Where are all the Alonso detractors
05-26-2007, 01:47 PM
#211
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this remark from hamilton is something else, His competitors must be shacking their heads, this guy loves this ...
Hamilton said: "This is an awesome track, my favourite, and to know you are brushing the barriers is amazing. You wouldn't believe how quick it is, there isn't much room, and to be here in my first Grand Prix is fantastic. Tomorrow is going to be interesting."
Ahh, Haa. The magic of F1 ,,, the sport is finally back, from it's dark era ....
Hamilton said: "This is an awesome track, my favourite, and to know you are brushing the barriers is amazing. You wouldn't believe how quick it is, there isn't much room, and to be here in my first Grand Prix is fantastic. Tomorrow is going to be interesting."
Ahh, Haa. The magic of F1 ,,, the sport is finally back, from it's dark era ....
05-27-2007, 01:43 PM
#212
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HOW YUH LIKE ME NOW !
What a victory from the "real deal " THE tension at the start of the race was almost unbearable , WOW ! regardless of the outcome watching lewis and Alonso hustle an F1 car at the limit around Monaco was something else .... expected results , Massa has never had the finesse to hustle around such tight quarters , Kimi did get in the points ....
Alonso needed this win more than lewis , now they are tied in points but Alonso's 2 wins to lewis's none , puts him ahead...........
I will be seeing the Finn in about 40 mins , i will be calm, as he is under a lot of Finnish pressure
What a victory from the "real deal " THE tension at the start of the race was almost unbearable , WOW ! regardless of the outcome watching lewis and Alonso hustle an F1 car at the limit around Monaco was something else .... expected results , Massa has never had the finesse to hustle around such tight quarters , Kimi did get in the points ....
Alonso needed this win more than lewis , now they are tied in points but Alonso's 2 wins to lewis's none , puts him ahead...........
I will be seeing the Finn in about 40 mins , i will be calm, as he is under a lot of Finnish pressure
05-28-2007, 01:40 AM
#213
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ALONSO SHOWS WHY HE IS NUMBER 1
Fernando Alonso underlined why he is widely regarded as Formula 1's benchmark driver with a superb performance in Monaco as McLaren blew the rest away. James Allen takes an in-depth look at how the Alonso/Hamilton duel developed and looks at the strategy variations in play up and down the grid.
This was a great performance by both the McLaren drivers, although Alonso shaded it for consistency.
The race was won in qualifying, when Alonso got the lap time in and Hamilton did not.
Lewis was 3/10ths up after the first sector, but lost half a second with a moment at Loews behind Mark Webber.
This gave Alonso the pole and the run in to the first corner.
Head-to-head
Lewis wasn’t looking for trouble there and dutifully tucked in behind Alonso at the start.
For the first stint Alonso was able to pull away comfortably at a rate which had nothing to do with the relative weights of the cars as Hamilton’s car was only 5kg heavier than Alonso’s, less than 1/10th of a second per lap around here.
Lewis did well in traffic though in that first stint, closing the gap from eight seconds on lap 17 to 4.2s before Alonso’s first stop on lap 26.
Lewis’ in lap on lap 29 was slightly slower than Fernando’s, but when he rejoined he was still 4.8s behind.
Crucially he had taken on more fuel, so he was set to do four laps more than Alonso in the second stint.
The gap stayed constant for a while but then they hit traffic and this time Alonso was the more incisive and by lap 45 the gap was back out to 9.3 seconds.
At this point Alonso was lapping in the low 1m 15s, a mesmerising pace.
And Lewis was similarly quick when the track was clear.
The pit-stop mystery
Then the bit I don’t understand – Alonso pitted on lap 51 and Lewis a lap later.
He was 10 seconds behind at this point, but Alonso had a slow out lap in traffic and when Lewis rejoined he was four seconds behind.
Why did McLaren bring his second stop forward?
To avoid any risk of losing the stop and second place if a safety car was deployed, according to the team.
