Motorsport: Criticism of Alonso 'unfair'

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone was unfair to accuse Renault's Fernando Alonso of failing to do enough for the sport, says 1996 world champion Damon Hill.

The Briton told Reuters in an interview today that the sport as a whole must shoulder the blame if the current crop of drivers came across as less colourful and charismatic than in the past.

Asked about recent criticism of Spaniard Alonso as a champion "who doesn't do much", Hill said he understood where Ecclestone was coming from even if the comments were harsh.

"I think it was unfair of Bernie to say that at that particular moment," he said at a promotional event for next month's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

"I think it's a little bit rich to say that he (Alonso) is not doing anything he can for the sport when you've got 130,000 people (at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona).

"But I understand what Bernie's saying...I think he is saying why can't Fernando Alonso be more like (MotoGP champion) Valentino Rossi."

Flamboyant Italian Rossi, a crowd-pleasing showman and king of two-wheeled racing, is mulling over a possible switch to Formula One next year. Alonso, 24, became Formula One's youngest champion last season.

Hill, the newly-elected president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, said it was unfair to compare MotoGP with Formula One, a sport with massive commercial interests and dominated by car manufacturers and corporate sponsors.

"Your time is bought, you are bought by the team," said the 45-year-old of life as a Formula One driver. "It is not easy to come out and say what you think, it's not easy to go where you want to when you want to.

"When you go back to when Bernie ran a team (Brabham), you had people like (Nelson) Piquet and (Niki) Lauda and they were able to say whatever they liked," added Hill.

"They were as big as the team owners, in fact they were bigger than team owners and that was a crucial factor in the appeal of the sport.

"To win at this level now requires total dedication. It does not bring about a well-rounded personality."

Hill, winner of 22 races, recalled how he too was accused of not putting enough back into the sport -- to which he replied that he had done his bit by winning the British Grand Prix.

He recognised however that Formula One needed a personality who could transcend the sport.

"Someone like Muhammad Ali was way bigger than boxing. People don't watch boxing mostly but everyone knows Muhammad Ali," said Hill.

"That was what Bernie was trying to say -- where are we going to find in the sport the person who means more to the sport than just his race results?

"He needs to be a winner but he also needs to be someone who connects. Ayrton Senna had that, Nigel Mansell had that. They were drivers who connected with the public but it's more and more difficult to do that now in the way that the sport is structured," said Hill.

"Actually, in fact, the question should be put not to the drivers but to the team owners and people who run the sport."

- REUTERS