Apr 23, 2008 10:47:23 AM
- easy_rider911
- Rennteam VIP
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- Loc: London , United Kingdom
- Posts: 22190, Gallery
- Registered on: Nov 8, 2004
Spanish F1 Grand Prix
Can't wait to see the race this weekend. 3 weeks since Bahrain is a long gap! I wonder which teams will improve the most following testing and new aero packages during the interval?
I read Luca di Montezemolo's comments today on Alonso. He said "I want two equal drivers that work together...To line up Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso would mean wanting to damage yourself."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7334527.stm
Interesting stuff. I was a little surprised that Ferrari actually commented on speculation since they usually prefer not to do this. I guess Ferrari wanted to remove the unnecessary media distraction from its attempts to win the titles this year.
So Alonso will never drive for McLaren again (Hell would freeze over before that ever happens) and he can only hope to get a seat at Ferrari if Kimi leaves. I don't think Kimi plans to go anywhere. He has been at McLaren without winning the title and I doubt he would ever go back unless McLaren were to develop a car that was significantly faster than Ferrari. I doubt that will happen. Plus, Hamilton looks like he wants to stay at McLaren for his entire career. I doubt Kimi would want to be Hamilton's team mate.
BMW seem very happy with Kubica and Heidfeld so it looks like Alonso will have to stay put at Renault or move sideways (but not necessarily upwards) to teams like Williams or Toyota. I can see the next year or two getting increasingly frustrating for the Spanish driver. His frustration is already very high after only 3 races of this season. I predict that in 2009 he just won't be able to take yet another season like this one (i.e. in an uncompetitive car). So I expect he will want to leave Renault at the end of this year and push for a seat at Williams or Toyota. However, the problem for him is that Williams seem very happy with Rosberg (who is their team leader). If Williams replaced Nakajima with Alonso, I can see things going nasty very quickly. Rosberg will hate this. The thing is Frank Williams is pretty tough and will not care about people's feelings much if it means he can get a driver with a proven winning record.
Toyota, on the other hand, seem happy with Trulli and Glock. I doubt they would want to destabilise their ship by bringing in Alonso.
The key point is that the current hierarchy of performance is very unlikely to change drastically in the short or medium term. Why? Because the teams have all signed an agreement to freeze engine development for some years. They have been trying their best to compensate for this with improved aerodynamics etc. But, in 2009, even the clever aerodynamics they are currently still developing will be banned. So, the pecking order between the teams won't change hugely. The result is that the game of musical chairs that Alonso is playing (moving from team to team looking for a better car) is ultimately doomed to fail. The reality is that the teams with the best engines will always have a huge advantage for as long as the engine freeze is in force. Ferrari, McLaren and BMW hold that trump card. (I know the freeze was agreed to keep costs down but it also froze the pecking order to the disadvantage of the teams with less powerful engines).
Alonso, whom I respect enormously as a driver, seems, on a personality level, to have become toxic waste that no one, apart from Renault, really wants to touch.
It's a great, great tragedy for the sport of F1 that one of its most talented drivers ever also has the potential to ruin the harmony within any team that does not give him no 1 status.
Makes me think how the Renault engineers, designers, mechanics etc etc must feel right now. They are no doubt working so hard to try to improve their car but, despite this, Alonso is just desperate to leave if he can get a better car. If I were them, I would feel like I had been kicked in the teeth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6104470.stm
When Alonso left Renault to go to McLaren, he made such a show about visiting the Renault team in the UK and in France to wish them well telling them that if he couldn't win at McLaren, he hoped they would win because they were the best etc etc. It sounded very superficial to me then and now it's been exposed for the utterly hollow talk that it really was.
The bottom line IMO is that every driver looks out for himself but, I fear, Alonso is discovering, to his great personal cost, that this does not mean one should not avoid making enemies. Burning bridges is never a wise thing in the long run IMHO.
Anyway, let's see how this weekend goes. Should be fascinating
I read Luca di Montezemolo's comments today on Alonso. He said "I want two equal drivers that work together...To line up Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso would mean wanting to damage yourself."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7334527.stm
Interesting stuff. I was a little surprised that Ferrari actually commented on speculation since they usually prefer not to do this. I guess Ferrari wanted to remove the unnecessary media distraction from its attempts to win the titles this year.
So Alonso will never drive for McLaren again (Hell would freeze over before that ever happens) and he can only hope to get a seat at Ferrari if Kimi leaves. I don't think Kimi plans to go anywhere. He has been at McLaren without winning the title and I doubt he would ever go back unless McLaren were to develop a car that was significantly faster than Ferrari. I doubt that will happen. Plus, Hamilton looks like he wants to stay at McLaren for his entire career. I doubt Kimi would want to be Hamilton's team mate.
BMW seem very happy with Kubica and Heidfeld so it looks like Alonso will have to stay put at Renault or move sideways (but not necessarily upwards) to teams like Williams or Toyota. I can see the next year or two getting increasingly frustrating for the Spanish driver. His frustration is already very high after only 3 races of this season. I predict that in 2009 he just won't be able to take yet another season like this one (i.e. in an uncompetitive car). So I expect he will want to leave Renault at the end of this year and push for a seat at Williams or Toyota. However, the problem for him is that Williams seem very happy with Rosberg (who is their team leader). If Williams replaced Nakajima with Alonso, I can see things going nasty very quickly. Rosberg will hate this. The thing is Frank Williams is pretty tough and will not care about people's feelings much if it means he can get a driver with a proven winning record.
Toyota, on the other hand, seem happy with Trulli and Glock. I doubt they would want to destabilise their ship by bringing in Alonso.
The key point is that the current hierarchy of performance is very unlikely to change drastically in the short or medium term. Why? Because the teams have all signed an agreement to freeze engine development for some years. They have been trying their best to compensate for this with improved aerodynamics etc. But, in 2009, even the clever aerodynamics they are currently still developing will be banned. So, the pecking order between the teams won't change hugely. The result is that the game of musical chairs that Alonso is playing (moving from team to team looking for a better car) is ultimately doomed to fail. The reality is that the teams with the best engines will always have a huge advantage for as long as the engine freeze is in force. Ferrari, McLaren and BMW hold that trump card. (I know the freeze was agreed to keep costs down but it also froze the pecking order to the disadvantage of the teams with less powerful engines).
Alonso, whom I respect enormously as a driver, seems, on a personality level, to have become toxic waste that no one, apart from Renault, really wants to touch.
It's a great, great tragedy for the sport of F1 that one of its most talented drivers ever also has the potential to ruin the harmony within any team that does not give him no 1 status.
Makes me think how the Renault engineers, designers, mechanics etc etc must feel right now. They are no doubt working so hard to try to improve their car but, despite this, Alonso is just desperate to leave if he can get a better car. If I were them, I would feel like I had been kicked in the teeth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6104470.stm
When Alonso left Renault to go to McLaren, he made such a show about visiting the Renault team in the UK and in France to wish them well telling them that if he couldn't win at McLaren, he hoped they would win because they were the best etc etc. It sounded very superficial to me then and now it's been exposed for the utterly hollow talk that it really was.
The bottom line IMO is that every driver looks out for himself but, I fear, Alonso is discovering, to his great personal cost, that this does not mean one should not avoid making enemies. Burning bridges is never a wise thing in the long run IMHO.
Anyway, let's see how this weekend goes. Should be fascinating
