23/04/2006
NEWS STORY
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The media has been getting it in the neck in recent weeks.
Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Jean Todt, Alex Shnaider and now Fernando Alonso have all, at some point or another, accused the media of either misinterpreting comments in order to create a good story, or simply inventing stories based on paddock gossip. As if.
Last week, Midland owner, Shnaider, referring to reports that he was considering selling his team, accused the media of "spreading bullshit" and lazy journalism", though he made these comments to a newspaper.
Of course we believe Mr Shnaider, some of the recent stories have been utter bullshit, because some journalists find it a lot easier to invent a story or go with the flow, rather than dig for facts. We therefore utterly reject the story published on grandprix.com, even though this is not a site usually given either to sensationalism or bullshit.
In the post-qualifying press release yesterday, Fernando Alonso became the latest F1 person to blame the media, claiming that comments he'd made to the Spanish press had been entirely misinterpreted and therefore he had been misrepresented.
According to the reports, Alonso claimed that Renault had never helped him in all the years he had been with the team: "They haven't helped me at all," he is reported as saying. "When there was a test or a race, whenever I needed something, I didn't get much.
"Everybody knows what happened in some of the races last year and the conversations we had on the radio," he is quoted as saying. "So this year I'm not expecting much from the team."
In the post-qualifying press release, the Spaniard went out of his way to correct the situation and to put the record straight.
"I also wish to clarify comments I made yesterday after they were interpreted in this morning's press," he said. "I want to reiterate that I have always enjoyed total technical support from Renault.
"Renault is known everywhere as a team that treats both of its drivers fairly and equally," he added
Hopefully this will appease his current bosses, and the matter will quickly be forgotten. And if his comments have been misinterpreted and sensationalised, perhaps the Spanish media will apologise, or maybe Alonso could simply refuse any further co-operation with the journalists involved.
Then again, perhaps not.