But on paper it looks as though Lewis might have had a chance to pass Alonso if he had stayed out, because of that very slow out lap of Alonso’s, four seconds off the pace.
But that would have been pretty unfair on Alonso who had done enough to win it by then.
Then after the race Ron Dennis said to ITV that he had told his drivers to conserve their cars from as early as lap 10!
And he said that they could have gone much faster.
He confirmed this to me after the race, but it rather contradicts what Hamilton was saying, that he hit the barriers several times, so hard was he pushing.
I don’t know why Ron wants this message to go out.
Advantage McLaren?
I spoke with Ferrari’s Luca Baldisseri and Chris Dyer after the race and they were despondent enough that they had finished over a minute behind McLaren here with Massa, without worrying that McLaren could have gone faster!
Ferrari simply did not have he pace here, which is partly a function of the longer wheelbase car being less nimble, but also because McLaren’s cars suits the high downforce configuration better.
And as for Kimi, the error he made in qualifying had dire consequences for him and he is now 15 points adrift of the championship leaders, He must win both Canada and Indy to have any chance of getting back on terms.
At the Ricard test two weeks ago, the McLaren was faster in the “Monaco’ configuration, but there wasn’t much to choose between the two cars in the Montreal and Indy specification track, with long straights and chicanes.
So it’s going to be close at those two races. If it turns out that McLaren has an edge over there, then look out for Indy for Lewis’ first win.
Alonso has never got on with the place and it is Lewis best chance of a win this season, in my view.
A question of strategy
There were some serious strategy casualties today.
BMW shot themselves in the foot with a bonkers strategy in qualifying.
I thought they had a fast car here and they proved it with third fastest race lap ahead of Massa’s Ferrari!
So why didn’t they do what Renault did with Fisi and stick their drivers on a really aggressive light strategy in qualifying to get up the front of the grid?
The BMW is faster than the Renault, despite Renaults’ progress with the new front wing and so on.
Instead they qualified seventh and eighth with a huge fuel load and were slow in the first half of the race.
They did it because they thought there might be a safety car, but it totally worked against them.
Honda also had a bizarre strategy, bringing their drivers in on laps 37 (Rubens) and 41 (Button) but not one-stopping.
They were happily in eighth and ninth places but had to give up their championship points when they made a late pit-stop on laps 60 and 61.
Another driver whose strategy worked out very badly was Nico Rosberg.
He was fifth on the grid, lost a place to Heidfeld at the start and then because Heidfeld was so heavy he held him up.
Rosberg was on a light strategy so this compromised him badly.
He tried a very long 36-lap middle stint but he lost track position and became an also ran, instead of basically shadowing Fisi in fifth place as he could have done.
He also complained of a vibration at the rear of the car.
All credit to Wurz, who made a one stopper work for him, going from 11th on the grid to seventh and his first championship points, which will take the pressure off him a bit.
This was a great performance by both the McLaren drivers, although Alonso shaded it for consistency.
The race was won in qualifying, when Alonso got the lap time in and Hamilton did not.
Lewis was 3/10ths up after the first sector, but lost half a second with a moment at Loews behind Mark Webber.
This gave Alonso the pole and the run in to the first corner.
Head-to-head
Lewis wasn’t looking for trouble there and dutifully tucked in behind Alonso at the start.
For the first stint Alonso was able to pull away comfortably at a rate which had nothing to do with the relative weights of the cars as Hamilton’s car was only 5kg heavier than Alonso’s, less than 1/10th of a second per lap around here.
Lewis did well in traffic though in that first stint, closing the gap from eight seconds on lap 17 to 4.2s before Alonso’s first stop on lap 26.
Lewis’ in lap on lap 29 was slightly slower than Fernando’s, but when he rejoined he was still 4.8s behind.
Crucially he had taken on more fuel, so he was set to do four laps more than Alonso in the second stint.
