Alonso was only free for 2008 – Mateschitz

hmmm.

After reading though this... Anyone else think old Alonso is feeling a sqeeze?

IMO, if Ferrari decides they don't need/want him, he is SOL.

 

2002 - Mclaren team 3rd - Driver KIMI 6th
2003 - Team 3rd - Driver KIMI 2nd
2004 - Team 5th - Driver KIMI 7th
2005 - Team 2nd - Driver KIMI 2nd
2006 - Team 3rd - Driver KIMI 5th

Thats not a mid pack record and two times Kimi was on track for the WDC. The car Alonso drove was developed without his input for the most part. Mclaren has a proven record without him in the recent past. Their cars have always been fast but fragile until recently.

 

As much as I don't want to see a Kimi/Fred duo...the further the year goes, and the more I read, I think it is in the works. The only thing I can't figure out is why Renault would pay him 50 mil knowing that he was leaving after 1 year. It doesn't make any sense...

And if I hear any more about how good Hamilton is, I will be physically sick. Put him in anything but a McL or Ferrari and he is an average driver at best. Heikki is proving this year that it is about the car at McLaren, not the driver...

 

That's not what the McLaren engineers say and I'll take their word over yours.

 

I guess you didn't watch F1 in 2006...

 

He was great against Shumi in San Marino(not in 06 of course). That was hardly the Alonso who left Mclaren last year. LH completely worked this guy. Strange change Id say.

 

He arrived after the car was built of course. Development- sure he added. The car was designed while he was still driving for Renault. It made it sound by a previous poster Alonso himself was the reason for the Mclaren resurgence. It was well in place before he arrived and with that being said, they still lost and were also implicated in scandal with "others" technology. Hence my comment that he wasnt soley responsible for their competitiveness. Certainly Hamilton worked the car as good if not better therefore it was probably built with him in mind as much as Alonso possibly.

 

He had been signed since 05. He could have very well helped develop the car. From an article I read online, some members of the McLaren team were not pleased to see him go. He brought much to the table when it came to driver feedback and developing a car. Hamilton seemed to be able to drive the same type of car as Alonso last year, and did unbelieveably well when he was allowed to used Alonso's set ups. Once Alonso cut Hamilton off from looking at his data (well documented last year), there was a dip in his performance and he's struggled since. It would have been interesting to see Alonso and Hamilton in the same car again this year. Hamilton got off to a hot start while Alonso took some time to get comfortable with the team and the car, i wonder if Hamilton would have been able to stay ahead of Alonso this year, if Alonso were comfortable. Hamilton seems to be having his hands full with Hekki as it is.

 

Fact: McLaren didn't win a single race in 2006. That hasn't happened in the previous ten years.

Then they bring in Alonso and they win almost 50% of all the races in 2007. Coincidence?

 

And yet some here seem to think that the Mclaren was completely built off Ferrari designs.

So which is it then? The Mclaren was built before Alonso joined them in 2006 or the Mclaren was built after Coughlan got ahold of the Ferrari plans in pre-season 2007

 

There is no doubt he is one of the most talented drivers in the sport in past few years. The fact his two titles came against Schumi puts him in an elite class in my opinion. The guy just wins, or least overachieves in a sub-standard car. With this said, I'm still not sure if I would want him driving a Ferrari. Too many variables with his personality to even think about poisoning a team. Nobody really knows what went on behind closed doors at McLaren. Maybe it was him, Hamilton, or Dennis...but either way, I wouldn't even think about putting a team in a situation like that. And, at the least, he was a PART of the problem...

 

Can anyone confirm this story for me.



http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193412


Seems a bit far fetched.


Austin

 

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
And if Ferrari doesnt pick him up they have nothing to fear cause he'll be at Force India.

 

That is reasonable. There are many people here that feel it simply isn't possible that he would end up at Ferrari. This is not correct, the bottom line is that none of us here do the hiring, if Ferrari wants him they'll get him. For as many bad points that he may have going against him he's got that many and more going for him. He's a tremendous driver.

 

+1

 

Are we forgetting the stolen Ferrari data? I think that is the reason Mclaren became competitive again, not Alonso.

