Who does Fernando Alonso think he is?

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A late-19th century tale of two distinct personalities residing within one body. A literary masterpiece so famous that it has become a cultural reference and part of the general lexicon of the English language.

Robert Louis Stevenson's novella has spawned many theatrical and cinematic adaptations since it was published in 1886, and nearly 130 years later it perhaps has some relevance to Formula 1, because it could be a metaphor for Fernando Alonso's character.

This picture has been building slowly, over a number of conversations with prominent past and present F1 colleagues of Alonso's, who have all highlighted different facets of the complex nature of one of the best racing drivers in the world.

Alonso is arguably even more complex than our aforementioned fictional personas; taking on whichever personality traits he feels necessary to succeed in the world championship he has won twice in his career.

There is no suggestion Alonso suffers from a personality disorder - or has developed a special elixir to release his darker nature - simply that he recognises the need to behave differently depending on circumstances.

Some suggest he is a flawed genius. A brilliant driver, but someone who is impossible to trust professionally, and who only knows how to look after his own interests. This has a tendency to isolate him within what remains, ultimately, a team environment.

Others say he is unsparingly honest and open, but that the depth of his talent and intellect - and his demand for success - means his nature can turn darker if those around him fail to deliver to the standards he expects, or worse, try to deceive him.

AUTOSPORT quizzed Alonso for his own views about himself © LAT

Then there is a contrary impression of a man who is unfailingly kind and generous, prepared to go to great lengths to help those he cares about, and the less fortunate.

So, the question remains: who is Fernando Alonso really? It was with all these interrelated and contrary impressions that AUTOSPORT headed to the McLaren-Honda motorhome, ready to ask the man himself. Who does Fernando Alonso think he is?

"I know who I am outside the circuit and outside F1, but that remains a question mark for everybody because I quite like to separate my personal life from my professional life," he says.

"In F1 it is necessary to play a role sometimes - a character - like in a movie. Sometimes it is pushing the team towards one direction; sometimes it is just helping a team in another political issue; some of the time it's just giving some motivation to the fans; some of the time you try to put some stress into your opponents.

"This is the normal thing you do every weekend. I don't know who I am here, or how the people see me outside, but really I don't care."

It becomes evident during our conversation that Alonso is a pragmatic type. Quiz him about how he became one of the world's top Formula 1 drivers and his answer is phlegmatic.

"Probably my family or my father played the key role in my career," he says. "I was probably not choosing to be a driver; I was three years old. If they gave me a racquet, maybe I'd be playing tennis today; if they gave me a basketball - maybe not, because I'm not too tall - something else.

"My father liked motor racing and gave me a small go-kart. For the first couple of years he guided me into the motorsport family. I was doing well and I was lucky to do the right steps at the right time and become a Formula 1 driver.

"I cannot say that when I was five, six or nine years old that I only thought of becoming a Formula 1 driver. I was studying in school and everything happened because it happened, not because I persevered with a dream."

Alonso says testing mileage with Renault 2002 was crucial © LAT

Alonso does not seem to be driven by notions of 'destiny'. He does not appear to believe in God-given gifts and innate abilities. Ask him what makes him such a good driver and one gets the sense he could be an advocate for Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, in which the author explores the theory that people need 10,000 hours of good practice in their chosen field to become super successful.

"I think experience and the time you spend in a car is the most important thing," Alonso says. "With talent, there are always some differences between people, but in a sport like this, where you are not the only one that's in the game - it's also the car - practice makes a big difference.

"When I was a kid I was everyday in a go-kart. When I arrived in Formula 1, in the second year [of my career] with Renault I did 35,000 or 40,000 kilometres in one season. I do this now every five seasons.

"Slowly you are improving your skills, and definitely now I am a much better driver and much better prepared than in 2005 or 2006. I won the championships, but if I look back now, I was doing mistakes that now I am not doing.

"Probably now, I am a more complete driver. I don't know if I am faster or slower than my competitors, because you can only compare to your team-mate, but definitely I am a more complete driver to avoid silly penalties - things that arrive when you are in the first four or five years of Formula 1."

