Alonso joins Ferrari for £20m a year?

[TheCracker]

Everyone knows, that when he does good he is Finnish and when he (rarely) does bad he is German.

His mother is German, so at best he's half Finnish. He speaks 5 languages - none of them Finnish. I believe he lives and was brought up in Monte Carlo and has visited Finland about twice in his life. He considers himself as German.

 

[Greycap]

First three are for the teams. First four are for the ladies. Finnish is for the sauna operator swearing.

Fixed that for you.

 

[darkfinal]

First three are for the teams. First four are for the ladies. Finnish is for the sauna operator.

Are you saying Spanish is for the ladies? I'll have that in mind next time I visit another country...

 

[<_Spike_>]

A bit like DC. He's British when he's winning, and Scottish when he's doing badly.

He's Scottish an awful lot of the time then.

 

[KSaiyu]

I wonder if Paul di Resta's got a shot at a drive if Alonso leaves, if not that then at least a GP2 seat and possible future with McLaren

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I don't think McLaren are going to risk taking on another rookie the year after Hamilton. Sure, Hamilton is quick, but he doesn't have the experience just year, and the second year in the sport is often the toughest for teams and drivers alike.

 

[KSaiyu]

True, although it would be interesting if he does get a test drive/GP2 contract so he can get experience with McLaren that could one day lead to a strong all British line up.

 

[Omnis]

Fixed that for you.

Right, right!

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Looks like Alonso and Dennis are at a boiling point:

Ron Dennis has criticized Fernando Alonso for implying that he has not had equal treatment with Lewis Hamilton this year.

In a press conference in Shanghai on Thursday Alonso was asked whether the team could have handicapped him with unfavorable tire pressures or other car settings. Alonso said simply, &#8220;Difficult question... I will not answer,&#8221; a response that was clearly calculated to stir things up.Dennis was not amused, and made that very apparent today when questioned on the subject.

&#8220;Going into the Japanese Grand Prix Fernando was two points behind Lewis,&#8221; said the McLaren boss. &#8220;I think the Grand Prix season so far, in respect of our two cars, their reliability, their competitiveness and the way that our team has conducted itself leaves nobody in Formula 1 with the view that we do anything other than provide equality to both of our drivers.

&#8220;There are numerous equality clauses in our contracts. They are reciprocal in both drivers&#8217; contracts and it is a well known fact that we do not favor &#8211; even in very, very difficult circumstances, even in the level of competitiveness and the spirit of competitiveness that sits between our drivers &#8211; we never will, never have and certainly are not favoring either driver at the moment.

&#8220;This is a straight fight and I&#8217;m obviously disappointed that someone who really has all the knowledge should not be more direct and open with the response which is: equality is how we run our team.&#8221;

Fixed... the code function doesn't word wrap text.


I really miss the 2005 Alonso... unfortunately now that he has had the taste of victory and the pain of defeat his true nature has come to the surface and has made me now wish he would just go away so as not to further destroy his ever shrinking legacy. I think the best thing he could do for himself right now and for the future of his career is to take a year off and get some serious mental coaching.

 

[mipuumal]

Alonso slams McLaren's treatment

So what are the odds now? Renault 80% Toyota 20%?

 

[Metar]

Alonso slams McLaren's treatment

So what are the odds now? Renault 80% Toyota 20%?

As Lauda put it - it's a mistake on McLaren's side if they let Alonso go.

 

[Blake]

If only because another team will have him.

 

[Metar]

Exactly his point.

I try to roughly translate what I remember he said - "It's a strategical mistake to give another team a driver as talented as Alonso, simply because he's too fast to have on another team. He's good in developing the car, he's good driving it - and we've seen in-team battles just as terrible back then" (At this point, the other guy mentions Senna and Prost).

 

[prisonermonkeys]

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, it's Alonso's attitude that would kill it. If he were a little more open-minded, didn't write Hamilton off from the beginning and concentrated on demonstrating why he carries the number one as opposed to bad-mouthing the team, there wouldn't be a problem. Hell, a team-mate rivalry could even prove productive under the right circumstances (then again, it could always end with two mcLarens taking each other out ...).

