Well... I guess it's almost official on Alonso...

Renault: Alonso has shaken "toxic" baggage of last F1 spell

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https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/150432/alonso-has-shaken-toxic-baggage-of-last-f1-spell

 

And they will work on the matter with Flavio Briatore? O.M.G! "Back to the Future", these are the 2000s again.
Flavio Briatore? Really? That eldery, useless playboy...the architect of the "Singapore crashgate" of 2008?
Really, they have nothing better at hand?

Rgds

 

So cyril learnt from teh master himself...no wonder why he's so popular and such an ass!

 

Be great to see Flavio with his latest slapper hanging around the pits

 

I think those two will get along fine...like two silex stones....it will be ok unless big sparks fly then it will be over

 

I know that Briatore isn't the flavour of the month anymore after the "crashgate" affair, but for me he was one of the best team managers in his days.
He jumped in F1 with absolutely no motor racing prior knowledge and obtained 2 titles for Benetton on a shoestring budget.
When Renault bought the team, they kept him at the helm. He rewarded them with 2 more "low cost" titles,
We know the rest.
He may have left the false impression at Renault that they didn't need to match other teams' budgets to win.
Abiteboul has been struggling with that since; the Renault team us still underfunded.

 

Alonso might be self-sponsoring.

 

Tremendous signing for Renault. A vastly superior driver to Ric in every respect and a proven sponsors dream. What’s not to like.

 

Guess it’ll be exciting watching him battle for scraps? I can’t figure this move out. With Alonso it’s all about him so I’m having trouble understanding what he gets out of this.

edit: Come to think of it, maybe it’ll be exciting to see what kind of cheating scandal he gets involved with in this go around.

 

My "evil" team will stay Red Bull, because of Marko and all the skuldugery they keep generating all the time (2 protests last weekend!), plus Verstappen, the racing brat.
Renault will be an interesting team to watch the next 2 years; how works the cohabitation with Abiteboul, Alonso and Ocon.

I was an ardent follower of McLaren since Prost time, and neglected them following the 2007 season, but I will start rooting for them again.
Not a fan of Zak Brown, but I like Seidel, Norris and of course Ricciardo.

 

My "evil" team will stay Red Bull, because of Marko and all the skuldugery they keep generating all the time (2 protests last weekend!), plus Verstappen, the racing brat.
Renault will be an interesting team to watch the next 2 years; how works the cohabitation with Abiteboul, Alonso and Ocon.

I was an ardent follower of McLaren since Prost time, and neglected them following the 2007 season, but I will start rooting for them again.
Not a fan of Zak Brown, but I like Seidel, Norris and of course Ricciardo.

 

Fair enough. Yes, whether he's an all-time great is debatable.
You also have people on this list passionately arguing that Schumacher and Hamilton aren't truly all-time greats, so...

What is not debatable, however, is the fact that he's entertaining to watch. Especially in the right car.
To me, he's one of the last true old-school racers-- always fully committed, fearless, extremely talented and competitive.

As a spectator, what's not to love about that? You don't have to like him or root for him, live with him or work with him.
Just enjoy watching him drive and race. You can even go ahead and root against him. I don't see the problem.

So ******* sick of people seeing everything in simplistic and obtuse binary terms.
"Alonso - poison - bad - me no want." Really...

Maybe we should move beyond that.

 

On a positive note ,thank god Ferrari didn't want Teflonso.

 

Im the same except for Seb. Ferrari kept him 1 or more years too long. So sure no acceptable replacement, but the cost and consistency of his errors were glaring. My feelings are towards him yes but more so towards the team. They did not appear to pressure him publicly to assess his driving and he resisted coaching publicly and we have him making errors at the wrong time in a car that could win.

Difference between FA and Seb - one wins with less than perfect equipment and has noticeable race-craft and the other is the opposite. Thanks we have Charles to move on with.

 

I agree. Whether one is a specifically a fan of his or not, F1 is more entertaining when he's racing. He's a committed driver who more often than not gets the full potential out of whatever car he is driving and has good wheel-to-wheel battles. I like seeing him race.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Skill. We all ask to see that in drivers. FA has it. No matter the machine. He excels. No question of his skill. Welcome back!

 

+1

Yes welcome back Fernando

 

And that, my friends, is the bottom line...

 

I started to strongly detest Alonso in 2007 after watching the way he was damaging my fav team with his shenanigans.
As experienced driver going all sulky because a rookie in the team was holding his own wasn't very dignified for a twice WDC.
His part in the Spygate, and the Crashgate a year later told me all I needed to know about the guy.

 

+1 well said, thanks.

 

Pedro might be self-medicating?(just kidding Pedro)

 

This cartoon illustrates what the artist and a lot of the tifosi felt at the time. The Red Bulls were simply being steered to victory by Vettel and whatever result the Ferrari's were achieving was by the sheer will and talent of Alonso. I believe it's from 2013:

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