Fernando Alonso has bemoaned the lack of on-track respect between drivers of the current era after being part of the Gilles Villeneuve 30th anniversary event at Fiorano yesterday.
Alonso said that fights like the one that Villeneuve enjoyed with Rene Arnoux at Dijon in 1979 would not be possible these days. Alonso made the comments in his official blog after watching Jacques Villeneuve drive his father’s Ferrari 312T4.
“What I know of the father came only through films and obviously, the one I remember best is the duel he had with Arnoux at Dijon, when he was driving the very same car that was on track yesterday,” said Alonso. “Unfortunately, these days, we no longer see this sort of fight because there are more difficulties to deal with – the cars are now dominated by aerodynamics and those sorts of passing moves are no longer possible.
“On top of that, there was definitely more respect then than there is now between us drivers, partly because they knew that, in those cars, they were risking their lives. I don’t want to say that today things are done incorrectly, but I believe there is not that mutual respect, at least not from everyone, that there was back then. It’s a problem that goes back a long way, to the junior categories and I think the time has come to try and get it back.”
Meanwhile Alonso said he is hopeful of progress in Spain this weekend.
“In Montmelo, we will be counting on making a step forward, but we won’t know until Saturday if we have and if so, how big a step it is. We have updates on the F2012, some of which we tested in Mugello last week and others which we will try out on Friday in free practice. Clearly, having limited the damage in the first four races this year, we must turn things around.”
Regarding the rest of the 2012 season, Alonso said: “The important thing is to make progress, reducing the gap as much as possible, first this weekend, then again in Monaco and after that, in Montreal, Valencia, Silverstone…The season is very long, with sixteen races to go, the same number that constituted the entire calendar back in 2003.
“We must continue to work day and night, just as did Gilles’ mechanics, whom I met at the track yesterday and just as our guys do today. I will be flying with them to Barcelona this afternoon. With the same spirit of wanting to win and being prepared to fight with all one’s strength to achieve that, which is the spirit that has driven me ever since I was a kid racing karts.”
Adam Cooper F1 
i think he’s actually wrong! the last two seasons, more than any in at least 20 years, have seen a return to this kind of action!
Well Fernando if you are talking about respecting the other driver and giving him room you have one of the main guys that destroys the concept of side by side racing into corners right next to you. His called Felipe Massa and in his rulebook the guy with his wing in-frond can always push others off track or simply hit them. Why don’t you start with him. Teach him a few things so he can stop being such an insult to racing.
That’s pretty rich coming from a guy with no morals whatsoever. Remember blackmailing Ron Dennis, Fernando?
I like the fact that Alonso seems to be more reflective as the years go by. We are of the same age and I have watched him progress, and it seems he is getting more comfortable and sure of himself when it comes to making a stand philosophically, as opposed to his earlier days when he was a little suspicious of how he might be interpreted in the press and as a result was a little curt.
Respect is not something you get, but something you earn. And respect goes both ways. Alonso has also pressed sombody off the track, just think Hamilton in Spa Vettle in Monza. That said Rosberg was way off in those moves. Had it been Schumacer he would be hung just think Barrichello in Hungary
Drivers in top teams who almost always fight cleanly:
(min 2 yrs F1 experience)
Alonso
Button
Raikkonen
Kobayashi
Webber (since 2010 only)
Hamilton (’07, ’08, ’09, ’12)
Drivers in top teams who can’t or refuse to fight cleanly:
Schumi (dirtiest ‘top’ driver in F1history IMO)
Vettel
Massa (since 2010)
Undecided:
Rosberg. Prior to Bahrain, he was arguably the easiest top team driver to pass. In Bahrain, he unfortunately took a chapter from the Schumi book of defending. Time will tell.
If more drivers were wired like Hamilton and Kobayashi, and the tires permitted it, imo, we would be having a purer type of excitement than the somewhat contrived situation that exists today.