Alonso's perspective on his own abilities behind the wheel is instructive, because of its analytical and unemotional nature. Perhaps this offers a hint as to why he has upset some within the paddock during his long F1 career (though that is perhaps inevitable when you work in the same environment for 15 years), because he is utterly unafraid of telling people what he really thinks - calling them out if they have failed to deliver on their promises.

Alonso is in his second spell at McLaren after a short stay in 2007 © LAT

"I forgive, but I don't forget," he says, when asked whether his colleagues get one chance only to build the productive working relationship he desires.

"There is always a second chance for everybody. I'm quite honest, but I know that maybe sometimes I'm not too political with the things I do, or the things I say, but it is the way it is - it's a way of living.

"Honestly, I'm trying to be myself all the time, and not trying to put on a mask that is different every day. When there is something that is not true, or you know that something was played around you, you give a second chance, of course, but that would always stay in your memory."

There is no doubt Alonso is a winner, and some insiders went so far as to suggest it is simply the desire to win that drives the Spaniard on above all else - that he would somehow lose vitality if deprived of success for too long.

Perhaps this is why he is so pragmatic, and also prepared to fall out with people if necessary, because success has no time for sentiment. Is it simply winning that motivates him?

"Not only in F1; in everything I do," he replies. "If I play football with friends and I lose, maybe I don't talk to them for a week. I want to create a new team, or talk with other friends that might play better. And when I'm all set, I talk to them finally after two weeks and say: 'how are you? Maybe we play again?'

"I don't like to lose at anything."

It has been suggested this is why Alonso can become difficult, that when things aren't going well he will become impatient and turn on his allies of the moment.

There was a public outburst at Renault in late-2006, when it was struggling to hang on to a title-winning position in the face of Ferrari's resurgence, and of course there is the well-trodden tale of Alonso's ill-fated first stint at McLaren in 2007, when he was almost eclipsed by rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton.

There were also suggestions that Alonso's five years at Ferrari ended in acrimonious circumstances last season, after the Scuderia produced a poor car for the first year of the current V6 engine regulations.

Relations sometimes appeared to strain during Alonso's time at Ferrari... © XPB

Some argue this is representative of a character flaw, saying Alonso is incapable of putting his own interests second to those of the team and thus relations inevitably turn sour eventually.

"This perception is just what the media wants to sell sometimes," counters Alonso.

"With McLaren, the first time, it is true that we weren't comfortable together, but that doesn't mean that we had huge problems or we became enemies forever. The clear example is that I am here again driving, and there are more or less the same people in the team.

"Now it's time that we fit together. It's like when you meet a girl - sometimes you know when you are 15 years old that you do not go well together, but maybe at 25 she's the woman of your life.

"Different stages of your life, different stages of your maturity and of your career, maybe fit with different teams."

Although it's true Alonso was unhappy with Ferrari's poor performance in 2014, the Spaniard says he is surprised by suggestions his time at Maranello ended on bad terms.

"With Ferrari it was probably the biggest surprise, because I had five fantastic years," he explains. "I had a great relationship with the top bosses. I still go into Maranello, to the restaurant, and then there is this rumour, or atmosphere, that it didn't finish well. I don't know why this came.

"Last year my decision was a little bit surprising for some people, because to leave Ferrari is not an easy decision for any driver. As we said before, I don't like to arrive second, at any sport or anything I do, and I felt that after five years I was second too many times.

"The prospect for this year is [for Ferrari] to be second again. I didn't want to keep going on that loop. We had a fantastic time, we achieved so many things, and we fought for world championships more or less every single year. It is the right point to end it.

...but he insists that he departed on good terms © XPB

"If we did two more years finishing second or third, it would create some tension or stress. [I said to Ferrari] 'I'm so happy with you, we had a fantastic time. You will find new motivations with new drivers, and I will find new motivations with another team, and we will forever have great memories'.

"That was the decision I took, and now it seems like we ended up in a bad situation, and it is completely the opposite. I have Ferrari cars in my garage; I keep a good atmosphere. I'm young, and who knows, one day, I can return to Ferrari again.

"Once you are inside Ferrari, your heart will always be a little bit with them somehow, because it is special. The Italians and Spanish are very similar so we understood each other from day one. I was comfortable, and, as I said, it was a fantastic time, but enough."

