So - I have been watching F1 off and on from 2009 onwards (The Vettel Era followed by Hamilton domination). During most of this - Alonso came close but never won the championship, although, I did hear a lot of whining from him - mostly accusing the car for not being upto his standard.

Going back a little bit, I read about the 2007 season and how Hamilton's brilliance had threatened Alonso. When Renault announced that they are signing Alonso for 2020 - my first reaction was that it's going to be a disaster. What he couldn't do in 2011/12 - why do you think he will be able to do in 2020, with a midfield team? Given their trajectory, Renault might be fighting for podiums soon, but then it all goes to sand in 2022 and I don't see why Alonso will be a better choice compared to say Hulk or Vettel (when Alonso was signed, Vettel was available).

Anyways, Renault signing is an orthogonal topic. What I am more interested in is - why the god-like reverence from the sub despite, what I (a post-2009 spectator) perceive as middling performance and a bad attitude?

Edit:

So, I have seen a good number of responses - all mainly pointing to Alonso's ability to maximize the performance from whichever car he was driving. I agree with that assessment. Also, I am sorry for using the word "middling performance" - it wasn't middling - and I have tremendous respect for his drives!

I am disappointed in the fact that while my post was not 1-bit condescending - fanboys decided to mock and condescend to me - with many questioning if I had ever seen him racing?

I gave a complete background of how I started watching F1 in 2009.

2010 - Alonso would have taken WDC, but he didn't! Sure - it was Ferarri's strategy error, but I will argue that Vettel would have secured WDC if he didn't have to retire due to an engine failure in Korea, which Alonso won (Vettel had started from pole). In Belgium, Alonso was running 8th but spun! Alonso had 0 mechanical failure based retirements, while Vettel had 3 - so, yes, it wasn't all strategy that cost him 2010 WDC (and 2010 Ferarri was a competitive car).

2012 - he did drive an epic first part of the season, coupled with great reliability - but - there were some mistakes in 2012 as well, which held him back from winning the WDC (Massa out-qualified him in the final 2 races of the season, so there was definitely a dip).

Also - Renault's decision for me was questionable as Alonso is going to be 40 next year - and there are younger drivers, who no doubt are not as talented as Alonso - but are closer to their peak then Alonso is, and might be better long term prospects. Also - yes - Alonso is doing great at other racing - but that does not guarantee a F1 success!

My question was - why the god-like reverence? I think I have my answer.

Wanted to remind that today's the last date for the Air France Flying Blue promotion of 1 UR = 1.25 Flying Blue points. April is a really good month as part of monthly Flying Blue promotions, Air France is running a promotion for the flights from US (https://thepointsguy.com/deals/flying-blue-special-promo-rewards/).

I just booked a flight for family of 4 to Italy in 140,000 miles + $600. The regular ticket costs were $4200 for the same dates. This came out to a whopping conversion rate of 3.3 cents per UR point.

There are plenty of dates available at 15k miles from east coast/ 20k miles from west coast to Europe for tickets which generally cost $1k Round Trip.

We have a well worn S5 Max with around 550 hours of use. I put in a trade-in request and got $150 as trade-in value which I think is fair assessment considering this would be a no-hassle trade in, but the devices I am getting to buy are limited - which is absurd!

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I wanted to buy the S8 Pro Ultra but I can't (Also, S7 Max Ultra listed at $999 - same as S8 Pro ultra buying outright without trade in makes the trade-in sound like a scam).
Has anyone been able to trade up to S8 Pro Ultra?