“There are more than 30,000 people here,” said Alonso, referring to the fact that more than 30,000 people have paid tickets to the Jerez race track this last weekend only to greet Alonso as he tested for Ferrari.
“The people who speak badly about me then tremble and cry when they want to have their picture taken with me,” he added.
It's a well-known fact that Alonso and the paparazzi don't get along very well (who does, really?), and several episodes throughout his career in F1 have come to strengthen that belief. However, the Spaniard insisted that his image in the world is what he sees at each Grand Prix, with thousands of fans showing admiration for him, rather than what he sees on the Internet written about him.
“There is a difference between how brave people feel writing on the Internet, and when I see the admiration I receive all around the world. I also think it's easier to write that there are so many people who are anti-Alonso than to write that 30,000 people came to a test to see me,” he added.
We're not sure how people in the UK see the 2-time world champion – probably not very well, given his past experience with British “emblems” McLaren and Lewis Hamilton – but in a recent poll conducted by Motor Sport magazine, the Spaniard was tipped to become world champion in 2011.
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