Comments on: Difficult decisions for Alonso and McLaren

By: doctorvee

doctorvee — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:38:49 +0000

Haha yeah, Sniff Petrol is an amusing website.

By: Woody

Woody — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:30:12 +0000

‘Creaky’ Schui! Check out:

http://www.sniffpetrol.com/category/ralf-and-mickey/

By: doctorvee

doctorvee — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:22:42 +0000

Yeah, I should have said that I think Alonso is the best driver who is currently in F1. Michael Schumacher is possibly better, although who knows now that he is out of practice and must be getting pretty creaky now.

By: Woody

Woody — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 20:31:26 +0000

Hey Doc…..you’ve drawn some pretty good conclusions there. In my mind, Toyota are probably a marginal choice at best; one of the top F1 budgets and still only an ‘also ran’. Yeah, the money they might offer would be good but, as you say, would FA really want to join a disaster area?

Renault and RedBull are deffo favourites. I’m not sure if the latest spying accusations will have an affect….too early to tell. And if they are competitive would FA really care?

The only thing I would disagree with is your comment about Alonso [There is also the small matter that Alonso is the greatest driver in the world. He is a man who beat Michael Schumacher to the Championship fair and square twice].

I’m just hoping that it’s a parody of the Spanish MSM , ‘cos i don’t see it. The 2005 season was a wash out for Ferrari in terms of chassis development (hardly grounds for square fight) and 2006 was equal wins and better consistency for FA.

I would put MS above FA any day.

Besides, wasn’t FA just beaten by Kimi…..fair and square?

By: Sally

Sally — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:51:53 +0000

Call me biased if you like, but actually I could see teams turning Alonso down because of his behaviour this season. He hasn’t endeared himself to a lot of people. You say the British press play down Hamilton’s comments, but IMO, the Spanish press are even more blinkered. I don’t want to over-generalise, but some of the Spanish posters on other blogs and websites seem to see Alonso as some kind of God.

Up until today, I was tipping Alonso to go back to Renault, but I doubt he’ll want to be associated now they’re under suspicion of spying/cheating, so now I’m more inclined to see him at Red Bull. It sounds like Toyota are going to have Glock in their second seat.

By: doctorvee

doctorvee — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:57:56 +0000

I dunno. If you ask me who I prefer between Alonso and Hamilton, I would say Alonso every time. Alonso might be a prima donna off the track but, unlike Hamilton, he is a gentleman on the track. Hamiton is also a mega whiner, maybe not quite as bad as Alonso, but the nevertheless British media have played this down.

There is also the small matter that Alonso is the greatest driver in the world. He is a man who beat Michael Schumacher to the Championship fair and square twice — the only person ever to have done that. I’ve heard a lot of people saying, “I bet none of the teams would want to hire Alonso after what he’s done this season.” But if you were running a team, would you really turn down a double World Champion? You would be nuts if you did.

By: Toxic

Toxic — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:13:35 +0000

Never trust a person whose mouth turns down when he smiles.

By: jameshigham

jameshigham — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:06:10 +0000

Sorry if you like him, Doc, but he seems a bit of a prima donna, Alonso.

By: Ponzonha

Ponzonha — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:22:45 +0000

Dear Dr.Vee,
thank you for attending my request. Your unbiased analysis of the situation from the British point of view really complements the Spanish-fuelled information that I have. You have gained a loyal supporter here .
Here in Spain it is said that Ron has released ALO unconditionally. My theory is that ALO has agreed to say noting about what happened in McLaren this year. Spies, the “conspiracy theory”, HAM end of season… are all topics that can harm McLaren’s reputation. The proof of this “gentlemen agreement” is that ALO hasn’t talk about this season yet. I don’t really believe in the conspiracy theory, however, it is clear that Ron made a mistake not giving ALO full support.
This means that ALO can sign for any team. Well, any team? No, I (we) think that only Renault, Toyota and Red Bull are the choices.
-Renault: ALO’s home. The team where he made history with cars that were fast in the first half of the season but lagged behind Ferrari and McLaren in the second one. I think that without Michelin, Renault is lame and I doubt that they can make a fast car this year. However, it seems the obvious choice for ALO.
-Toyota: My choice. It is true that Toyota hasn’t got passion, glamour… But it is the perfect team that can be put to serve one objective (making ALO win). It has money and brains, but lacks good pilots (Ralph was a real mistake). I have always liked Japanese way of doing things, but I fear that they wouldn’t let ALO make any important decision. Besides, it has Trulli, a friend of ALO.
-Red Bull: The outsider. Young people, great engineers and a great appeal. Next year cars would be less important (no TC remember) and they can take advantage of that. I see it as the option of making money and living well, but I don’t think they can really make a champion.

And now, McLaren. I know that you will not agree with me, but it clearly is a team where a pilot with ambition wouldn’t like to go. Ron loves HAM and nobody would be allowed to discuss HAM’s supremacy. That prevents talents like Sutil, Rosberg, Kovalainen or Kubica to join. The remembrance of Rubens in Ferrari under Michael’s rule is too fresh. I agree with you in that a Brit pilot makes no sense. This leaves DLR as the obvious choice. Remember that Santander bank gives a lot of money to McLaren and with all that happened this year there has been calls for boycott in Spain (!!). Nevertheless, I think that McLaren has here the most difficult decision in years for any team…
Thank you for your post, I love to see what’s the view up there in Britain.

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 07:52:03 +0000

Alonso – I was really hoping he would spend at least a year at Williams but that seems to have gone so I don’t have a clue where he will head now. Red Bull seems a good choice from his point of view – but is a huffy, sulking Spaniard really what Red BUll want? Doesn’t really fit in with their image in my view.

McLaren – Can’t see DC going back there because he seems so much happier now, doubt he will want to spend possibly his last season back under pressure in Woking. My money is still on Heikki I think.