Fernando Alonso & His Relationship With Cards
I'm sure we're all familar with the cards on the back of Fernando's Vegas GP helmet by now, but did you know his relationship with cards goes a lot deeper?
I. Magic Tricks
You've probably seen or heard someone at least mention Fernando's propensity for card tricks. As far as I can tell he was doing them(publically) as far back as 2003 all the way to as recently as 2018. Even once performing a card trick, with a condom and a teddy bear(!??!?!??!!), in front of Valentino Rossi who said "How was that possible?"(x)
But how did this start? According to James Allen, "Fernando admits to having been heavily influenced by his grandfather, a mercurial figure, who taught him magic and card tricks, still one of his passions away from the race track."(x) And I'm not sure the validity of this one, because I couldn't find an actual source, but apparently he once said: "My parents are responsible for the two things I like doing most - driving and magic tricks. They bought me my first go-kart and a magician's kit."
In several interviews he described it as his hobby off track, and that he loved learning new tricks and surprising others in the garage with them! So clearly cards are pretty important to him both as a hobby but also to who he is as a person since they've been with him just as long as racing has.
II. Card Symbolism in His Helmets
This is the reason I originally made this post, but I thought I should also explain the origins of his card fascination first. As I said, we probably all remember the cards on the back of his helmet in Vegas, but did you know that wasn't the first time he had cards on the back of his helmet?
From 2008-2013, he used to have a pair of cards on the back of his helmets. The symbolisms of the cards themselves as well as the evolution of their design is really fascinating to me! Even more so with the recent development of the card choice in 2023.
Fernando said he wanted to reference his two titles in some way on the back of his helmet and after his friend sent him several ideas, he decided on having two cards(an ace of clubs and an ace of hearts, sometimes pictured with 05 and 06 on them as well), saying: "I picked the cloverleaf [the ace of clubs - Ed] to give me luck, but the only pity is that it doesn't have four leaves!"(X)
2008.
Here's the very first appearance of the cards! They're displayed flat, with the 05 and 06 clearly visible
2009.
Very similar to 2008, but with a slightly different design, and they're maybe a bit more straight with less shadow?
2010.
This is the first major change! I was sad they didn't have the years on them anymore, but then I realized they're sparkly to match with his signature lightning bolts on the top of the helmet!!
2011.
Honestly I'm still somewhat unsure if this is the actual 2011 helmet? It's pretty difficult to find clear photos of the back of helmets from older seasons. It's easiest to find them on replica sites or auction sites so I'm not 100%? But anyways, I like that this has the championship years on the underside of the cards
2012.
This is when I started getting weirdly emotional about the helmets. Do you see how they've progressed from being a centerpoint to being curled up and sad at the bottom of the helmet? Not listing the year anymore??
2013.
Same thoughts as 2012. And after this season, they cease to exist (just like his ferrari chair in the garage, WOAH CALLBACK), until cards make a reeappearance in his Vegas helmet, albeit in a different form
2013 Monaco(Honorable Mention):
For some reason 2013 helmets were easier to find proper pictures of, so I happened to witness this absolute beauty. The creativity of this helmet genuinely blows me away??? Wanting to keep the card motif, but making sure to incorporate it into the rest of the puzzle piece design?? Mwah! There was another special 2013 helmet but they didn't change the cards at all so I really applaud this one
2023 Las Vegas(The Return of The King):
The magnificent return! But look! The cards are different cards! Instead of being two aces, it's now an ace of hearts, a four of hearts(his driver number of course!) and, the, now iconic, representation of himself as a Joker. I literally could not believe my eyes when this helmet was released and I saw the Joker card, what a fucking silly old man....I really wonder if he felt nostalgic having cards on his helmet again or if he didn't think about it all and was just like, "ah cards because Vegas!!!"
III. Why Does This Matter?
*The rest of the post was factual, this is moreso my personal thoughts on the symbolism of the cards/designs
This post spawned from me recently watching the 2010 Bahrain gp and noticing "hey wait a minute...are those CARDS ON THE BACK OF HIS HELMET!?" It's a really tiny detail that's unfortunately covered up by the HANS device pretty much whenever he's wearing the helmet, so it's really difficult to spot! But I became fascinated with the fact that he had cards on his helmet before that recent helmet, and now here we are!
