Alonso at Ferrari for 2010

[Greycap]

Care to tell us what you think of Raikkonen who, despite driving a F1 car in 2002 (and thus having one more chance than Alonso) and landing into the mighty McLaren years before the Renault started winning, didn't become a World Champion until after Alonso achieved it TWICE?

I know this wasn't aimed at me but just in case there are people who find this to be a good excuse to prove how lousy of a driver Räikkönen is, I don't think anything negative should be thought of him because he didn't get the trophy in the McLaren. Almost two out of five of his races during his five years with McLaren ended with retirement because of one technical failure or the other while the Ferrari was bulletproof. In 2003 he lost the championship by two points, and one of the races ended from the lead when the engine blew up... and that's just something that doesn't happen in the teams that win championships.

 

[Hun200kmh]

I'd like to add something. Yes, I admit Alonso used to be such a crybaby back when he was 22 years old, even the smallest mistakes or wrong-doings from others caused some irritation and drama from him. I guess he learnt that from Flav. But for the last two years, after the 'incident' with Lewis that made him sit down and start thinking about his actions for once, all he does in a race weekend is come, say if he'll finish inside or outside the points, race, achieve the best position a mediocre car like that can get (You've seen all the drivers making plenty of mistakes save for Button and Alonso 'till last week's warmup lap, but he's been finishing every damn race as fast and flawlessly as this year's Renault can reach), tell his impressions to the press and go back home. Pretty professional, pretty unlike the kiddo he used to be.

Also, he's known for being a good setupper (if that word even exists) and a better feedback when developing a car. Because, you know, that new front wing won't tell you it's faster all by itself, it's the driver who's gotta decide if it's a step in the right direction or not. A bad driver can stop the entire development of a car, if he can't play along with the new parts...

A very good post. Sometimes it's not easy to write like that in the middle of a discussion. Congrats! 👍

I know this wasn't aimed at me but just in case there are people who find this to be a good excuse to prove how lousy of a driver Räikkönen is, I don't think anything negative should be thought of him because he didn't get the trophy in the McLaren. Almost two out of five of his races during his five years with McLaren ended with retirement because of one technical failure or the other while the Ferrari was bulletproof. In 2003 he lost the championship by two points, and one of the races ended from the lead when the engine blew up... and that's just something that doesn't happen in the teams that win championships.

And another good post, commenting a "less thoughtful" post from darkfinal.


Let's face it, we are talking about none other than Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. World F1 Champions. Therefore, greats among the greatest. Keep it cool, stick to the facts

 

[jereweeti]

A little off-topic, but it's amazing how everyone of you spell Räikkönen correctly, even though you leave the double dots out of the ä and ö!

👍

 

[darkfinal]

I know this wasn't aimed at me but just in case there are people who find this to be a good excuse to prove how lousy of a driver Räikkönen is, I don't think anything negative should be thought of him because he didn't get the trophy in the McLaren. Almost two out of five of his races during his five years with McLaren ended with retirement because of one technical failure or the other while the Ferrari was bulletproof. In 2003 he lost the championship by two points, and one of the races ended from the lead when the engine blew up... and that's just something that doesn't happen in the teams that win championships.

Oh, no. It's not me thinking that of Raikkonen. It's me pointing out that, if someone thinks so poor of Alonso, what might he think of the rest of world champions in the current grid. And let's not talk about the others.

I just consider Kimi to be a little less complete than Alonso. He's got the speed. Hell, he used to be the fastest one big time. Now he looks like he's bored of F1 racing.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

A little off-topic, but it's amazing how everyone of you spell Räikkönen correctly, even though you leave the double dots out of the ä and ö!

Just wait until it's three in the morning and we're trying to describe Ajmie Alguersuari's exploits. While drunk.

 

[LancerEvo7]

...Ajmie Alguersuari's...

Sheesh, you're already spelling it wrong.

 

[Ardius]

A little off-topic, but it's amazing how everyone of you spell Räikkönen correctly, even though you leave the double dots out of the ä and ö!

👍

Well I would use the dotted a and o, but I don't have a german? keyboard. Same goes for french, etc, which is a bit silly really as they really should make english keyboards with accented options (seeing as the icons are included in most programs anyway).
/off topic

 

[darkfinal]

Mine does. äëïöü.

jereweeti, care to explain us the differences between a/ä and o/ö?

 

[Greycap]

jereweeti, care to explain us the differences between a/ä and o/ö?

The wrong man responding but the answer will be roughly correct.

The difference between A/Ä and O/Ö could probably be likened to the difference between B/P or V/W, quite similar looking but not having the same meaning.

The following only applies to Finnish. Not to Swedish, German, or other languages that use these letters. All pronounciations can be short or elongated, the "instructions" are random.

A as a letter is pronounced like barn or harm.

Ä as a letter is pronounced like mad or hand.

O as a letter is pronounced like boy or short.

Ö as a letter is pronounced like turn or first.

