Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, and Felipe Massa: Does F1 media have 'nationality bias'?

Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, and Felipe Massa are three names that have been associated and somewhat pointed out as examples of how F1 media can be one-sided.

The most recent instance of someone calling out the bias was by none other than Perez as he emphasized how his lack of form takes center stage far more than what happens to other drivers. The Red Bull driver used the example of George Russell crashing out of a podium position on the last lap of the 2023 F1 Singapore GP as the case where the media chose not to say much.

This is not the first time the Mexican has made this claim. Fernando Alonso has also made similar claims over the last couple of years while there were many who questioned the stance of F1 media outlets when it came to Felipe Massa's legal proceedings against Lewis Hamilton's first title.

With these claims surfacing again from Sergio Perez, there is undoubtedly a question that needs to be discussed, does the F1 media suffer from nationality bias?

To gain a better understanding let's take a look at the cases of these drivers in isolation.

Sergio Perez

The first time Sergio Perez made these claims was last season when he won the 2022 F1 Singapore GP. He had suffered from a dip in form which was highlighted by the media and he admitted that the win was a relief.

It was during this time that Perez first talked about how he felt he was being targeted by the media because he was a Mexican. He further emphasized how if it was some other driver maybe the coverage would not have been so focussed on him.

Sergio Perez has once again raised the issue of selective reporting recently as he singled out George Russell's incident. Not only that, he said that if the same mistake had been made by him then the controversy and reportage would have been on a different scale.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso has been a vocal proponent of an inherent bias in the media and he has pointed out British media quite often.

In 2022 when Alonso had passed a remark about Lewis Hamilton that went viral the Spaniard had specifically talked about the British media and how it tends to spiral things out of control.

Alonso was, however, even more vocal about how he tends to get portrayed as a villain far too often by the media. In an interview with Andrew Benson of BBCF1 (ironically another British outlet), the Spaniard had even looked back on his career and his first stint at McLaren.

Looking back, Alonso felt that in 2007 during his infamous partnership with Hamilton, the way the British media portrayed him was incorrect and he didn't even have the opportunity to give his side of the story.

Felipe Massa

In the case of Felipe Massa, the Brazilian has not really had a bad word to say about the media or how they are covering the legal proceedings. But there have been many who have raised concerns over the one-sided nature of opinions in the case.

Glenn Freeman from 'The Race' had posted on X that the only possible reason for Massa to go for a legal case was for financial benefits. Matt Bishop, a former McLaren and Aston Martin employee claimed it would be "a dog's dinner" if Felipe Massa was awarded the 2008 F1 title.

There were many other such instances that raised question marks over the editorial stand and a lack of neutrality. In all of this, while the Felipe Massa legal proceedings continue, a chunk of F1 media has not tried to have a conversation with the Brazilian to understand why he was doing this.

It is something that has been raised by many, especially since such a privilege would be endowed if roles were reversed and Lewis Hamilton was in Massa's shoes.

Conclusion

Finally, if we go through them one by one, Sergio Perez's case does fall short. The issue with the Mexican's claims is that the kind of coverage he's got seems merited. The driver has had a horrible season and when your teammate has accrued almost twice as many points as you do, it raises alarms.

While there could possibly be a scenario where Perez might have been mistreated, it is not reflected in the claims he's made about recent media coverage.

For Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, this is a question that maybe the media needs to address themselves. A large chunk of the English F1 media is British. The term 'British-Bias' was first coined in 2021 during the Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen battle.

That term has not gone away and it all came to a head last season when Red Bull and Max Verstappen exercised a complete boycott of Sky Sports during the 2022 F1 Mexican GP.

Any publication or media in general should aim to be neutral. That should be the baseline with which it should operate. The fact that three different F1 drivers are in the limelight for the supposed (nationality-bias) is something that F1 media might need to address either personally or in the public.