multi21

And I say this in the most objective of ways. The one thing about great drivers at this level is that they rarely make mistakes. Once they start to age a bit, they begin to make errors -- unforced errors. In 2 of the 6 races so far (33%) Alonso has made major errors that have greatly affected his qualifying position.

Even the great one, Michael Schumacher, began to make errors in the last year or 2 of his career before he retired.

Most of the greatest drivers ever have driven for the Scuderia. Even the late great Aryton Senna had a letter of intent to drive for Enzo before his untimely death. Could this be Alonso's swan song?

Alonso has stated that his last team will be Ferrari. Is he already thinking, "This is it"?

M758

No I still think he is in his prime. Remember if the Ferrari is a few tenths down on pace it will force any driver into greater risk (or overdriving a car) in an effort to make the car keep up. That can breed more "mistakes".

Not sure he will get any "better", but I don't seem getting too old yet either.

And... I don't really care for him much....

Larry Herman

I think that it is too early to tell. Alonso was "the kid" when he lit up F1 in his Renault. He could drive without pressure because there was not the weigh of expectation like there is now.

I think that there is a general feeling that Alonso should be top dog in the Ferrari right now, and he is pushing that little bit more to make it so. Pressure can cause as many mistakes as getting older.

ilko

From a driver's perspective he definitely is on top of his game. He's not that old - 28 I think? He's definitely one of the fastest (if not the fastest) drivers currently in F1. So it's not about his driving ability IMO.

Problem with him is that he comes with so much baggage that drags behind him and somehow puts a stain on everyone involved with him. And when that happens it's harder to get a good team and win a championship. When (not if) things turn sour at Ferrari he won't have another team to welcome him with open arms. I see him as more of a liability at this point as he can't just show up, shut up, and drive.

ltc

As long as she has sponsors (i.e. $antander) she will always have a team to welcome her with open arms.

She is almost as much of a cancer on modern F1 as Mad Max Mosley was...

jaje

He hasn't pulled a Hamilton yet by beaching the car trying to go too fast into the pits while holding an insurmountable lead. Or bitched and moaned at his engineers over the radio broadcast (listened in by all other teams) about the team failing him.

Sean F

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has said that Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are the only two drivers the team considers as serious rivals for this year's championship.

"There are two people that we fear for this world title," Marko told the APA news agency. "They are Fernando Alonso, because he is at his absolute peak, and Lewis Hamilton. What the others are doing bothers us not so much."

http://en.espnf1.com/redbull/motorsp...ory/17756.html

RajDatta

What would Marko know? We have experts on rennlist that think otherwise!
LOL.

A.Wayne

Shhh Pete is an X-pert ..

X= unknown quantity
Pert = a drip under pressure .....

enduro911

Alonso is more than capable of winning another championship. Many guys in the field, if they had the best car under them, are probably capable of winning a championship. What I believe separates the Alonso's, Schumacher's, and many WC's who have multiple titles is their ability to win when there is close competition or when they don't have the fastest car in the field. His biggest asset IMO is his consistency and ability to continually be competitive in the car he has. While I think there are faster drivers over a given lap, I can only think of one other guy who's as fast over the course of a given season...and it's not Hamilton . That said, he will age, he will need to push himself more to extract the same amount of speed he used to, and that will make him prone to mistakes. Frankly, I'm not sure what's up with him this year, but I doubt that this inconsistency will last long. Look for him to be competitive if Ferrari are (more) competitive, but unfortunately I don't think that's going to happen.

A.Wayne

Alonso has done so , But LOL... Please tell me when Schumacher has done such . He has never won a WDC when his opponents had a competitive car ..

Damon Hill
JV
Mika
Fernando

All beat him when they had competitive rides..

( Kimi and Montoya ) came close but where let down by their respective teams

He bumped hill to win 1 , won the second when they choked and never won again until Ferrari was so far ahead of the pack his only competition came from his contractual teammate ...

but go ahead enlighten me ...................................

Larry Herman

Is that possible?

enduro911

First, I mentioned that many multi world champions have the ability to win when their competitors have good cars, not necessarily win championships when other drives have competitive cars. But sure, I'll take a crack at it.

Let's take a look at the 94 season. In a way, Schumacher's start to the season was like Alonso's starts in 05 and 06. He had a car that had less pace than their competitors, but was up to speed and dialed in, and both drivers drove well to create a gap their opponents would have to close. While the Hill/Schumacher incident can be debated as to whose fault it was (we know what you'll say about this), Newey had to create a Bspec Williams for DH after Senna died (RIP) in order to allow Damon to be competitive. Once he did, Schumacher's gap was significantly reduced. Remember, the Bennetton didn't have a V10 in it either (just launch control ). What Bennetton did to the competition in 95 mostly a result of that chassis being coupled with more power. Williams won the constructors championship in 94 for a reason...they had the better car. For Schumacher to even be in a position to win the championship was notable.

As long as we're on the subject, here's a couple more things to note. You wanted to focus on championships won, but just make note that the F310B was far behind the FW19 in 1997, especially early on in the season. Villeneuve and Frentzen weren't the greatest driver combination, but again Michael made it a close race...close enough for him to justify cheating.

Finally, let's switch gears and look at both Fernando and Michael for a second. Luck, in combination with driver skills, plays a huge role in winning a WDC without the best car. Hell, it play a huge role in general. Right team, right time, etc. Gone are the days when Villeneuve can best the turbo Renaults by pure driver skill. Modern F1 cars don't really allow for the kind of passing and race craft necessary for a driver to win on racecraft and on-track skill alone. Thus, the best thing that a driver can do to put himself in a position to win the championship in any car but the fastest is to make the passes where and when he can, score consistently, take advantage of other teams' mistakes, and drive well in chaotic situations, like the wet. Both Alonso and Schumacher have exhibited those traits in at least two seasons. Schumacher could have won in 06 had he not blown his motor in Suzuka. Raikkonen could have won in 05 if he hadn't poured Finlandia in the Mclaren's fuel tanks before the race . Alonso could have won in 07 if he hadn't had a gearbox go out in France. The list goes on. That's why it's pretty pointless to argue exactly how many championships a driver has. It goes beyond that...but then again I'm sure you knew that...

RajDatta

^ +1.
Very well put and I couldn't agree more.
Regards.
Raj

Ray S

LOL, he won both WDC's with the best car in the field. The car was so good it made Fisi look talented. In '06 the real credit goes to Schumacher for staying in the hunt with clearly inferior tires.