The gap stayed constant for a while but then they hit traffic and this time Alonso was the more incisive and by lap 45 the gap was back out to 9.3 seconds.
At this point Alonso was lapping in the low 1m 15s, a mesmerising pace.
And Lewis was similarly quick when the track was clear.
The pit-stop mystery
Then the bit I don’t understand – Alonso pitted on lap 51 and Lewis a lap later.
He was 10 seconds behind at this point, but Alonso had a slow out lap in traffic and when Lewis rejoined he was four seconds behind.
Why did McLaren bring his second stop forward?
To avoid any risk of losing the stop and second place if a safety car was deployed, according to the team.
But on paper it looks as though Lewis might have had a chance to pass Alonso if he had stayed out, because of that very slow out lap of Alonso’s, four seconds off the pace.
But that would have been pretty unfair on Alonso who had done enough to win it by then.
Then after the race Ron Dennis said to ITV that he had told his drivers to conserve their cars from as early as lap 10!
And he said that they could have gone much faster.
He confirmed this to me after the race, but it rather contradicts what Hamilton was saying, that he hit the barriers several times, so hard was he pushing.
I don’t know why Ron wants this message to go out.
Advantage McLaren?
I spoke with Ferrari’s Luca Baldisseri and Chris Dyer after the race and they were despondent enough that they had finished over a minute behind McLaren here with Massa, without worrying that McLaren could have gone faster!
Ferrari simply did not have he pace here, which is partly a function of the longer wheelbase car being less nimble, but also because McLaren’s cars suits the high downforce configuration better.
And as for Kimi, the error he made in qualifying had dire consequences for him and he is now 15 points adrift of the championship leaders, He must win both Canada and Indy to have any chance of getting back on terms.
At the Ricard test two weeks ago, the McLaren was faster in the “Monaco’ configuration, but there wasn’t much to choose between the two cars in the Montreal and Indy specification track, with long straights and chicanes.
So it’s going to be close at those two races. If it turns out that McLaren has an edge over there, then look out for Indy for Lewis’ first win.
Alonso has never got on with the place and it is Lewis best chance of a win this season, in my view.
A question of strategy
There were some serious strategy casualties today.
BMW shot themselves in the foot with a bonkers strategy in qualifying.
I thought they had a fast car here and they proved it with third fastest race lap ahead of Massa’s Ferrari!
So why didn’t they do what Renault did with Fisi and stick their drivers on a really aggressive light strategy in qualifying to get up the front of the grid?
The BMW is faster than the Renault, despite Renaults’ progress with the new front wing and so on.
Instead they qualified seventh and eighth with a huge fuel load and were slow in the first half of the race.
They did it because they thought there might be a safety car, but it totally worked against them.
Honda also had a bizarre strategy, bringing their drivers in on laps 37 (Rubens) and 41 (Button) but not one-stopping.
They were happily in eighth and ninth places but had to give up their championship points when they made a late pit-stop on laps 60 and 61.
Another driver whose strategy worked out very badly was Nico Rosberg.
He was fifth on the grid, lost a place to Heidfeld at the start and then because Heidfeld was so heavy he held him up.
Rosberg was on a light strategy so this compromised him badly.
He tried a very long 36-lap middle stint but he lost track position and became an also ran, instead of basically shadowing Fisi in fifth place as he could have done.
He also complained of a vibration at the rear of the car.
All credit to Wurz, who made a one stopper work for him, going from 11th on the grid to seventh and his first championship points, which will take the pressure off him a bit.
06-01-2007, 02:24 PM
#215
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Alonso hopes to carry new Macca momentum to canadian GP
Alonso aims to keep Macca momentum
Fernando Alonso says McLaren must maintain the “great momentum” that its rampant Monaco victory created inside the team in the first leg of the North American double-header in Canada next weekend.
