Fernando Alonso's INSANE Driving Style Which Won Him 2 Championships!

In 2005 and 2006 Fernando Alonso used a really weird driving style that was never seen in F1 before. No driver since the sport became a sport used this driving style, but for Fernando Alonso, it earned him two world championships! Why was Fernando Alonso using it, and how did it make him faster?
In the video below, watch Fernando and notice how aggressively he turns his steering wheel into the turns.

Video From Youtube, Channel:John Cash Thanks!

A normal way to turn into a corner would be to introduce the car into the corner and prepare for a good exit. The best way to do this is to allow the initial steering input to roll over the car and the tire to flex until both are supported. This allows the driver to maintain the highest amount of grip in the tire which leads to higher corner speeds. This is why you see drivers creeping up onto a entry curve before a fast corner. This allows them to start the turn earlier with less steering angle giving the car a chance to roll over and the tires to deform before the main load is added. However, with Alonso's style, he would cause the front tires to break traction on purpose, ruining the balance of his Renault and making the F1 car understeer at the corner entry. All drivers have different styles but many people think Alonso's style was horrible. However, Alonso definitely made this style work as he won 2 world championships with it. So I had the question, "How could this driving style which was rated by professional drivers as a bad technique which won't work, be so good?" To answer this question, we must know the characteristics of 2005 and 2006 Renault F1 car. It had a rear wood balance meaning more grip to the back tires making it very good in the traction zones which helped it gain an advantage on the other cars when accelerating out of tight corners. Renault had also developed a genius rear suspension in collaboration with their tire supplier, Michelin which made allowed the tires to be used in the best possible way. The other tire manufacturer was BridgeStone, which was made primarily to fit to Ferrari. It was a more rounded shape meaning cleaner air flow off the tire therefore making the car's aerodynamics better. The Michelin on the Renault f1 cars were more square, meaning more rubber on the ground but at the cost of good aerodynamics. The Michelin was also harder to drive when pushed to the limit and gave the driver less warning when it was fading away. So Fernando experimented and figured out how to best use this tire. So what was Alonso doing with his driving technique? As you saw in the video, he purposefully caused the car to understeer which forced the front tires to slide across the circuit surface with a high amount of slip angle. Slip angle is the difference between where the tires are pointing and where the car is pointing.

 

 Image From Google!

With more steering angle and more understeer the car isn't turning as much as the steering, and has a high slip angle. After Alonso jerked the steering wheel and had caused understeer, he would wait for the front tires to grip again. Once they have gripped he would remove the excess steering angle and accelerate. Basically, as Alonso hit the apex and started to exit of the turn, the tires would become hotter causing more grip. Also remember that in the early 2000s the tires were much more durable than today, and designed to last for one whole race. So Alonso's trick was to make the tires work better in the opening part of the corner. After the tires have warmed up and started to provide more grip, Alonso would use the Renault's AMAZING rear to sling out of the corner. In simple terms, Alonso would generate extra grip in the car, then he would use it to go through the corner well and guarantee a safe and fast exit. He was giving time in the entry of the turn, but gained much more time in the exit of the turn. However, this technique was very hard to do, even for legends. One mistake could lead to a spin. The steering would have to be perfectly timed and if not, you would lose lots of time. You would also have to have the ability to control the car when it starts to break away and prevent spins and crashes. However, Michelin left the sport in 2007 and Alonso moved to McLaren. McLaren was concerned about Alonso's aggressive driving technique, but Alonso adapted and made the most of the McLaren too. This was the style, only one legend could perferct.



Tell me in the comments if you enjoyed this post and if you learned a lot from it! If you did, Tell me if I should do more posts on legends' driving styles! Thanks for Reading!