Formula One: Alonso, Red Bull kick off mind games
Both parties preparing for gruelling new season.
Red Bull advisor blames Alonso’s stressed out attitude for his distraction with politics. PHOTO: AFP
LONDON:
Formula One’s pre-season mind games kicked off on Tuesday with Fernando Alonso having a dig at Red Bull after one of Sebastian Vettel’s main mentors accused the Ferrari driver of playing politics.
Helmut Marko, a close adviser to Red Bull’s owner Dietrich Mateschitz, contrasted triple world champion Vettel’s attitude to Alonso’s in an interview with the company’s in-house Red Bulletin magazine. The Austrian said Vettel was a phenomenon who ‘shuts himself off from the rest of the world, so that he can still call on reserves that other drivers might not have’. Alonso, by contrast, was ‘busy with politics and funny comments’.
“I believe we saw the stress Alonso was under towards the end of the season,” said Marko. “Saying things like, ‘I’m competing against Lewis Hamilton, not Vettel,’ and ‘I’m up against (Red Bull designer Adrian) Newey’. We told Vettel to ignore these skirmishes.”
Alonso had a 42-point advantage over Vettel at the mid-season break last year but ended up losing out by three points. As the battle heated up, so did the psychological warfare and even as he celebrated the title, Vettel spoke out about what he saw as ‘dirty tricks’ and attempts to unsettle him.
Meanwhile, Alonso made light of Marko’s comments and turned them back on his rivals instead.
“I enjoy reading that Red Bull still think we will be the strongest rival for this year,” posted Alonso on Twitter. “And this comes even before I start testing. I’m quite flattered.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2013.
Formula One’s pre-season mind games kicked off on Tuesday with Fernando Alonso having a dig at Red Bull after one of Sebastian Vettel’s main mentors accused the Ferrari driver of playing politics.
Helmut Marko, a close adviser to Red Bull’s owner Dietrich Mateschitz, contrasted triple world champion Vettel’s attitude to Alonso’s in an interview with the company’s in-house Red Bulletin magazine. The Austrian said Vettel was a phenomenon who ‘shuts himself off from the rest of the world, so that he can still call on reserves that other drivers might not have’. Alonso, by contrast, was ‘busy with politics and funny comments’.
“I believe we saw the stress Alonso was under towards the end of the season,” said Marko. “Saying things like, ‘I’m competing against Lewis Hamilton, not Vettel,’ and ‘I’m up against (Red Bull designer Adrian) Newey’. We told Vettel to ignore these skirmishes.”
Alonso had a 42-point advantage over Vettel at the mid-season break last year but ended up losing out by three points. As the battle heated up, so did the psychological warfare and even as he celebrated the title, Vettel spoke out about what he saw as ‘dirty tricks’ and attempts to unsettle him.
Meanwhile, Alonso made light of Marko’s comments and turned them back on his rivals instead.
“I enjoy reading that Red Bull still think we will be the strongest rival for this year,” posted Alonso on Twitter. “And this comes even before I start testing. I’m quite flattered.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2013.