The Spaniard reclaimed the lead of the world championship from team-mate Lewis Hamilton after beating the young rookie on the streets of Monte Carlo, as both drivers lapped all cars up to third-placed Felipe Massa.
The emphatic result pushed McLaren further ahead of Ferrari in both championships and Alonso says the team will be working hard to ensure that it can maintain that level of performance, as he himself goes in search of back-to-back wins in Montreal.
"We have a great momentum in the team right now after such a fantastic result in Monaco, which is a positive way to be going into the North American double-header,” Alonso said.
“There has been no opportunity to test since Monaco; however the team has been pushing hard off track to keep the momentum going.
“Until last year, I hadn’t had great results in Canada, so it was fantastic to win there.
“It is always a tough race, and you see a lot of retirements because you are stressing the whole car with the high speeds and the hard braking zones.
“We have some new packages on the car for Montreal; we are all pushing hard to attack and fight for more race victories.”
Team-mate Hamilton has yet to drive on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and will have to learn a new track for the third time this season.
However, as was the case with Albert Park and Sepang, the 22-year-old is relishing the new experience and believes he is fully prepared for both Montreal and Indy as he looks to maintain his immaculate podium sequence.
"The result in Monaco was great for everyone in the team, it was a dream result considering it was my first year there in a Formula 1 car, and it means we are going to North America at the top of both championship tables,” he said.
“This will be my debut at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, because of the chances there are to pass; it looks like a great track to compete on.
“It has some very distinctive characteristics, such as the low grip, the long straights, hard braking and so on, so my initial laps will focus on understanding all these and how best to drive the track to get good times.
“I have completed preparation work with my engineers at the McLaren Technology Centre specific to Canada and the US, and it will be great to finally take to the track here in Montreal."
Fernando Alonso says McLaren must maintain the “great momentum” that its rampant Monaco victory created inside the team in the first leg of the North American double-header in Canada next weekend.
The Spaniard reclaimed the lead of the world championship from team-mate Lewis Hamilton after beating the young rookie on the streets of Monte Carlo, as both drivers lapped all cars up to third-placed Felipe Massa.
The emphatic result pushed McLaren further ahead of Ferrari in both championships and Alonso says the team will be working hard to ensure that it can maintain that level of performance, as he himself goes in search of back-to-back wins in Montreal.
"We have a great momentum in the team right now after such a fantastic result in Monaco, which is a positive way to be going into the North American double-header,” Alonso said.
“There has been no opportunity to test since Monaco; however the team has been pushing hard off track to keep the momentum going.
“Until last year, I hadn’t had great results in Canada, so it was fantastic to win there.
“It is always a tough race, and you see a lot of retirements because you are stressing the whole car with the high speeds and the hard braking zones.
“We have some new packages on the car for Montreal; we are all pushing hard to attack and fight for more race victories.”
Team-mate Hamilton has yet to drive on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and will have to learn a new track for the third time this season.
However, as was the case with Albert Park and Sepang, the 22-year-old is relishing the new experience and believes he is fully prepared for both Montreal and Indy as he looks to maintain his immaculate podium sequence.
"The result in Monaco was great for everyone in the team, it was a dream result considering it was my first year there in a Formula 1 car, and it means we are going to North America at the top of both championship tables,” he said.
“This will be my debut at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, because of the chances there are to pass; it looks like a great track to compete on.
“It has some very distinctive characteristics, such as the low grip, the long straights, hard braking and so on, so my initial laps will focus on understanding all these and how best to drive the track to get good times.
“I have completed preparation work with my engineers at the McLaren Technology Centre specific to Canada and the US, and it will be great to finally take to the track here in Montreal."
06-11-2007, 12:01 AM
#216
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Originally Posted by A.Wayne
I have been taken to task on here by a few about Alonso not being the real deal , now this kid has turned the Big Mac around , HOW YUH LIKE ME NOW 
Plus multiple off road excursions?????
How are you liking him now?? He sure didn't look like "the real deal" today.
