Big rumor: Alonso to join Ferrari in 2011
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No thanks, I prefer Massa vs. Hamilton, they seem better rivals, plus I prefer a Ferrari that isn't so dominant and I would like to see Renault do better.
I actually hope both McLaren and Ferrari drop down in the grid next year and we see some of the other teams take some glory, its about damn time. The last time we didn't have either team at the top was 1995/1996.
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Alonso in a Ferrari?
Not likely. Both Massa and Raikkonen have done pretty well for themselves, and I'm pretty sure Ferrari bosses will have their eye on Sebastian Vettel. Given that this rumour keeps cropping up despite Ferrari denying they even have any interest in the Spaniard, I'd say this is nothing. 2011 is a long way away ...
Not likely. Both Massa and Raikkonen have done pretty well for themselves, and I'm pretty sure Ferrari bosses will have their eye on Sebastian Vettel. Given that this rumour keeps cropping up despite Ferrari denying they even have any interest in the Spaniard, I'd say this is nothing. 2011 is a long way away ...
Lofasz
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Yeah, Alonso has proven hes an excellent driver, even if he's a bit of a jerk sometimes. I'd be happy to see him in either a competitive Renault or a Ferrari. It would be nice if Kovalinenenenen picked up the pace next year, and if not, gets replaced by Sutil or Rosberg. At least I'd like that. Heck, maybe even Bruno would be ready at that point. I have a feeling that '09 is gonna be a wild one, with all the new regs. I really enjoy the McLaren/Ferrari battles, but also like the 2nd tier manufacturers to put the pressure on as well. It will be interesting to see which teams can get the hybrid drive systems to work best for them. I wonder if Toyota will have any type of advantage.
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I said that earlier in some other F1 related thread , Sebastian Vettel , will be the one to watch.He has talent,and I feel sure the big wigs of Ferrari are watching this guy.As far as Alonso jumping ship to Ferrari in 2011,I am not real sure about that.I think Renault knows they have something in Alonso,and they would probably want to keep him right where he's at,Right now Renault is nipping at the heels of Ferrari and Mclaren,I don't think they would want to re-group by putting in a new driver and sending their "ace " to another team like Ferrari or Mclaren.
Lofasz
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I agree that Renault have every reason to want to keep Alonso. However, Ferrari historically brings in any driver, that's a consistent winner. Alonso fits the mold of a Ferrari driver. While Vettel is definately talented, he's not as tested as Alonso. However, Alonso is known to be difficult to be a teammate with. And yet, Alonso and Massa seem to get along well together. Kimi had a rough year in '08, and needs to do well in '09, if he wants to keep his seat. Time will tell.
Don't forget about Kubica. He's Ferrari material as well. If BMW can't maintain their level of performance into next season, Kubica may very well look elsewhere for a ride.
Don't forget about Kubica. He's Ferrari material as well. If BMW can't maintain their level of performance into next season, Kubica may very well look elsewhere for a ride.
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Lofasz
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This got me thinking. . . do you guys think Kimi will end his career, driving for Ferrari? I think/hope so. Good guy, but I'd like to make room for the new talent.
Also, if Honda will indeed be closing their doors, where's that leave Jenson Button, let alone Rubens? I figure Rubens is ready to bow out, but Jensen had a pretty good season in 2006. If he had a decent car, he might be competitive (but don't count on it). First he needs to shave that ratty beard
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It would be nice to see Bruno Senna in '09. I expect we'll hear about all the teams' final decisions, regarding drivers' positions, by sometime January. I'm interested to hear who will be driving for Toro Rosso this season. Will SeaBass keep his seat? Will Sato come back to F1? Will Buemi make the older guys look bad? Does Senna have a shot at Toro Rosso? - All questions, enquiring minds would like answers to.
Also, what shape will Mark Webber be in, considering his biking accident, just recently. I read he injured his knee. While the injury wasn't too serious, it could shave off his competitive edge, for a season. I like the guy, and think he has many more competitive years left in the tank, but could he be force to take the season off? Or at least part of it, in order to let him fully recover? If so, who could fill his place? One of the RBR/STR test drivers?
There's no shortage of talented drivers out there. There just aren't enough teams. It would be nice to see a full 22 car grid, with even the last place team competing with the midfield.
And finally, it would be nice to see Adrian Sutil and Nico Rosberg get more competitive cars. They're both fast drivers, that could give the top guys a real run for the money, if they had the tools for the job.
Also, if Honda will indeed be closing their doors, where's that leave Jenson Button, let alone Rubens? I figure Rubens is ready to bow out, but Jensen had a pretty good season in 2006. If he had a decent car, he might be competitive (but don't count on it). First he needs to shave that ratty beard
.It would be nice to see Bruno Senna in '09. I expect we'll hear about all the teams' final decisions, regarding drivers' positions, by sometime January. I'm interested to hear who will be driving for Toro Rosso this season. Will SeaBass keep his seat? Will Sato come back to F1? Will Buemi make the older guys look bad? Does Senna have a shot at Toro Rosso? - All questions, enquiring minds would like answers to.
Also, what shape will Mark Webber be in, considering his biking accident, just recently. I read he injured his knee. While the injury wasn't too serious, it could shave off his competitive edge, for a season. I like the guy, and think he has many more competitive years left in the tank, but could he be force to take the season off? Or at least part of it, in order to let him fully recover? If so, who could fill his place? One of the RBR/STR test drivers?
There's no shortage of talented drivers out there. There just aren't enough teams. It would be nice to see a full 22 car grid, with even the last place team competing with the midfield.
And finally, it would be nice to see Adrian Sutil and Nico Rosberg get more competitive cars. They're both fast drivers, that could give the top guys a real run for the money, if they had the tools for the job.
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Jeez, how bad does Kimi have to screw things up for this to happen?
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eah, I was wondering the same thing. Every seems sure that Raikkonen will be the one to go in favourof Alonso if ever this eventuates, but I have to ask ... what has he done wrong? He won the championship first time out in a Ferrari (and the first since Mansell - I think - to do so), and stayed in the title hunt for as long as possible this year. He hasn't made any catastrophic mistakes, he just had a mid-season run of bad luck.
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They denied trying to sign him now, and stated they're happy with Massa and Raikkonen - but Montezemolo never misses an opportunity to praise Alonso, and said multiple times that he'd like to see him drive for the Scuderia.
They'll have a disadvantage, if anything. They're struggling badly with KERS, and said they'll likely complete almost half a season without it.
That's our sad reality - talented drivers are more plentiful than ever, and at the moment, yet there's not enough space. We have about 5-6 drivers that can honestly be ranked as out of this world (Raikkonen, Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Vettel, and there's space for more once they prove themselves) and a whole grid of good to pretty decent - none of the legendary crap like Albers, Ide, or the worthless pay-drivers of the '90s and earlier. Sadly, teams now have to decide between scrapping a good driver (Bourdais) in a risk to find an even better one.
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It would be equally nice if he was given a sporting chance in the qualifying to get the car to the front of the grid. Last year he had a lighter car than Hamilton one single time (according to McLaren that is) and on that occasion he drove it on the pole position. One doesn't win races with a 20 kg weight penalty starting from the 6th place or so.
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Look into the bigger picture, and realize that 4-5 laps of extra fuel equate to another 0.3-0.4s (and often more) during those laps, too. There's a reason Renault shot themselves in the foot earlier this season - they fueled Alonso on fumes, got 4th-5th place on the grid, and then finished behind heavier-fuelers like, indeed, Kovalainen, and even Webber.
But that's a midfield-team strategy. The McLaren team stood strongly behind Hamilton this year - I'm sure you noticed the outrageous mid-race stop they forced on Kovalainen at Brazil - but I don't see that changing at McLaren now - especially with a shot at a second championship.
