Alonso an ambassador for “Marca España”

[fratelliferrari]

Indeed the team is more important than the driver but if we should look that way there shouldn't be Alonso merchandise either because he is just a part of the team. I understand that there is less Massa merchandise but the amount there is availabe now is just unfair to what Felipe has done for the team! So I hope they will concentrate on Massa merchandise some more this year because he definitely deserves it.

[sagi58]

Indeed the team is more important than the driver but if we should look that way there shouldn't be Alonso merchandise either because he is just a part of the team...

I guess I didn't explain my thinking very well! I apologize!! Let me try again!

Since the "team" is more important and since the "team" backs Alonso as the #1 driver,
it's understandable (in that sense) that there would be more Alonso merchandise!

Also, I agree with Massimo, that if you look at it from an economical/business perspective,
the demand is for Alonso merchandise, therefore Ferrari supplies it!

Is it fair? I'm not sure that many things in Life are!

[wisepie]

Guess we've all made our point on this one but I still don't agree with it, from the business/economics aspect I get it but this is a team sport, so we're always told, and the team has 2 drivers. Much as I'm a huge fan of Fernando (never used to be owing to the teams he drove for being our main competitors), I am a Felipe supporter through good and bad and would like to have the opportunity to show it! I love underdogs! This 'Marca Espana' thread seems to have been hi-jacked, and I think it's my fault, but thanks Massimo, fratelli and sagi for your views, at least we feel it's a point worth discussing, or rather ranting about!

[Greig]

There is no 2013 team wear for Alonso on the store either, just the plain non driver branded? I buy a t-shirt at Silverstone every year and have never had a problem finding one for either driver from the official range.

[wisepie]

Maybe we'll just have to turn up at a Grand Prix, Greig, and hope that we can still afford to buy a T-shirt with BOTH drivers on the one shirt. That's merchandising!!

[Greig]

Don't need to go to a GP, you can buy them from various online retailers but as far as I can see there is no driver branded 2013 teamwear yet, so you can't buy a 2013 Massa t-shirt or an Alonso one yet. But you will be able to get both when they are available.

The Ferrari store is still selling 2012 team wear with Massa branding, or Alonso branding.

[Greig]

Oh sorry then sagi if i have offended you. It's sometimes difficult to judge if something is said serious or not. But it's just my feeling about the Felipe Massa merchandise and maybe someone has an other opinion. Do you see a lot of Felipe caps/shirts at the circuit?

Watch the Brazilian GP......

[fratelliferrari]

That's true Greig but I meant to say with my comment that there could be a lot more Massa caps/shirts at the circuit if there was more to buy for us fans. In Brazil you see a lot of Massa caps indeed but I don't know if you have looked around in Europe but for what I have seen ((Belgian, German (Hockenheim and Nurburgring), Italian GP) there aren't very Massa related stuff to see during the weekend!

[wisepie]

Don't need to go to a GP, you can buy them from various online retailers but as far as I can see there is no driver branded 2013 teamwear yet, so you can't buy a 2013 Massa t-shirt or an Alonso one yet. But you will be able to get both when they are available.

The Ferrari store is still selling 2012 team wear with Massa branding, or Alonso branding.

Thanks, Greig, I don't mind wearing last year's gear so will investigate further......problem is, I don't think I'd be allowed out wearing it, anyway, so what year it comes from is irrelevant! Surprised that no 2013 teamwear is yet available, all the same.

[brembo man]

I remember ZERO Barichello gear available at the Indy races. Maybe they were all sold out before his teamates gear? Yup F1 was then a team sport esp. Ferrari , no favorite driver.

[sagi58]

I remember ZERO Barichello gear available at the Indy races. Maybe they were all sold out before his teamates gear? Yup F1 was then a team sport esp. Ferrari , no favorite driver.

Please correct me if I'm wrong; but, hasn't Ferrari "always" had a #1 driver, for whom the TEAM did whatever was necessary to help him win...
In the short period of time that I've been watching, I believe the only time when the drivers were fairly equally matched was the Raikkonen / Massa years.
Wouldn't that be the only years when the ratio for team gear was close? Maybe it depended on the track? Does Ferrari even have a say in what is available?
At the end of the day, merchandising is a business... it's not about being fair, it's about the bottom line!!

[fratelliferrari]

Ferrari has definitely something to say about what will be available to the public I guess. I find it very strange that there wasn't a teamsweater available for several years and I guess Ferrari decides what they are gonna sell on the tracks/in stores/online.

[wisepie]

Don't need to go to a GP, you can buy them from various online retailers but as far as I can see there is no driver branded 2013 teamwear yet, so you can't buy a 2013 Massa t-shirt or an Alonso one yet. But you will be able to get both when they are available.

The Ferrari store is still selling 2012 team wear with Massa branding, or Alonso branding.

Greig, I've looked at Ferrari store site and can confirm you're right about some Massa-branded wear, don't know why I didn't find it earlier. My problem is that at those prices, it's difficult to justify when I'll only wear it watching TV in my own home......sadly I don't have the necessary funds to attend all the GPs and show my true support, unless I'm allowed out under the cover of darkness and wear it to the pub, in which case I'll probably get mugged. Shame.