success vs popularity

In the penultimate race of the F1 season today, Michael Schumacher shockingly blew his engine while leading comfortably with less than 20 laps to go. The commentator said that it's the first time since 2001 a Ferrari car retired due to engine failure (McClaren should take note). This allowed Fernando Alonso to take over and win the race with ease.

With just one more race to go, Alonso leads Schumacher by 10 points, so it'll take nothing less than a miracle (Schumacher to win the race and Alonso to finish pointless) for any chance of Alonso not winning his second driver's championship.

We also witnessed today the contrast between the former and current champions. After his less than satisfactory performance in the last race, Alonso was shooting off his mouth and accusing his own team of sabotaging him. In contrast, after his retirement today Schumacher made sure he went around to hug every single member of his pit crew and the rest of the Ferrari team. Despite the gloominess around and how lousy he must be feeling inside, he managed a smile all the while.

That may explain why Alonso is trailing so badly in the popularity charts. In sports where success and popularity often have a direct causal effect, his fourth placing performance seems rather absymal.

I guess he still has a lot to learn before he is acknowledged as a true champion.