2007 Chinese GP - Race 16/17


I was told this last night. With Hieki moving to McLaren. I understand Heiki manages himself which has caused issues with Briatore.

I think Schumachers team mates all knew they would play 2nd fiddle.

Alonso really should have asked who would be his team mate in 07 before signing to McLaren. Had he known it would be Hamilton, he shouldn't have signed. Equal or not Ron Dennis will always favour him.


Hardly surprising that Spyker don't want him, they rather have a driver that brings a couple of million in sponsor money rather than having to pay the @#$#@#$'s brother a 7-figure salary :p

I thought the new Spyker owners said they were going for quality rather than sweetners in their driver line up.
 
Isn't that 24 & 25, or has more news about Prodrives apparent failure to secure a deal come out?
I was guessing tbh, I would have thought that Prodrive would be 24 & 25 though since they'd be the most recent entrants.

EddScott said:
I understand Heiki manages himself which has caused issues with Briatore.
Flav is Heikki's manager unless something has changed that I'm unaware of.
 
I would love to see what Jenson was capable of in a decent car again. I was hoping that he might have gotten the 2nd drive at McLaren to make it an all english line up. It was pretty obvious to me that Alonso was going back to Renault.
 
Planet F1 said:
According to the Bild, Alonso has signed a letter of intent to race for Renault in 2008 and will finalise a three-year contract as soon as his release from McLaren is confirmed.

Renault, though, have denied the report.

"The team will not comment on the speculation that has appeared in the media," the team said in a statement.

"We will announce our drivers for next season when we are ready to do so."
Quite how that Renault quote amounts to a denial that Alonso is returning to the team next season I don't know - to me it's more a failure to deny that Alonso is going back.
 
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???

Cars that will be produced for all of this year (rough estimate figures from several sites):
Ferrari: 6000 (first time ever over the 6000 mark)
Toyota: 9.42 million
BMW: 1.4 million

Ferrari are not your average car manufacturer ;). Ok they are a fair bit ahead of people like Horacio Pagani but no where near the proper manufacturers in terms of unit sales. They never have been and never will.

Ducati are in exactly the same position, they shift something like 40,000 bikes a year compared to the 4 million that Honda produce. Yet in MotoGP this year they have managed to destroy the Japanese big four (with a little help from their Japanese tyres :D).
 
I bet fern's already signed for renault hence the strop and moaning at Mclaren and the FIA inspector.

Mind you I am a Lewis fan (always support British drivers) however I am beginning to warm to Fern winning the championship as it would really put the seal on the F1 panto, either him or Kimi.
 
If Alonso wins the 2007 WDC, then it is almost guarenteed that he will be directing a tirade of vitriol towards McLaren and the way that he has been treated by them.

If Alonso wins the 2007 WDC, I cant imagine he will be driving in a McLaren next year.
 
{snip}Ferrari: 6000 (first time ever over the 6000 mark){snip}
Turnover might not be as high as Toyota's or BMW but don't forget they make luxury cars with, luxury prices! Besides the factory & workforce are small = a relative good turnover :)

& if Alonso goes back to Renault, won't he be replacing Fissi?
 
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Or Jenson..

If Jenson went to McLaren he'll have firmly cemented himself in to the role of the next generation David Coulthard, a fate he does not deserve.

He would get a few wins here and there, repeatedly finish second or third in the championship, and always be left out of the Lewis and Ron after race hugs. Jenson's only real F1 career hope is that Honda pull their collective finger out and remember how to build a quick car.
 
Assuming Alonso goes I think McLaren will breath a collective sigh of relief. Then again, your loosing out on that testing and setup knowledge.

Turnover might not be as high as Toyota's or BMW but don't forget they make luxury cars with, luxury prices! Besides the factory & workforce are small = a relative good turnover :)

But then your into economies of scale and a load of other nonsense that makes my brain hurt at this time on a Saturday ;). Toyota using the latest high spec robot plants with a minimal workforce, Ferrari handbuilding cars to an extent etc.
 
If Hamilton wins or comes 2nd, he wins the title regardless
If Hamilton comes 3rd, Alonso has to win, and will win the title on race wins, 5-4.
If Hamilton finishes 4th, Alonso needs to win to take the title.
If Hamilton finishes 5th, Alonso must win or finish 2nd. If he finishes 2nd, he will win because of most P7 finishes (1-0), as Hamilton has always finished in top 5 or outside points.
If Hamilton finishes 6th, Alonso must finish 1st or 2nd. If Raikkonen were to win at this stage, he would win the title by virtue of race wins (6-3 including brazil win)
If Hamilton finishes 7th, Alonso must finish on podium, no more than 1 place behind Raikkonen. Raikkonen need to score at least 3 points more than Alonso to beat him.
If Hamilton finishes 8th, Raikkonen must beat Hamilton by 7 points and Alonso by 3, therefore, he would need to be 1st or 2nd. If Raikkonen won, Alonso would have to finish P3 or below, or if he came 2nd, Alonso would have to be P4 or below.
If Hamilton finishes outside the points, Raikkonen must finish 2nd still with Alonso 4th to take the title. However, if Raikkonen finished outside the top 2, Alonso would only have to finish 5th.

NOTE: Hamilton must finish P6 or below for Raikkonen to take the title.
..so now you know ;)
 
It's difficult to define where the break even point is for an F1 team, especially the manufacturer teams since they unlikely to operate as separately quoted companies.

Both Frank Williams and Ron Dennis have appeared in the Sunday Times rich list so it's fair to say that there's money to be made.
 
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