Fernando Alonso: the discoverer of Formula 1

Recently, I met up with a good friend of mine — a die-hard football fan but a complete stranger to the world of “little colorful cars” — and he told me something we racing fans have been hearing a lot lately:

“You know, man, the other day I watched the race…”

To which I replied:

“Oh yeah? And did you like it?”

And he answered:

“Well, actually, yes. But there’s something I didn’t think was right. Since Fernando and Carlos are both Spanish, I noticed that the commentators were clearly cheering for Fernando way more than for Carlos.”

After hearing that, I paused for a few seconds to think about how I could explain to my rookie friend what Don Fernando Alonso Díaz means in the history of our sport — and especially what his figure represents in Spain, and why any comparison with “El Padre” inevitably leaves the other party looking small.

First of all, I’d have to remind him that in Formula 1, a driver’s flag alone is rarely enough. It’s a unique sport in which fans are driven by the connection they feel to “their” drivers and teams. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to understand the fervor of the tifosi all over the world for a Scuderia Ferrari that hasn’t had an Italian driver in ages, nor seen one succeed there for even longer. Or the almost mystical passion that Ayrton Senna inspired — and still inspires — around the globe. Of course, a local driver helps, but it’s not everything.

But when it comes to Fernando Alonso, the thing is… he isn’t just any driver. He isn’t even just another athlete. He’s the man who turned what was once a niche sport in Spain, followed only by small, “petrol-headed” groups, into a mass phenomenon that dared to challenge football — the “king sport” — in popularity and TV ratings. This is the country that gave birth to the “Blue Tide” (now Green), to Alonsismo as a cultural identity, and to “33” as a sort of paranormal phenomenon.

For 20 years, he’s been refusing to give in to the passing of time, fighting against the logic dictated by a record which, while great, still doesn’t reflect his true worth. And it’s precisely because of his talent, charisma and tenacity that he belongs not only among the greatest Spanish athletes of all time (alongside Pau Gasol and Rafa Nadal), nor just among the best drivers in Formula 1 or motorsport history; we may very well be, ladies and gentlemen, in the presence of one of the greatest athletes — in the broadest sense of the word — of all time.

So, my friend, Fernando isn’t just a Spanish driver. He has transcended nationality to become a universal figure. And while it’s clear that Fernando Alonso didn’t invent Formula 1 nor bring it to Spain for the first time, he did, like Christopher Columbus between two estranged continents, achieve two monumental things:

He made an entire country discover a sport that had always been there, but was largely unknown.
He made that sport discover a passionate Spanish fan base that barely existed before, but is now inseparable from it.

Fernando Alonso, then, is not only part of the history of Spanish sport and motorsport — he is a legend of the racing world. A world that, without a doubt, would look very different without Fernando Alonso’s “Discovery of Formula 1.”

Luis Díaz Urbistondo — Founder of Montdebó