Hammy FTW!

 

Oooops i voted for Alonso before I read all the posts. Well he is due . And being that rain could show there anytime I believe that Micheal Shumi might up and get some respect back. He aint Senna but the man knows set up and rain driving there. What do I know - if its F1 I am still a Senna fan

 

Which teammates will take each other out this week?

 

Oh boy, I see what we have to look forward to all winter if Lewis manages to win the WDC.

 

I think the WDC is going to come down to Vettel and Hamilton. I'm picking Vettel. The wreck with Webber might have been enough to get Vettel into the proper focus. If not, he could become the Paul Tracey of F1.

 

IMHO, Monza will be the test for Luca's patience with the team and Alonso this season.
I am beginning to wonder if privately they have abandoned this chassis (as was speculated very early on after pre-season testing) and simply start developing next year's chassis.
I also have to believe that the Mercedes engine is still the #1 engine on the grid, so Ferrari will probably start lobbying for another reliability improvement as well.

 

I'm hoping the redbulls won't be reliable enough and the now bitter rivalry between Vettel and Webber will distract them and they will steal points from each other.

Button will have to take some initiative to be a contender. His qualifying is sporadic and his wait and see approach to the races ain't get it done in this field. Not for a WDC.

 

I can arrange to have your vote changed if you like. Might I suggest getting on the Sato bandwagon?

Why?

 

I think your right. Ferrari knows that this car is not going to get them either championship this year. The only reason Alonso won the first race of the year is because Vettels car sputtered and he had to nurse it to the finish line giving up a sure win to settle for 3rd.

As a life long Ferrari fan, I was hoping that FA could do something more than he's done this year in the area of development, but I haven't seen it yet. In his defense and any other driver's defense that has a history of developing a car like Schumacher has in his career, the lack of testing between races is probably the biggest factor.

In today's F1, the factory/engineers seem to be the biggest contributors of speed in terms of finding it rather than the drivers on track. Perhaps that's what's missing from this season along with the ban on refueling.

 

I never for a moment bought into the hype that Fernando Alonso was the best development driver in F1 today....ever.

Case in point: this year's Renault with Kubica.

I agree with your assessment that is primarily designers, engineers, driver and team. This is no different than in karting, which is where I am assuming drivers learn to "just race what you've got, there's nothing we can do about it now". Some do well under those circumstances (I've seen kids podium after driving the race with one hand on the wheel and one on the throttle after the throttle cable broke) and others simply pull off.

There are a few designers who are clearly in a class of their own (Newey ) and drivers who are clearly in a class of their own (Senna comes to mind immediately) and then are drivers who can bring out the best in everyone around them (Schumacher comes to mind).

The rest, Alonso included, are just very good drivers with very rich sponsors, at least IMHO.

 

Right!
I think Ross and Whitmarsh had something to say about "development drivers".

 

Fair enough, but then how do you explain put forth to date by :
Alonso (big sponsorship $$) and Ferrari (claimed to be clearly favored by Bernie and/or the FIA), coupled with Ferrari's budget/resources (both design and manufacture)?

Clearly Alonso is in the "perfect" situation, yet has failed to produce repeatable and dominant performances this season.

Why?

 

Yeah Alonso is in the perfect situation , he should be doing better .....

 

Your one and only one Schumacher reference allowed per thread aside, why isn't Alonso dominating this season?
It was generally accepted at the beginning of the season that he and Ferrari would dominate, given their resources and his #1 driver status within the team and his unsurpassed ability to develop a car.

RBR and McLaren's development pace has embarrassed Ferrari (re: Ferrari's failed attempt at an F-duct, first automatic then driver operated).

You would expect much better results from a highly paid 2X WDC driving "the best car I've ever had".

So, again, what happened?

 

This is "THE TEAM" Alonso and you wanted to be on for years. Now that your there and you won the first race of the year and there are many many stories of Alonso stating this car is better than any Renault he has ever driven and that the Championship is at hand and then it became, "the championship is still in reach".

In your so humble of opinions, why hasn't Alonso performed better than he has? Please don't compare him to Massa, because Massa is lucky to be in a car after the head trama he received.

Where the hell is the Finn and Ernest from NYC?????