UgncreativeUsergname wrote:- Mercedes never wanted him because they didn't want a driver who wanted a team to be their team.
- He left Ferrari.
- Red Bull always had their own programme.
2010 and '12 are the most painful since they're so close, but he could've won so many championships... but it is kind of his fault. Or I'm just trying to come up with a reason it's not really sad.
Some have suggested that Marchionne pushed Alonso into leaving Ferrari because he wanted to stamp his authority on the team by imposing his driver choice on it, and because Alonso was too closely associated with the old management of the team (especially Domenicali, whom Alonso defended when he was sacked).
As you say, it is a situation where, on the one hand, there is a semi-tragic element given his heroics in 2010, and especially 2012, as in the latter case it felt like he dragged the car to the front by sheer force of will alone. On the other hand, the moves he's made in his career rarely seem to have worked out - things spiralling out of control in 2007, that decision many years ago to turn down both Honda - before it was transformed into Brawn, and then Mercedes - and Red Bull to go to Ferrari, which just never worked out, followed by the gamble with McLaren and moving there at the point where the team has begun to tear itself apart with infighting.
In terms of talent and ability on the track, whilst some might cite some of his performances from 2012 as amongst his best, even now that ferocity and strength of character shows - the fighting spirit in Australia, although it proved to be a false dawn for McLaren this year, or the way that commentators talked about how, at Le Mans, they saw him cutting through the traffic stunningly quickly and in a way that put the regular veteran drivers to shame.
Yet, at the same time, you are right that there have been other aspects of his character and events around him that have also worked against him - the questions over the potential damage caused within a team by his public criticism, the controversies and strained relationships and a number of other factors does mean that, at times, it feels as if the biggest challenger he had to face was the more negative side of his character, and sometimes a battle that he didn't always win.
In many ways, he really is a tragic figure - a great driver, but also a flawed one, though in many ways that kind of makes him a more fascinating character for it.