That last one was no doubt confusing but hey, this is Finnish. Reputedly the toughest language after Mandarin Chinese. You probably get the clue though. In short, there's quite a difference between Raikkonen and Räikkönen. An easier case would be Mika Häkkinen, his name was usually pronounced "huckinen" when it should be "hackinen" - and that's about the best explanation I can give.

Is this off topic or something?

 

[jereweeti]

^^ Or if you speak Norwegian or Danish or can read phonetic alphabets: ä=æ ö=œ. In French, œ represents ö, like the diphthong 'eu' does too...

A with ä and o with ö, have actually nothing in common, except they play together in vocal chording (don't ask, unless you want to have a headache).

Greycap put it quite well. I would have gone too deep and messed up everything in your minds

Edit: Ardius, we have Finnish-Swedish keyboards.

Finnish & Swedish:
QWERTYUIOPÅ
ASDFGHJKLÖÄ
ZXCVBNM

German:
QWERTZUIOPÜ
ASDFGHJKLÖÄ
YXCVBNM

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

So would Räikkönen be pronounced Reykkinen?

 

[Peter]

This thread is all off topic now.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

There never was a topic, only an over-played rumour.

 

[Peter]

The rumor is the topic.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The rumor is the topic.

You misunderstand: 'topic' implies there is discussion, but there was never a discussion here because the Alonso-Ferrari rumour has been around for at least two years, has repeatedly been shot down by both parties, and is only ever perpetuated by the tabloids. There's nothing worth discussing because there's nothing happening. I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong if Alonso drives a Ferrari next year, but I seriously doubt it will happen. All we're getting are the same tired rumours and believe believing them because they want them to be true.

 

[Ardius]

^^ Or if you speak Norwegian or Danish or can read phonetic alphabets: ä=æ ö=œ. In French, œ represents ö, like the diphthong 'eu' does too...

A with ä and o with ö, have actually nothing in common, except they play together in vocal chording (don't ask, unless you want to have a headache).

Greycap put it quite well. I would have gone too deep and messed up everything in your minds

Edit: Ardius, we have Finnish-Swedish keyboards.

Finnish & Swedish:
QWERTYUIOPÅ
ASDFGHJKLÖÄ
ZXCVBNM

German:
QWERTZUIOPÜ
ASDFGHJKLÖÄ
YXCVBNM

Ok, I'll remember to make sure that if I ever own a games company in future (which is a possibility), I will force everyone to use European keyboards with all additional symbols, because its rediculous in these times that we should have keyboards that are limited to one language, at least in Europe, where we tend to communicate a lot.
And if such keyboards don't exist...well someone knows what to do to make some money because I imagine it would be easier to stock all countries with the same keyboard rather than regional-specific ones.

 

[Ferrari_Tifoso]

You misunderstand: 'topic' implies there is discussion, but there was never a discussion here because the Alonso-Ferrari rumour has been around for at least two years, has repeatedly been shot down by both parties, and is only ever perpetuated by the tabloids. There's nothing worth discussing because there's nothing happening. I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong if Alonso drives a Ferrari next year, but I seriously doubt it will happen. All we're getting are the same tired rumours and believe believing them because they want them to be true.

Well that's not for you to decide.

 

[Peter]

You misunderstand: 'topic' implies there is discussion, but there was never a discussion here because the Alonso-Ferrari rumour has been around for at least two years, has repeatedly been shot down by both parties, and is only ever perpetuated by the tabloids. There's nothing worth discussing because there's nothing happening. I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong if Alonso drives a Ferrari next year, but I seriously doubt it will happen. All we're getting are the same tired rumours and believe believing them because they want them to be true.

Didn't the exact same thing happen when Raikkonen was linked to ferrari? Rumors and denial, and then it happens out of nowhere.

 

[Ardius]

Didn't the exact same thing happen when Raikkonen was linked to ferrari? Rumors and denial, and then it happens out of nowhere.

Clap clap, you read an earlier part of the thread! Perhaps you should read more?

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

I guess even a broken clock is right at least twice a day.

But if I were head at Ferrari, I'd be sending love letters to Vettel instead (that's just me)...

 

[jereweeti]

Ok, I'll remember to make sure that if I ever own a games company in future (which is a possibility), I will force everyone to use European keyboards with all additional symbols, because its rediculous in these times that we should have keyboards that are limited to one language, at least in Europe, where we tend to communicate a lot.
And if such keyboards don't exist...well someone knows what to do to make some money because I imagine it would be easier to stock all countries with the same keyboard rather than regional-specific ones.

Or make them use iPod touches or iPhones that carry ~50 different keyboards, all with text correction systems for each language, and all the letters from a, through ß to ж. By the way, this was written on my iPod

Edit: I will TRY to keep us on the right tracks from now on.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I don't know how true it is - it's not in English and something might have been lost in translation - but I picked this story up from the Autosport forums: Alonso is apparently going to call a press conference in Milan between the 10th and 12th of September - just before the Italian Grand Prix -where he is expected to annouce a "reversal" of his career. The Spanish press naturally assume this means he's going to Ferrari and will be telling Briatore in a matter of hours, but I'm not so sure (ignoring the fact that Briatore is his manager and so would know about any Ferrari deal).