 

Good point, but only half the story: McLaren had a rebirth with last year's car and it was blindingly fast. It was good enough for 2nd spot. Thanks to the know how transfer from Ferrari it got a Maranello brake system that allowed it to beat/equalize Ferrari.

So to be fair, I'd say it was a factor of all three: Great car, Ferrari's know how and Alonso's development work.

 

It was actually good enough to be the best but the FIA put a backdoor Kybosh on that and we all saw it in the last 2 races. The car was blindingly fast because of stolen technology period.

Alonso at Ferrari wont work and the team knows it. The guys in here (about 5 of them) who keep posting that alonso is going to Ferrari are only wishfull thinkers. Ferrari has been delt an Ace and a King and they will not ask for a redeal. Sorry but pairs dont work in this game. I believe that as this season goes on you will see Alonso doing absolutely nothing with the Renault and teams will see how good he really isnt.

 

I don't like Alonso as a person. I think he is absolutely despicable and thought so before his involvement in the spy scandal. As a driver, he has talent. What amount, I do not know.

About 2005: Kimi and the McLaren was the fastest car, but horribly unreliable. Fastest car to finish the race wins and Alonso was in it. (Kimi had 10 FL's to Alonso's 2). The Ferrari was a distant third to the McLaren and Renault under the "no tire change" rule.

About 2006: Ferrari recovered nicely from an abyssmal 2005 season. MS was in the lead of the WDC with two races to go, and Alonso had not won a race since the ninth race of the year in Canada. MS had won five races since the 9th and was clearly the car to beat. The momentum was clearly on MS's side and you could see the pain in Alonso's face at the China press conference. MS announced that he was "really going to enjoy" the last couple of races and looked like he was going to crush Alonso. When the Ferrari engine let go, uncharacteristically, in the penultimate race in Japan, MS had a five second lead over Alonso. Had the engine not blown (was it because Ferrari tried to get every last ounce out of it, or some freak thing - we will probably never know), MS would have left for the final race leading the WDC and an 8 to 6 win margin. But it didn't happen, and I guess this is racing. I'd chalk this one up to Alonso having a bit of luck. Which I recognize is helpful in winning WDC's.

In 2007, Alonso brought, was it "5 tenths" to McLaren? (and a $100 million fine after trying to blackmail the team to slow down his rookie team mate by threatening to go tell the FIA that he had used Ferrari intellectual property.) Alonso would have won the WDC, had he not thrown it away in Japan by an unforced driver error (and in Spain by going off the track and the start, and in Canada by going off the track 5 times and being passed by Sato's Super Aguri.) (Interestingly, even if spygate had not resulted in McLaren losing their WCC points, McLaren would still not have won the WCC due to the constructor's points they were fined as a result of Alonso's Hungarian pit rhapsody.)

In 2008, if Alonso is such a great car developer, I guess he should bring those 5 tenths back to Renault. After all, Renault has only spent one year in the "doldrums." Interestingly, after three races in 2007, Fisi had 8 points in the Renault. After three races in 2008, Alonso only has 6. We'll see how this will develop over the season.

 

Ok, you must be an insider with the team. Care to elaborate on how you know who's driving for whom next year?

 

I have to agree, at least partially. The McLaren was designed long time ago before Alonso arrived to the team but the same goes for the Renault so we can´t blame him for these year´s results so far.

Anyway, if Ferrari is going to hire Alonso, this is the right time to do it: now he´s in the sh*t and will be more "receptive" to team discipline and salary reductions. Maybe in two years he has a winning car and starts believing that he´s God again. Or he´s in an even worse position than now and becomes another Jacques Villeneuve.

 

I'm not too sure about that. Alonso had been signed as far back as late 05. He could have had input in the 07 car. While he couldn't test for the team he might have done some work in the simulator and such. I don't know for sure but it could have happened. It seems reasonable that McLaren would have at least been in contact with Alonso by then. As far as Renault this year, he more than likely has had very little input at all due to the last minute team switch.

 

Its only common sense my friend. Something that is uncommon in here.

 

To you, perhaps.You speak like you know for sure. Anything is possible my friend. Take that to the bank......