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, it's Alonso's attitude that would kill it. If he were a little more open-minded, didn't write Hamilton off from the beginning and concentrated on demonstrating why he carries the number one as opposed to bad-mouthing the team, there wouldn't be a problem. Hell, a team-mate rivalry could even prove productive under the right circumstances (then again, it could always end with two mcLarens taking each other out ...).

Exactly.

As hostile and destructive as Alonso's been, if you already have a driver on your team that has proven to be able to to beat Alonso, then why risk having him on your team? Let him be a problem somewhere else and continue to beat him.

Sure, Lauda&#8217;s assessment would be more accurate if Alonso was not such a massive distraction for the team, but situations like this are not always so obvious, and Alonso is probably more of a problem on McLaren&#8217;s team then he would be off it.

I suspect there is now less than a 1% chance Alonso will remain at McLaren, and the only way Alonso will be behind the wheel of a McLaren car is if he is driving behind it in a different car.

Personally though, I still feel the best thing Alonso could do for himself and his career right now is to take a year off. Get his head on straight, and show that he has matured, ready to be a team player, and I'll bet he would then be able to secure a ride in a premier F1 team, even Ferrari, which may be looking for a new driver in 2009 any way.

 

[Cod_Father]

Personally I think he's going to retire - if something doesn't happen and things get patched up in the McLaren fold (highly unlikely). Just a gut feeling.

 

[<_Spike_>]

IMO, it's best for both Hamilton and Alonso to be on both teams, and as Hamilton is most certainly going no where...Alonso should know when he's not wanted and just take either a time out or a transfer.

 

[Roo]

World champion drivers don't retire because a few other people don't want them there.

He'll be at McLaren next year, unless he doesn't mind not winning for a season.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

IMO, it's best for both Hamilton and Alonso to be on both teams, and as Hamilton is most certainly going no where...Alonso should know when he's not wanted and just take either a time out or a transfer.

If Alonso changed his attitude and worked for the team's respect (ie winning more races to prove he's more likely to win the title) instead of demanding it outright (ie expecting he'll be given number one status before he's even seen the new car), I'm sure McLaren would be more than willing to retain his services, even if he hated Lewis Hamilton.

 

[GT3mich]

Exactly his point.

I try to roughly translate what I remember he said - "It's a strategical mistake to give another team a driver as talented as Alonso, simply because he's too fast to have on another team. He's good in developing the car, he's good driving it - and we've seen in-team battles just as terrible back then" (At this point, the other guy mentions Senna and Prost).

The problem is the driver is having issues with the team boss unlike the Senna/Prost battle that took place on the track as well as in the press. They were 2 great drivers. F1 still hasn't changed. Alonso should take a year off and grow up a bit. He's sounding like a spoiled kid not getting his way.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Despite his DNF and the serious chance he may not now win the championship, seeing Hamilton smiling and shaking hands with his crew, and not losing his temper, really does strike a stark contrast to his teammate's behavior, which SPEED TV is saying was now claiming after Hamilton won pole and he only got P4 that McLaren had in some way tampered with his car or given Hamilton an unfair advantage... to which apparently McLaren team management was so infuriated over Alonso's continued insinuations, that had Hamilton won the championship today, they were planning on pulling Alonso out of the car for the final race in Brazil, and giving his ride to another driver, presumably De La Rosa.

If this is true, the chance of seeing Alonso in a McLaren car next year just went from 1% to .001%.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

First rule of journalism: never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

 

[Redgodzila]

Alonso's too young and in his prime to take a year off. There's no denying a double world champ is hot property in the paddock. McLaren isn't giving him what he wants, but maybe other teams are willing to safricfice some princibles to accomadate him?

 

[livemusic]

I think he's doing this just to irritate Ron Dennis so he let the Spaniard go without his new team (whichever that might be) having to pay his pass to McMerc.

 

[Appie]

but i doubt that Alonso will leave and i hope not. He still has one of the best cars on the grid.

 

[darkfinal]

If Alonso changed his attitude and worked for the team's respect (ie winning more races to prove he's more likely to win the title) instead of demanding it outright (ie expecting he'll be given number one status before he's even seen the new car), I'm sure McLaren would be more than willing to retain his services, even if he hated Lewis Hamilton.

