MAY 11, 2006

Alonso and the public

A few days ago Bernie Ecclestone said that the Formula 1 drivers do not do enough to promote Formula 1 and specifically complained that Fernando Alonso does not do much.

Alonso was asked what he felt about this and said, perhaps without sufficient thought, that "I have a team that pay me to do my job. I go testing, I go a promotional events and I have my sponsors, I go to my obligations. I race and this is my job in Formula 1. I don't know what more I have to do. I do everything in my contract that I have to."

This may be so but perhaps the Renault PR men would have liked to have heard Fernando say that once in a while he also goes out and does things that are not in his contract, like signing a few autographs or smiling at his fans.

Thankfully, Fernando made up for his remark on Thursday afternoon by doing exactly that.

It is better than having clauses in contracts about 50 autographs a day, isn't it?