Alonso: Ferrari’s shortcomings

Fernando Alonso hoped that a victory with Ferrari would be his ultimate triumph, cementing his legendary status alongside this iconic team. But after five turbulent years, this partnership is ending without results, with no championship titles to his name.

When Fernando Alonso arrived in Maranello in 2010, their partnership seemed destined for a bright future: a victory in Bahrain, in the first race of the season, heralded a new chapter for the driver and the once-dominant Scuderia. But the debacle at the end of the season in Abu Dhabi—a strategy that favored Mark Webber and allowed Sebastian Vettel to win the title—set the tone for an unfulfilled promise that would cast a shadow over the Spaniard's four years at Ferrari.

The narrative that followed was less about raw speed and more about the erosion of cohesion within Ferrari. Under Stefano Domenicali, the team no longer functioned with the meticulous unity that Jean Todt had cultivated, and Alonso's well-known fiery temperament began to clash with the new order. His radio arguments with his engineers, his public outbursts, and a notorious incident during qualifying at Monza—where he lashed out, saying, “I have to let him pass? You guys are really idiots. Mamma Mia…” before trying to soften the insult by claiming he had said “geniuses”—all signaled a growing rift. Alonso's track record during those years was mixed. In 2012, he drove the underpowered F2012 to three wins and kept pace with Vettel until the final Grand Prix, a performance that could have earned him the unofficial title of “best driver” of the season. But without a championship title, those achievements seemed meaningless. The recruitment of Kimi Räikkönen in 2011 was widely interpreted as a message that Alonso was no longer the undisputed leader in the garage. The extension of his contract in September 2012, which tied him to Ferrari until the end of 2016, was presented by the Spaniard as proof of loyalty: “If I'm still motivated and hungry for victories, I'd like to continue, and if I continue, it will only be with Ferrari.” Two years later, however, the partnership was at a standstill. No victories, only two podium finishes and a sixth place in the drivers' championship underscored the disappointment.

The arrival of Marco Mattiacci, then Maurizio Arrivabene at the helm of the team marked the beginning of a structural overhaul, a process that would culminate in the appointment of Sebastian Vettel, a breath of fresh air that threatened to consolidate what Alonso had failed to achieve. For the former two-time world champion, seeing his German rival thrive where he had failed remains the most bitter irony of his nightmare at Ferrari.