When you're a double world champion, you're expecting two attitudes from your team: Having the #1 status, or an equal treatment towards both drivers. Alonso has drove in Minardi, been a test driver and had to prove he was better than Trulli, Fisichella and Villeneuve - And he did. Now... Why the **** should he make a drama out of this if he was given the same opportunities than Hamilton from the very first? Is that you guys want to make him look like The Ogre so bad? The most obvious reason wouldn't be that he hasn't even been equal, but in inferior conditions under his teammate from the first race?

One doesn't bite the hand that feeds him, specially not in F1 with those oversized budgets. Alonso should be VERY stupid to complain and build up this drama if he was being treated well, and after roughly five years of serious racing, I don't see why should he throw his reputation away just for this. And after reading things like this...

[SIZE=-0]Dennis: no one to blame for Hamilton exit[/SIZE]
McLaren boss Ron Dennis thinks that no one should take any blame for Lewis Hamilton's exit from the Chinese Grand Prix.
Although Hamilton's chances of winning the championship in Shanghai were wrecked when he ran off the track on badly worn wet tyres on the entry to the pits, Dennis thinks it was just a simple consequence of racing.
"It's too extreme to say anyone made a mistake in this," said Dennis. "It's been a very competitive season between our drivers and it will go on for another Grand Prix.
"We were very keen to maintain the lead. It was so comfortable for him (Hamilton) to pull out the gap on Kimi that he gave the tyres a little bit more of a hard time. But Fernando and the two Ferraris stopped after him.
"I don't think we did anything dramatically wrong and neither did Lewis. But the circuit was considerably drier than the pitlane entrance. That's what made the difference."
He added: "It was easy to say, we could have stopped earlier, but would it have made a difference? Everybody had the same thought. Last year with Alonso, when he went onto intermediates, they immediately grained and he was extremely slow.
"All the top teams, Ferrari and ourselves, were trying to get through the rain and straight onto a dry tyre."
Interestingly, Dennis said that the team's focus in making a decision about delaying Hamilton's change of tyres was not in what Ferrari were up to, but what Fernando Alonso was doing.
"The problem was rain and his (Hamilton's) tyres were in the worst condition. But we weren't at all fazed about Kimi. We weren't racing Kimi, we were basically racing Fernando.
"Kimi winning and Lewis coming second was adequate. It just didn't quite work out that way."

... It's more obvious to me that Ron have forced the situation to make Alonso work on the car before feeling uncomfortable, fight against his team and make him look like the bad guy while he and his golden boy show their teeth. Good work Ron, may your boy end up like Villeneuve.

 

[Greycap]

It seems that there are very few of those who think against Hamilton here, but you have the point exactly.

I'm not going to express my honest opinions about Dennis and Hamilton because that would earn me a warning in an instant and a ban in another instant, so I'll just say that it's a terrible shame that the best drivers can't race about the trophy under fair circumstances. And Dennis is after all this saying that his drivers are equal, is he blind, stupid or just a hell of a biased liar?

It will be pleasant to see Hamilton struggling to reach the podium in a few years.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

It's interesting that Ron Dennis says they were racing against Alonso; but after the race was over, Whitmarsh(sp?) said they were trying to "cover Kimi."

 

[Roo]

It will be pleasant to see Hamilton struggling to reach the podium in a few years.

If he leaves McLaren, it'll be pleaseent to see Alonso struggling to reach the podium next year. Not because I have a have a problem with him, but because of comments like that.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

When you're a double world champion, you're expecting two attitudes from your team: Having the #1 status, or an equal treatment towards both drivers. Alonso has drove in Minardi, been a test driver and had to prove he was better than Trulli, Fisichella and Villeneuve - And he did. Now... Why the **** should he make a drama out of this if he was given the same opportunities than Hamilton from the very first? Is that you guys want to make him look like The Ogre so bad? The most obvious reason wouldn't be that he hasn't even been equal, but in inferior conditions under his teammate from the first race?

Flavio Briatore can talk about how there was nothing about "equal status" in Alonso's contract, but simply by looking at McLaren - and Alonso would have to, to know what he was getting into - he'd realise that McLaren don't have a "number one driver" policy until it became clear that one was a serious and genuine title contender. In the event that both of them were in that position points-wise - like they are now - it's really quite unfair to expect one driver to be given the advantage.