enduro911

Ok, time to cause trouble. All kidding aside, I must say that I am very disappointed that I wasn't able to pay attention to the 07 Formula 1 season nearly as closely as I would have liked. It also happened to be a season that caused a lot of differing opinions about Alonso. I've looked through all the F1 sources I tap to get a good idea of what's going on except one. I think I have a feeling that I know what went on and have a reasonable opinion of him.

That said, I'd like to see if there was anything that I missed, considering how closely this forum pays attention to him. I'd like to know if you think he was at a disadvantage politically and technically. I know everyone here has his own bias, but I guess I'm looking to see where you get them. Above all else, if we could try to keep it (somewhat) civil and offer evidence rather than just opinion, that would be outstanding. FWIW, evidence doesn't have to just be what happened. Rather, I'd like to hear the opinions of reputable journalists, commentators, etc. Thanks all. Let's hope this goes well.

mklaskin

I'll be the first to say it, Alonso acted like a petulant child while at McLaren. Make no mistake, his driving is amazing, and he deserves to be a two time WDC. No argument. But man, what a p*ssy.

My take, and I'll be brief, is that he was at no disadvantage. He simply had a stronger teammate than years past. He knew Hamilton was going to be there, knew Hamilton had been the McLaren prodigy, knew Hamiltons' father would be around etc., and yet he still took the drive. Hamilton turns out to be a stronger teammate than Trulli or GF (surprise, surprise!) and when he had the opportunity to fink on the team with the whole spygate fiasco, he he took it.

Whatever one's opinion of him may be, his actions did little to improve his position for 2008 and 2009. Pretty simple, really.

ltc

Yes and I demand a public apology by Ron Dennis himself, exclusively in this forum.

I am working hard on the seating chart, since some members of this forum (no names, otherwise i get sent to the Admin's office and wait for someone to come and get me) deserve it.

Does anyone happen to have the phone number for the Minister of Tourism for Portugal?

mklaskin

More of what I'm talking about. He was being a little bitch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J11-uHhM2aM

9.5 Degrees

I'm a huge fan of Alonso the driver. Not a fan of Alonso the person.
Alonso is a fantastic driver but does not like his #1 status challenged. As long as he is top dog within the team, he is fine. The fact that he has always had a weak teammate is not by accident.

2007 at McLaren should have been like that.... on paper..... because his teammate was a rookie, but we all know what happened.

When he went to Ferrari, he was driving against a teammate that was coming off a near life threatening injury and really was in a support role. No one thought Massa would challenge for a WDC.

I understand this emotional reaction to teammates, but Alonso is such a talented driver, he doesn't need to have a weak teammate to be WDC.

jbossolo

I agree with the above. In the car, he's a force of nature. Outside the car, he's a bitch. And a whiny one at that.

wanna911

I think at the beginning of that season it was very apparent that Alonso was the #1 driver, however Lewis drove an almost flawless first half of the season with podiums in 9 straight races, it wasn't until the 10th race that anything even remotely went wrong and then he won the next race after that. By that time he was well ahead and such a media darling, they had to give him a shot to go for the WDC. Alonso hadn't driven badly at all that season, but had a teammate that could run with him week in and week out and obviously that didn't sit well with him. Then everything went south with his relationship at McLaren.

A.Wayne

All wrong , lewis was signed after Alonso , he never knew Ron's son was going to be there and yes he was mistreated by Mclaren , they admitted to such .

http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?option...397&Itemid=219

F1 : Martin Whitmarsh admits Fernando Alonso loss by McLaren a 'massive mistake.


Martin Whitmarsh has singled out Fernando Alonso's acrimonious departure at the end of 2007 as a "massive regret" of his 20 year McLaren career.

Whitmarsh, now team Principal, was Ron Dennis' deputy two years ago, when Spaniard Alonso notoriously clashed with Dennis and rookie Lewis Hamilton and fled back to Renault after a single season under Mercedes power.

"A massive regret to me is losing a star like Fernando," Whitmarsh told the German news agency DPA. "He's one of the greatest racing drivers. I regret that we didn't make it work: we failed to manage the situation.

"This a good team, he is a good driver. We could have had more success than we've had."

His praise of double World Champion Alonso, 27, is not an immediate bid to woo the driver back to McLaren, given that at Valencia on Friday he said confidently that Alonso is bound for Ferrari in 2010.

Whitmarsh is however running McLaren with a different style to that of his predecessor Dennis, and it seems reuniting with a driver like Alonso cannot now be ruled out.

"Sometimes we've been too arrogant, we have to accept it," he admitted. "I have been always very open in the company, my style is completely open."





Gotta run before lucy get's here... chip chip.... tally ho ...

wanna911

I'm sorry I do not see where you get Alonso was mistreated from that. That's some creative word comprehension. Lewis and Fernando had even cars and equal opportunity. And it showed week in and week out. Lets not forget the infamous pit debacle where Lewis had to sit there while Alonso got his pit done. What Whitmarsh is saying is that he regrets they didn't pacify Alonso enough to keep him.

ltc

And on behalf of Alonso, I demand a full apology from Flavio, Pat and Piquet (both Sr. and Jr.) for the obvious mistreatment and slanderous behavior demonstrated towards Alonso at Renault.

And while we're at it, I demand a full apology from Nigel Stepney, for blackmailing Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa, forcing them to check his Ferrari homework.

And finally, I demand that Alonso be given a retroactive WDC title as compensation, perosnally delivered by Max Mosley.
Furthermore, from this date forward, his car shall always carry the #1 on the nose...the F1 WDC will be renamed the FA Race Series...

I can't believe I didn't see it before this thread ... it's just so obvious.

A.Wayne

Talk about Creative word comprehension ...


Yes they had equal cars but not equal treatment nor strategy. Lewis was helped along every weekend due to being slower than FA, this ended up being an advantage come sunday, this was Alonso complaint ..

Since Lewis was using his setups and telemetry and getting all the press and praise from the British press and his British team, Miss sunshine was upset.

This is the mis-handling Whitmarsh is referring to , they Mclaren blew it and he is sad and sorry ...

More: 6.40 of the interview Hamilton answers for you ....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx_-k17PLf0&feature=fvw

A.Wayne

You go girl ..................

mklaskin

+1.

Wayne, my comments were not wrong in any capacity. I did not state who was signed first, I said Alonso knew Hamilton was going to be there. Anyone with a more than a half interest in F-1 knew that Hamilton was going to be there in 2007.

And while MW admits that they could have handled the situation differently, so too could have Alonso.

jbossolo

I believe you forgot the much needed apology from Vitaly Petrov for not letting Alonso by last year in the closing laps of the Abu Dhabi GP.

Alonso is a great driver, nobody can question that much. He's also an egomaniac who thinks everybody is second to him, especially whoever happens to be his "teammate" at the moment. I truly hope Massa can step up his game with the Pirelli tires next year.

RajDatta

You have it wrong. Fernando took the ride before they picked the 2nd driver. Alonso had already signed with McLaren before McLaren ran tests for potential drivers. McLaren picked Hamilton as his team mate much later on in the game. He had no inckling who his team mate was going to be.
Also, I thought we would try to back it up with facts...