But that's a midfield-team strategy. The McLaren team stood strongly behind Hamilton this year - I'm sure you noticed the outrageous mid-race stop they forced on Kovalainen at Brazil - but I don't see that changing at McLaren now - especially with a shot at a second championship.
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You're right there. Then again gaining two seconds during those laps doesn't help too much when the leader is 20 seconds away already thanks to the heavier fuel load and the traffic.
Indeed, quite a lot of things could be noticed this year. I can understand them supporting one of the drivers when it becomes a reality that the other one is out of the game (like Ferrari apparently does) but doing it right from the beginning of the season and still claiming there's no preference is just a bit out of this world.
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Kubica, Alonso, and Vettel are probably all being looked into by Ferrari. Vettel would be a very good long term investment, IMO, but that said they could just wait till the kid comes into his own and then buy him up.
I highly doubt McLaren would look into bringing him on board when they already have their golden boy in Hamilton.
That said, I'm having a hard time seeing Ferrari get rid of Massa or Kimi anytime soon.. which is why it wouldn't surprise me to see Kimi and Massa stay with Ferrari for a bit and then Ferrari dumping whichever one fails to perform up to snuff and picking up Vettel. That is, assuming Vettel lives up to all the hype.
I highly doubt McLaren would look into bringing him on board when they already have their golden boy in Hamilton.
That said, I'm having a hard time seeing Ferrari get rid of Massa or Kimi anytime soon.. which is why it wouldn't surprise me to see Kimi and Massa stay with Ferrari for a bit and then Ferrari dumping whichever one fails to perform up to snuff and picking up Vettel. That is, assuming Vettel lives up to all the hype.
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Lofasz
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You do have a point. Though I'm not so sure McLaren would want to go out of their way, to handicap their second driver. They want him to be as competitive as possible, against the Ferraris, as well. Yes, they may have started him with a heavier fuel load, than Hamilton. However, that usually results in a shorter fuel stop, for either or both of his pit stops. I know he was competitive at a number of races this year, but we all know he could've scored more points. Bad luck with accidents and tire goof ups didn't help him any. I also heard that he was still adjusting to the car, and learning its nuances. I expect/hope that he's better acclimated this season.
He's proven he's fast, but can he be consistent? I also like Mark Webber, another fast driver. But he too has difficulty being consistent. Nick Heidfield is in the same category, IMO. Maybe all three drivers can blame their cars, at one point or another, but non have shown that they can be consistent winners. Until they do, they'll always be considered also rans.
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Cesare Fiorio should do a brain-check:
In fact, it's the opposite. Ferrari won the constructors title mainly because of their two excellent drivers (only credit to Ferrari: they gave both the chance to win races). Massa lost the driver's title (20 points, at least - Hungary and Singapore) mainly because of Ferrari.
Source: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/081230090424.shtml
In fact, it's the opposite. Ferrari won the constructors title mainly because of their two excellent drivers (only credit to Ferrari: they gave both the chance to win races). Massa lost the driver's title (20 points, at least - Hungary and Singapore) mainly because of Ferrari.
Source: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/081230090424.shtml
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New rumor from Onda Cero (spanish radio)!
Alonso to join Ferrari in 2010!
Source:http://www.ondacero.es/OndaCero/noticia/Fernando-Alonso-sera-piloto-Ferrari-partir-2010/4303713/ws
Translated:
Alonso to join Ferrari in 2010!
Source:http://www.ondacero.es/OndaCero/noticia/Fernando-Alonso-sera-piloto-Ferrari-partir-2010/4303713/ws
Translated:
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Sort of similar to what I said before, I think it would be stupid for both teams to get rid of their respective drivers, Alonso + Renault are clearly a good combination, so are Ferrari+Massa + (not so much) Raikkonen.
I wouldn't like to see Massa being forced to play second fiddle to Alonso at all.
I wouldn't like to see Massa being forced to play second fiddle to Alonso at all.
