of himself.

I dont see how the island or the hotel or the resort can control when people or photographers take their pictures. Seems like a pretty ridiculous request for something they have no power over. The photographers and journalists wont care anyway as they are just there working. So it was a threat - but a ridiculous one.

Amusing indeed. As amusing as to come here and see all the apologists working overtime.

"A challenge between us? I can’t say anything certain but perhaps at the end of the season, in December, there could be a surprise: on two wheels, four wheels or however many wheels that people would like.."

Well well well well...


http://www.ferrari.com/English/Formula1/Ne..._Who_knows.aspx

Its funny you should say that.. Where are all the Alonso fans from the Lewis Hamilton thread???????

That arrogant bastard Alonso. How dare he praise the fact that 5 world champions will line up, and that they all will be strong. How dare he say hopefullt Massa will be a factor to consider. How dare he say Vettel will be calmer, faster and a force to be reckoned with.

And even worse than that - how does he dare to praise Schumacher! What has that guy done to ever deserve any praise or being reckoned a force in an F1 grid?

Seriously, I haven't looked around this forum, but in a certain other one people were criticising Alonso for stating the following:
"There will be five world champions on the track and the most dangerous champion for me is always Michael."
"He is seven-times champion. He has nothing to prove. He had a difficult season but he is still a champion.
"He is still super class and if the car is right he will be a contender."

Apparently this is not a (well deserved) praise for Schumacher, but some evil attempt by Alonso to do something bad.

I hope you haven't been holding your breath.


I haven't seen any criticism on this forum either, nor do I see any cause for criticism. What is said on other forums isn't relevant on this one.

Mostly not bothering I'd say - even to the extent that a Hamilton fan like you has to jump in in defense of Alonso

Well I'm back after taking a break since 11th of July (last post and live race) due to some inexcusable balls up by rule enforcers in F1.
Just checked out the DVD review I got at Christmas and looks like Alonso made a great comeback (the engines held out despite all the claims) but lost out just at the end, the cheater did not win so it could of been a lot worse result. 2nd in the championship in the 3rd best car, the old Alonso we love and others fear

Quick look around and it seems all I missed over the winter "love in" period is Alonso in a Dave Grohl costume calmly asked reporters to leave him alone and enjoy a holiday which got blown out of proportion as usual. Is that it?
F11 launch at the end of the month ofcourse.

I quite admire Alonso's abilities and will defend him if I feel its right, what wrong with that? Its better than being so one sided and only ever contributing to threads of drivers you don't like isn't it?

I didn't imply there's anything wrong with your approach, far from it. And as you can see, I'm here in the Alonso thread as well. Just have to improve my sensibilty, I guess, so that I can get worked up about each and every negative post re: Alonso, like some Hamilton supporters manage so effectively with their man...

I quite agree. As the phrase goes "Don't feed the trolls", but I must admit I do find it hard to ignore which maybe a fault I have.

FA's helmet:

http://a.yfrog.com/img616/3567/991k.jpg

No changes right? The blue looks a bit darker but it could be the lights.

There is small change.
2010:

Now:

Here is a picture with better quality:
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/02fZgrH16mgDB/1000x.jpg

I always have liked all Alonso's helmets