There's something to me about how the design of the cards evolves over the course of six seasons from the cards being front and center to being smaller, more folded up and closer to the bottom of the helmet. As I said, the 2012-2013 ones genuinely made me depressed because it feels, symbolically, like his hopes for getting another Ace are becoming more and more unlikely and falling away until they eventually fall falt and fade away entirely after 2013 and disappear for basically a decade.
But when they return? They're not the same cards! Instead of representing Fernando's championships, they now represent him as a person, displaying his driver number and his persona of being a Joker!! Though I do think it's interesting he happened to keep the Ace of Hearts, even though he talked more about the Ace of Clubs before. I'm not sure it's actually this deep in reality, but I like to think that it's him not letting his championships(and the lack thereof) define him, but rather letting who he is as a person shine and be the centerpoint instead! But on a sadder note, as @suzuki-ecstar said to me, maybe the Aces aren't there anymore because he's lost all hope for a chance at a third Ace entirely :(
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[Esp]
AL FIN, YOSHIOKA A TRAVÉS DE LOS AÑOS.
[Eng]
FINALLY, YOSHIOKA THROUGH THE YEARS.
Beware of my heacanon backstory below:
At five years old, Yoshioka lived with his mother in China. His mother was a good person who took care of him, although she was always busy. But Yoshioka didn't see his father often because he was always on 'business trips' in Japan. I think he was a reserved child and perhaps somewhat lonely, but he was happy anyway. Originally his last name was given by his mother and his first name was chosen by his father, and I think in Chinese it would be written 闞周平 (Kàn Zhōupíng) and in Japanese 闞秀平 (Kan Shūhei). I'm sorry if I make mistakes, I'm not good at kanji/hànzi.
At the age of ten his father took him to Japan, his mother did not agree but neither she nor Yoshioka had a choice. His father wanted to take him to Japan when he was young so he could learn the language, the traditions, and so on. Since his father was a yakuza, he wanted Yoshioka to be one too, and to make him fit in better, his father got him fake identification, naming him again as 吉岡 真守 (Yoshioka Mamoru), since he doesn't work within the law anyway.
At the age of fifteen he had already gotten used to live in Japan and his life was almost that of a normal teenager, he went to school normally and he was allowed to have hobbies and friends, and all of that, although he was still somewhat lonely and a bit socially awkward. The only thing that made him different from an ordinary boy was that his father raised him to get used to the life of a gangster, and that he had not seen or heard from his mother since he left China.
At twenty-five his life was completely focused on the mafia, and you could say he was just any yakuza, except he was always looking for ways to leave that job and get one away from crime, and that's how he ended up as a simple security guard, not really leaving the life of crime yet but at least he didn't have to do anything but keep an eye on the doors.
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i do think it is exceedingly frustrating that we don't have a lot of information on the governance of fontaine. and in particular how much of an active role neuvillette has in it. especially in regards to the missed opportunity of what this leadership means to neuvillette.
we have this man who, while human shaped, is so far removed and isolated from humanity, placed in a position of having to rule them. especially when neuvillette at the start of his tenuredisdained humanity and likely would have been glad to see them removed from the equation or at least have nothing to do with them.
how lost in the weeds can he be focusing on merely the administrative aspects of ruling fontaine? he doesn't leave his office as we've had several instances of his own people being excited and shocked to see him and furina herself trying to push him to go out and interact with people more. then we have navia who straight up says that neuvillette has such a black and white view of the world, that he cares more about following the letter of the law than anything else. it's no wonder his lens of fontaine is through whatever crosses his desk. that he overlooks so much since this man just does not read between the lines.
but with the conclusion of his sq and fontaine aq, i have a small hope that moving forward he takes this opportunity to make fontaine better. he has people at his side who have experienced the ugly parts of fontaine and i truly hope that he sets up a system in which said people are given more power and influence to set up the change that fontaine needs, basically for neuvillete to stop being the one man gonverment that he's become and for that power to be spread a little more and for him to step away from tasks that shouldn't require his personal attention and allow him to focus on actively ruling.
quite frankly i really don't think he should remain as the chief justice as that's such a time consuming role for someone who is supposed to be ruling a nation. or at least he shouldn't be presiding over too many trials unless they're very super critical and necessary for his attention.
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