In fact, I think there's a possibility Alonso might be driving for Campos next year. To me, a shift from Renault to Ferrari does not sound like a reversal. It sounds like a step forward.

I know it sounds insane, but there's as much evidence to suggest it's possible as there is to suggest a move to Ferrari:
- When Alonso started in the WSR, it was with Campos Motorsport. He out-performed Pantano, who is associated with the Campos drive. They evidently know each other; if the three new teams approached Alonso, Campos might be the only one he'd be willing to listen to.
- It is well-known that Campos want an experienced Spanish driver. Both de la Rosa and Gene are getting a little long in the tooth; given the choice between Alonso or either of those two, only a fool would ignore Alonso.
- Dallara is building Campos' chassis. They have experience with new rules and helped developed the Ferrari F60. They claim they've learned frmo the experience.
- Cosworth are promising a competitive package, even though they're cutting back to 18,000 revs.

 

[Ardius]

There are a lot of worries about the Cosworth package though, rumour goes that USF1 are reconsidering Toyota engines.
A Campos line up of Alonso and de La Rosa would be awesome 👍

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I think a lot of those worries have to do with the EC looking into the selection process. I haven't heard anything abd about it, other than people comparing it to Cosworth's last Formula One engine. They say they'll now be running to the same specifications as the current engines, with the same allotment of eight over the course of the year, which may be better than an unlimited engine. And they reckon that they'll be as good as some of the engines currently in use; probably not Mercedes levels (Button used one engine from Bahrain to Monaco, the first time a single engine has won three races), but certainly better than BMW (after all, Kubica has already gone through six).

It's easier to sell me on Alonso to Campos than Alonso to Ferrari. This would be his chance to take a team that might be midfielders at best and start competing for points. Over time - three, maybe four years - Campos could be up there with the best of them, kind of like Williams at the height of their power (but competing with Ferrari, McLaren and no doubt Red Bull and possible Brawn). His sponsors might not like it in the short-term, but if I were Alonso with two World Championships to my name, taking a team from nothing to the upper levels would be far more satisfying than simply driving for a team because it's that team.

 

[yeti]

(after all, Kubica has already gone through six).

Seriously - what happens when he uses up the last two? Penalty? or is he just disallowed to race?

Can they repair other knackered ones?

C.

 

[Tired Tyres]

I think they lose 10 grid slots for each additional engine used.

 

[yeti]

I think they lose 10 grid slots for each additional engine used.

Or in the case of BMW - about 2...

C.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Okay, another insane idea:

I'm getting some mixed messages as to whether it was Alonso or Renault who will be holding this press conference. It won't be Ferrari, which makes me think they won't be singing him. After all, when they netted Raikkonen, it was Ferrari who hosted the press conference, not Raikkonen.

Now, Renault have tipped off suppliers that they may be exiting from the sport. Then the whole breakaway thing came up and Renault reaffirmed their commitment to the sport, at least for a while. But if a new Concorde Agreement is being signed, then the future of the sport is secured, and Renault may be looking to leave. Or at least scale back their invovlement to being an engine supplier/works support for a private team. But who will buy what remains of Renault? They won't want to sell to a junior team, like Epsilon Euskadi or Litespeed-Lotus. No, they'll want someone they can trust.

Maybe that person is Fernando Alonso.

I don't know what the rules on team ownership say. But no-one has raced in a car carrying his own name since the days of Jack Brabham (I can't recall whether Chis Amon actually drove for Amon ... he may have been like Alain Prost and simply owned a team after his career). Selling the team to Alonso makes sense, especially if Briatore is being lined up for a job at CVC. All Alonso would have to do is appoint someone to Flav's position - or somehow keep Flav himself - and worry about the driving. That way Renault get their way out, the team is in the hands of someone they know and trust, and they can stay in the sport as an engine supplier to Alonso-Renault ...

 

[yeti]

Out of left field - but you could be right - Renault have made a lot of noise about leaving for a long time - I suppose engine supply might actually be profitable (why would Cosworth be doing it otherwise) whereas we all know running a team isn't profitable...

So - it might make sounds business sense for Renault to jump ship and just supply engines... they always used to be just an engine supplier in the past - "Williams Renault" too?!

C.

 

[Ardius]

And then Williams get rid of Nakajima and pay for Renault power? Hmm, doubtful.

But an Alonso-owned team is interesting though just as doubtful as selling to a "junior" team (what makes them junior?). If I was Renault I'd be more inclined to sell to a lowly F3 team than to a corporation if it meant the team would continue to survive. At least the F3 team exists for the racing.

I'd reckon Prodrive would once again be the prime company to take over, surely Richards can't miss out on a great deal again?

I wouldn't be surprised either though if Renault stay in the sport, as I actually see Toyota more likely to pull out if they continue to go winless.