Most characterisations of Alonso concern his professional persona - the ruthless winning machine that will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, and potentially wreak havoc if something stands in his way. But coming back to the Curious Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, is this really what Fernando Alonso is like, or is there another, lighter side to the Spaniard that is maybe smothered by the cut-throat nature of the battle to succeed in sport at the highest level? Is Alonso a different person away from the circuit?

"I'm very different," he confirms. "I'm sure that people are very surprised when we spend one day outside the circuit, but also here the perception is not easy to get right.

"At the end of the day you watch a sportsman for 30 seconds on the television, on the news after a two-hour race at 160 bpm [heart rate], losing two or three litres of water. You see that man for 30 seconds and you get an impression, thinking you can have an opinion of his character because of those 30 seconds.

"If I was in a comedy programme, and you see me for 30 seconds doing a magic trick or saying something funny, then after those 30 seconds you'd say: 'this guy is a very nice guy'. If you see the other guy sweating and finishing a race where he was fighting until the very last lap, you see him and say: 'this guy is a little bit closed and a little bit strange'.

Alonso reckons he's 'a completely normal person' away from the circuit © LAT

"That's probably the biggest point about sportsmen in general, and particularly Formula 1. There is stress, there is adrenaline in the car, there is media attention; there are many things that probably from home or the outside you get the wrong perception.

"Outside, I am a completely normal person, trying to enjoy time with friends."

This is a very articulate explanation of the difficulty outsiders will find in trying to understand someone like Fernando Alonso. He appears to be a very private person, but one who is inevitably subjected to the glare of the public spotlight on account of extraordinary success in his chosen profession.

Those close to him suggest there are two distinct versions of Alonso: the ruthless racing driver and the generous altruist, who will do his utmost to support those he cares about, and people less fortunate than he.

It is worth remembering that Alonso is an ambassador for UNICEF and has also financially supported programmes to help budding Spanish motorsport engineers study abroad. He says it this sort of work that brings him true happiness.

"Personal life and what I do everyday is what counts and makes me happy," he says. "Formula 1 is a very nice sport, because the technology and the cars you drive are fantastic, your salary is better than in another place, but at the end of the day it is just a job.

"Sometimes, when they ask me about this race, or another race, or a world championship, it is true that maybe you could be more happy in that moment to have an extra trophy at home, but that trophy is just your own ego in five or 10 years' time.

"You will have kids, family, different jobs, different projects in the future, and you will have some memories from this third of your life spent in motorsport. You will have 97 trophies, or 101, but it doesn't matter too much. Your happiness is not here, it's somewhere else.

Alonso says happiness is more than the number of trophies won © XPB

"The sport gave me more than I expected. Doing something for other people, or something that I think is right, makes me happier than any other thing."

How to reconcile this with doing what is necessary to chase success in one of the most ruthless sporting arenas in the world? Alonso admits he finds it difficult.

"Very difficult, or nearly impossible," he adds. "It's a hard world. At the end of the day we race for 19 weekends a year, but the rest of the year you are publicly exposed for everything.

"You represent big car manufacturers. You do many things that are of big importance, and you need to follow the book; you need to follow the recommendations, the rules, [give] the right message for the right people.

"Maybe to one guy you say one thing, maybe to one guy you say different things, so everyone hears what they want to hear, even if it is not what I feel.

"This is not what I'd do if I could, to be honest. I try to accommodate to that, but obviously it is difficult to be yourself here."

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde were actually two distinct representations of the same person, which means Mr Hyde never actually existed in the first place. The story was of two natures in conflict within one person, but it was environment (in this case a chemical) that transformed Dr Jekyll into something else, something darker.

Perhaps the same is true of Fernando Alonso? Perhaps he is a man who lives according to values and aspirations that are laudable and shared by many, but who is sometimes transformed into something else by the intoxicating potion of Formula 1: fast cars, vast fortunes, the pursuit of unrelenting excellence and success.

Who knows? The only person who can be certain is Fernando Alonso.

This week's AUTOSPORT magazine - available in shops and online now - has an in-depth focus on Fernando Alonso, featuring exclusive insight from those who have worked closest with him through his career