It has been a good racing year in Formula One. An intriguing championship battle is brewing between Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari. And this weekend at Spa, the action will resume on the track after the summer break.
But things have been just as choppy off the track.
The August pause is when teams and drivers sort out new contracts and renewals — routine matters of housekeeping more often than not — but 2018 has been different. For the first time in a while, big moves have sent ripples through the grid.
It all started when Daniel Ricciardo shocked the paddock two days after the post-race testing in Hungary, announcing he was leaving Red Bull for Renault.
Till that weekend, it seemed as if Ricciardo was staying put; the doors at Mercedes and Ferrari were firmly shut. Red Bull boss Christian Horner actually admitted on the official F1 podcast that he thought Ricciardo was pulling a prank when the Australian told him of the decision.
It’s a big gamble, leaving a proven race-winning car for a team that has not been on the podium since 2015. Perhaps, with Max Verstappen signed up till 2020, Ricciardo sensed that Red Bull was gravitating towards the young Dutchman. But it’s a decision that could, potentially, make or break his career.
And there is no better cautionary tale involving bad moves than Fernando Alonso’s. The Spaniard, who stunned everyone with the declaration that he was quitting F1 at the end of the season, has been hampered all career by dodgy decision making.
It is another matter that despite a series of bad choices, Alonso is still regarded by some as the best driver on the grid, especially on race day.
Clearly, he has had enough, toiling with a car that has not threatened to make the podium in four years. Indeed, Alonso’s career is a warning for the likes of Ricciardo.
After two titles with Renault, Alonso jumped to McLaren in 2007, but the story ended after one season. He fell out with the team after upstart Hamilton’s impressive performances meant McLaren could not guarantee him special treatment.
It didn’t help that Alonso allegedly blackmailed the then team boss, Ron Dennis, with information that McLaren possessed some of Ferrari’s Intellectual Property on car designs and strategies.
He spent two years back at Renault (2008-2009) before going to Ferrari, where he produced some stellar drives only to see Red Bull and Vettel stomp home to four world titles.
Alonso expressed disappointment over Ferrari’s lack of progress and poor performance in the first year of the new regulations in 2014. He also dithered over committing to the team for the long term and was outwitted by the then Ferrari boss, Marco Mattiacci, who snapped up Vettel.
Alonso went to McLaren a second time, with new engine partner Honda in 2015, and suffered absolute misery with an unreliable, underperforming power unit.
Over the last two years, Alonso has tried his hand at the Indy 500 and dovetailed a World Endurance Championship campaign into his season in a bid to stay motivated.
While rumours of Alonso’s impending departure have done the rounds, it is telling that the world’s best driver was not wanted by Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull, all of whom had or have vacancies. When asked whether he would hire Alonso, Horner quipped, “He’s tended to cause a bit of chaos wherever he’s gone.”
With two world titles and 32 wins under his belt, Alonso ranks among the greatest; Horner’s words, however, will dog him like a shadow he can’t shake off.
But for every driver who has made bad choices, there is the example of someone like Hamilton who jumped ship at the right moment to a Mercedes team that was building towards the regulation changes in 2014.
However, Riccardo will not benefit similarly: there will be a few aerodynamic tweaks to improve the racing next year, but no rules shake-up that will reset teams. The Australian has bet instead on carving an identity independent of Red Bull, which has groomed him since his Formula Junior days, even at the cost of some short-term pain.
It’s something Alonso chose in 2008 despite having an offer from Red Bull, which has built race-winning cars every year since 2009, barring one. That ‘short-term’ pain never ended for the Spaniard. What of Ricciardo?