06-11-2007, 12:06 AM
#217
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Originally Posted by Ray S
Alonso loses 5 grid spots in Montreal. The last being a pass by Sato!!
Plus multiple off road excursions?????
How are you liking him now?? He sure didn't look like "the real deal" today.
Plus multiple off road excursions?????
How are you liking him now?? He sure didn't look like "the real deal" today.
regarding this , quite possibly the Big Mac had issues.......
Sato ,
was one of the few drivers who used soft instead of supersoft for his last stint ,
could this have been the better choice over alonso's Super Soft ....
Interesting Alonso set the fastest lap
L Fastest Lap Award
2007 Results
Grand Prix Driver Team Average Speed Time
Australian Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 215.893 1:25.235
Malaysian Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 201.893 1:36.701
Bahrain Felipe Massa Ferrari 197.887 1:34.067
Spanish Felipe Massa Ferrari 198.102 1:22.680
Monaco Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 155.551 1:15.284
CanadianFernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 175.799 1:16.367
Sato's fastest lap time :
TAKUMA SATO Car 22 (SA07-04)
Position 6 No: of Laps 70 Fastest Lap Time 1:18.035
Alonso was running more than 2 sec of his fastest pace , interesting to see how this plays out as more information falls...
A.Wayne
06-11-2007, 01:19 AM
#218
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This is the sloppiest I've ever seen Alonso drive. He had 4 offs at the same corner and hit the Turn 8 curb so hard, it looked like he damaged something. I think he had undertray issues with the number of offs he had. He didn't look very WC like. I must admit, I was pulling for Sato to pass him down the back straight.
06-11-2007, 02:00 AM
#219
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Originally Posted by M3Pete
This is the sloppiest I've ever seen Alonso drive. He had 4 offs at the same corner and hit the Turn 8 curb so hard, it looked like he damaged something. I think he had undertray issues with the number of offs he had. He didn't look very WC like. I must admit, I was pulling for Sato to pass him down the back straight.
In Alonso defence , you really don't want to get in Sato's way when he goes for a pass ..
06-11-2007, 02:03 AM
#220
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Originally Posted by M3Pete
This is the sloppiest I've ever seen Alonso drive. He had 4 offs at the same corner and hit the Turn 8 curb so hard, it looked like he damaged something. I think he had undertray issues with the number of offs he had. He didn't look very WC like. I must admit, I was pulling for Sato to pass him down the back straight.
06-11-2007, 12:34 PM
#221
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Originally Posted by M3Pete
This is the sloppiest I've ever seen Alonso drive. He had 4 offs at the same corner and hit the Turn 8 curb so hard, it looked like he damaged something. I think he had undertray issues with the number of offs he had. He didn't look very WC like. I must admit, I was pulling for Sato to pass him down the back straight.
Yeah Alonso had a REALLY BAD DAY. It all started on his last lap in Q3 qualy. Alonso make a mistake and Hamilton took advantage.
The that became the story of Alonso's race. Alonso makes a mistake and Hamilton keeps is nose clean. The issue for Alonso was not a McLaren thing. Hamilton was fine. It was an Alonso thing (although pitting at during the first yellow may have been a team fault). Getting passed by Sato was one of the most amazing things I have seen. I love it when the camera guy found the only 2 Super Augui fans just at the right time. Even so Alonso either gave up or f-ed up is car somehow during the race.
Not a good outting. I wonder what this will do for his US GP performance?
06-11-2007, 01:02 PM
#222
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We know Alonso is stressing now being 8 points behind his teammate. How long before Alonso starts whining and flaming the team? 
The F1 soap opera begins.
The F1 soap opera begins.
06-11-2007, 01:06 PM
#223
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Originally Posted by M3Pete
We know Alonso is stressing now being 8 points behind his teammate. How long before Alonso starts whining and flaming the team? The F1 soap opera begins.
The F1 soap opera begins.
