While this off-season might be void of any silly-season rumors, there has definitely been no shortage of drama in the F1 world. The whole FIA-Susie Wolff fiasco brought in a lot of scrutiny for the president, resulting in a lot of teams, especially Mercedes, getting frustrated.

After Lewis Hamilton allegedly “abandoned” the trophy at the FIA, it was seen as a sign of protest immediately. While this couldn’t be any farther from the truth, a recent incident involving Fernando Alonso‘s trophy also came to the limelight recently. Wait, Alonso didn’t receive any trophy during the FIA awards ceremony, then what are we talking about? It’s about one of the trophies during his championship-winning 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Fernando Alonso’s Heartwarming Gesture

Fernando Alonso had an amazing first stint at Renault from 2002 to 2006. During this period, he had not only seen plenty of race wins and podium finishes but also two world championships in 2005 and 2006. During these glory years, Chris Hessey was his number 1 mechanic on the Enstone team.

By 2005, he was showing a great amount of potential, finishing 3rd in the season opener in the Australian Grand Prix. However, after that, he won 3 consecutive races back to back, creating a 16-point lead in the championship, and didn’t give a chance for anyone else to win that season.

However, even then Fernando realized that it was not his effort alone, but the team as a whole that contributed to his winning streak. talking about this, Chris Hessey opened up – “He is [a team player]. Bahrain 2005, I’ve still got the trophy now. He won the race, came up to me in the garage with the winner’s trophy, and said, ‘This is for you’. I said, ‘Okay Fernando no worries, I’ll package it up and I’ll get it shipped back in the freight for you to the UK, save you trying to get on a plane with it’. He said, ‘No, this is for you’. I said, ‘What do you mean for me?’. He said, ‘I want to give you this trophy, it’s yours.’ That’s the sort of guy he was.”

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However, it wasn’t just the trophy that he shared with the mechanics, but rather the bonuses that he had as well!

Fernando Alonso the Team Player

After his first few wins, every time Fernando Alonso got a bonus from the team for finishing in the top 3, he had the habit of dividing it up with his mechanics.

“He called me in the back of the truck again, had a big pile of envelopes, and said, ‘These are for you and the guys. This is for you.’ So I said, ‘oh’. I just thought it was a thank-you card. I opened the money up. There was like 600 euros in it. I said, ‘What’s this for’, he said ‘This is part of my bonus that Flavio has to give me when I do well or get in the top 3. I get a bonus. I want to share it with you guys because without you guys I wouldn’t be able to do it. And I said, ‘No Fernando, you don’t need to do that. He said, ‘No I’m doing it’.”

However, during his McLaren days, the British team had assumed that Fernando was bribing the mechanics to gain their favor ahead of Lewis Hamilton, creating a lot of ruckus. In 2007, Ron Dennis put a stop to this practice.

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While this trophygate incident still has no conclusion, it is imperative for us to remember all the good times that happened in Formula 1 as well. Moments like these give us a whole new respect for the drivers who put everything in line, race in. and race out.