2007 Chinese GP - Race 16/17

jaykay said:
Yer they could get a Ferrari, williams or maybe a Bmw car. ???
Click to expand...

Ferrari: No chance

Williams: Buying a chassis from a privateer? No way will Toyota supply 2 customer teams engines. Can't see it.

BMW/Renault: Will want to concentrate on beating Mclaren and Ferrari, they don't need that kind of distraction (nor the money). Renault already supplying Red Bull with engines anyway.

I hope I'm wrong and they get the Mclaren deal back on track, as I'm a big DTM fan since living in Germany and think Gary Paffett deserves a drive in F1. However I really think only Mclaren/Merc could have been a possibility to do this deal and after we were promised announcements in July and nothing happened I became more and more sceptical.
 
Prodrive need to get through the court hearing in a fortnight before they do anything. This, by the way, will also have ramifications certainly for Super Aguri and probably also for STR.

Ron's right to pull the plug on the deal, the original plan was for the Prodrive team to be staffed by a large number of McLaren employees on secondment. Ron needs to make sure those folk are gainfully employed or he'll have a big hole in his already shattered budget. If there's a risk that Prodrive won't be paying for them then Ron has to make alternative plans.
 
Is it possible that McLaren/Prodrive will wangle it in such a way that Alonso drives for Prodrive?

Personally I'd like to see Jenson join McLaren. I'd probably support him in fact then rather than Hamilton :o It's just difficult to support someone that's never going to win a race because of their crap car.
 
Nothing is what it seems, it's all due to the lack of agreement on the new concord agreement.

Perhaps someone can tell me who signs it.

The current one runs out this year and they can't agree terms for the new one hence the old one carries on - no customer cars

F1 is a club not a sport.

There is a pie, some banks or a bank must want a large piece the FIA want a piece, Ferrari want a large piece and the other teams all want the biggest pieces they can get.

But obviously if the money stops coming in .....

Williams began life using customer cars
 
Dutch Guy said:
It wasn't really a freak accident, more a major stupidity.

I predict a collision between Hamilton and Raikkonen in the first lap and the Spanish git getting another title :(
Click to expand...

Something along those lines will happen but I think Lewis will be much stronger next year having learnt the hard way.:(
 
Slam62 said:
Williams began life using customer cars
Click to expand...
As did Ferrari remember! But of course they're not a car manufacturer either, oh no, no siree! So that whacking big factory in Maranello where they make the red things with the two seats in them, that's just a figment of my imagination then???
 
sunama said:
What about 1994. Australia. Michael Schumacher Vs Damon Hill. Neither had one a world title at this stage, so MS wasnt super confident as he would go on to become. The race started where the winner takes all. MS in front of DH. Both pulling away from the rest of the field by about 1s/lap. They were both on fire that day. .
Click to expand...

That was a good race but the reason they pulled away so much wasn't because of being on fire. The others mansell in particular was instructed to keep well away from the fight.

Those orders came from outside the team.
 
Wicksta said:
Prodrive/Mclaren deal collapses

I said a while ago here that I didn't believe this F1 team would ever materialise and everyone disagreed withe me. I hate to say '"I told you so" but.....

I told you so ;)
Click to expand...

Personally think the "customer car" is not going to be allowed which is why this broke down.

I really want Prodrive in F1, I think they would make a fabulous team if given a chance.


My take on the Hamilton situation is that he will push as much as possible but knowing that feasibly Kimi can win Brazil and he can come in 3rd and win the title

Obviously if the spanish spoiled brat is leading the race then Hamilton has to be 2nd (equal on points in 3rd but would A would win because of No of wins)
 
NathanE said:
Is it possible that McLaren/Prodrive will wangle it in such a way that Alonso drives for Prodrive?

Personally I'd like to see Jenson join McLaren. I'd probably support him in fact then rather than Hamilton :o It's just difficult to support someone that's never going to win a race because of their crap car.
Click to expand...
That could be interesting. Hamilton & Button plus Alonso & [ someone happy being 2nd all the time ] :)
 
I think the main problem here is that Alonso has made a lot of noise in the media about how he feels he is not being given fair treatment. Hence, to avert any further investigations AFTER the Brazil GP, they are being pro-active and ensuring that the result of the Brazil GP is true and it can never be claimed after the race that somebody was unfairly treated.

In the case of Schumacher's teammates not getting equal treatment at Benetton and Ferrari: those teammates never ever complained. In fact, it was probably even written into their contracts that they would join, knowing that they might be asked to play 2nd fiddle to MS, when necessary. If those team mates had kicked up a fuss, then the FIA would probably have been duty bound to intervene, investigate or issue some sort of statement warning that all teams must treat all drivers equally (including Ferrari and Benetton).
 
sunama said:
I think the main problem here is that Alonso has made a lot of noise in the media about how he feels he is not being given fair treatment. Hence, to avert any further investigations AFTER the Brazil GP, they are being pro-active and ensuring that the result of the Brazil GP is true and it can never be claimed after the race that somebody was unfairly treated.
Click to expand...
Even if Alonso is treated differently, why is it a FIA problem rather than a internal McLaren problem :confused:
 
It's time Alonso learned to keep his toys in the pram. He should have know that by joining McLaren he wouldn't be the centre of the universe any more. He's been asked a difficult question, doesn't like that he's been found wanting and has gone crying to the nearest grown up that'll listen to him.

The FIA should be staying well out of this one, they've turned a virtually blind eye to every other occasion when it has been suggested that a team is favouring a driver yet as soon as McLaren are involved they're in there like a shot.
 
Given that Toyota have the biggest budget in F1 and are totally desperate to win grand prix, the best way would be to hire the services of Alonso and hope he will do for them what MS did for Ferrari.

All I can say is that it certainly looks like he will be returning to Renault. I doubt that Ron Dennis will insist that Alonso stays at McLaren, given that he has no wish to be at McLaren anymore. When you have a disgruntled employee, sometimes its better to just let them go, no matter how good they are. My own personal view on this would be to force Alonso to stay, as next year and the year after that, if he were to leave, Alonso would almost certainly be taking points away from McLaren.
 
sunama said:
Given that Toyota have the biggest budget in F1 and are totally desperate to win grand prix, the best way would be to hire the services of Alonso and hope he will do for them what MS did for Ferrari.
Click to expand...
IIRC that was Ralf's plan, Alonso could hardly do any worse. Maybe paying that much for a (former) world champ might focus the minds of the bosses in Tokyo and stop them messing with the team.

sunama said:
All I can say is that it certainly looks like he will be returning to Renault. I doubt that Ron Dennis will insist that Alonso stays at McLaren, given that he has no wish to be at McLaren anymore. When you have a disgruntled employee, sometimes its better to just let them go, no matter how good they are. My own personal view on this would be to force Alonso to stay, as next year and the year after that, if he were to leave, Alonso would almost certainly be taking points away from McLaren.
Click to expand...
I think it might well depend on who wins the drivers championship. If Lewis doesn't win there's a distinct possibility of McLaren having to carry 22 & 23 next year which I don't see Ron wanting to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom