“Dinner With Obama” Narrative Once Forced Privacy Conscious Fernando Alonso Into Social Media Mania

Fernando Alonso has always been very conscious about his personal life and privacy. That did not do much favor to him as once he started gaining popularity, people wrote stuff about him that wasn’t necessarily all true. That was when he decided to use Twitter to connect with his fans and give real updates on his life. The Spaniard revealed that and much more about his relationship with Twitter and his fans.

Alonso joined F1 pretty young in 2001. The boy from Oviedo did not taste instant success, as he spent the next year as a test driver for Renault. In 2003, he made a return to the grid as a regular for Renault, and it was in 2005 that Fernando won his maiden F1 title. The second championship win the next season took his popularity through the roof, making him the media’s golden boy. What he couldn’t control, however, was what they wrote about him. That changed when he started using Twitter.

Nextgen-Auto, in a 2013 article, quoted Alonso as saying, “Since I started using Twitter, I am the one who says what I am doing. Before, it could be said that I was spending my holiday with elephants or that I was having dinner with Obama, but now for example, I can be the one to say that I was in Italy, skiing on New Year’s day before going to Russia and from there to Brazil to take part in the kart race organized by Felipe (Massa).” 

“Tweeting means I can be in direct contact with my fans, to help them discover aspects of my job that they would never get to know otherwise. Of course, I can’t say everything because in Formula 1, a lot of information has to remain confidential, but I think it is still a fun and useful tool.”

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Alonso developed a fierce rivalry with teammate Lewis Hamilton from the very first season they were together. Some tactics that he used to trump the Briton earned him quite a notoriety in the media.

When Zak Brown stepped in to rescue the reputation of Fernando Alonso

Fernando raced for McLaren for 4 years (2015-2018). During that time, he earned the reputation of being a manipulator in the media. Speaking on Beyond the Grid podcast in 2020, McLaren boss Zak Brown cleared the air on the issue.

He said, “People are under the impression that Fernando was calling the shots at McLaren. That was just so far from the truth. You have a 2-times world champion and you value his input. But he never once said, give me this, do this, do that. He was just driving our race car. It is a shame but there are a lot of wrong ideas about that.”

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Alonso may have won only two world championships in his long F1 career. But his racing style and charisma off the track remain second to none. In 2023, the 41-year-old will race for Aston Martin, starting a new chapter in his racing life.