The Vatican opposed Alonso driving Benedict XVI’s Popemobile in 2011

Pope Ratzinger’s visit to Spain The apostolic trip of Pope Leo XIV to Spain next June made it possible to reveal a curious episode from 15 years ago. Protagonists Fernando Alonso and the then Pope Benedict XVI.
This was revealed by Yago de la Cierva, who coordinated Pope Ratzinger’s trip to Spain in 2011. The Holy Father visited the Iberian nation from 18 to 21 August of that year on the occasion of World Youth Day which was held in Madrid. The crazy idea: Fernando Alonso driving the Popemobile “We specifically asked in 2011 that Fernando Alonso could drive the Popemobile,” de la Cierva told ‘La Radio Canaria’. The crazy idea was immediately rejected by the Vatican, which was more than clear: “They were outraged. They told us: ‘Absolutely not!’.
The decision was motivated by citing security reasons: “I defended the idea by explaining that Alonso knew how to drive and that the Pope was not in danger with him. But they replied that an officer of the national police should be driving.”
In 2011 Fernando Alonso was a Ferrari driver and Benedict XVI used the Mercedes-Benz G-Class 230G as his Popemobile. The proposal was revived for the visit of Leo Will there be an exception to the strict security protocols regarding the Holy Father this time?