Alonso to leave McLaren

Emlyn_Dewar · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:05

My only hope is that whatever team Alonso ends up in, they have a car very similar in performance to the Mclaren. LH and FA racing each other without the team stepping in to ruin one of them is an appealing prospect.

NicktheNorse said:
I hope he comes back to us here at Renault - although the recent rumours would suggest otherwise.

HEADRAT · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:05

sunama said:
I'm predicting with Alonso gone, McLaren wont be competing for any titles, unless Hamilton can show further improvement.

He came second in the championship!

If they get a half decent driver McLaren could easily win the contructors championship and Hamilton has proved him could win the title.

Dutch Guy · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:06

sunama said:
One question though: people are accusing Alonso of cheating - can you clear this up, as I am unaware of him cheating?

AFAIK he admitted and brought out everything in the open and for doing that he could keep his championship points.

Basically it looks like the team got punished and not the drivers when it should be the other way around.

I just hope he can't get a seat next year.

sunama · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:06

Emlyn_Dewar said:
I strongly believe Button/Honda will get it right soon and it'll only be a matter of time before James Allen changes his idol again.

I wouldnt bet against Honda playing their part in a revival. They have one of the biggest budgets in F1. The problem is, can their drivers deliver the goods?

I just dont believe that Button is as good as Alonso, Hamilton or Raikkonen. Unless Honda deliver a car that is 0.2s/lap faster than the competition (which is very very unlikely), I dont see Button competing for race wins. At some point, he has to make a decision to move to a more competitive team - McLaren, Ferrari or BMW - even if that means taking a pay cut.

Emlyn_Dewar · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:07

Dutch Guy said:
I just hope he can't get a seat next year.

You'd welcome the loss of one of the best drivers on the grid? After the close season we've just had?
Each to their own I suppose.

sunama said:
he has to make a decision to move to a more competitive team - McLaren, Ferrari or BMW - even if that means taking a pay cut.

Does he still have to pay Williams a specific amount of money each year?

HEADRAT · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:09

Hope he gets a seat in a Spyker, we'll see just how good a driver he is, after his antics this season his doesn't deserve to race with a decent team.

sunama · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:10

Dutch Guy said:
AFAIK he admitted and brought out everything in the open and for doing that he could keep his championship points.

Basically it looks like the team got punished and not the drivers when it should be the other way around.

I just hope he can't get a seat next year.

He admitted to stuff he knew, however, he is not a cheat. The cheat in all of this was the chief designer at McLaren who was getting confidential information from Ferrari. Alonso knew about this information, as did Pedro De La Rosa, however, neither of them master-minded the plan. I'm also of the opinion that if Alonso and PDLR knew about the info, then Hamilton (who isnt thick), also knew about it. The key thing here was that he did not admit to anything (which was wise).

It was wrong for Alonso to have blackmailed Ron Dennis, however, I dont think he would ever have reported his team (which is what Dennis ended up doing).

The cheat in this saga is the chief designer at McLaren and the guy who "shopped" his team was Ron Dennis.

sunama · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:11

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Does he still have to pay Williams a specific amount of money each year?

I doubt it. I think that should've expired by now.

Dutch Guy · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:11

Emlyn_Dewar said:
You'd welcome the loss of one of the best drivers on the grid? After the close season we've just had?
Each to their own I suppose.

Yes, the car is a bigger deciding factor in winning than the driver.

I hoisted the flag when the german git stopped and will do the same when the Spanish git stops.

Emlyn_Dewar · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:11

HEADRAT said:
Hope he gets a seat in a Spyker, we'll see just how good a driver he is, after his antics this season his doesn't deserve to race with a decent team.

We watched him drive a rafting Minardi and he was still good... What would you expect him to do in the Spyker? Be faster than his (only there for some sponsorship money) team-mate? There are some good drivers on the grid but none of them can perform miracles.

Glaucus · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:11

sunama said:
One question though: people are accusing Alonso of cheating - can you clear this up, as I am unaware of him cheating?

Alosno and his cheif engineer sourced and "used" ferrari data, no one else in the team new or used it. However the fia couldn't get the evidence to punish mclaren. So they said to both drivers, hand over all data, emails etc and we will protect you. Thats what alonso and hamilton did. Hamitons contained no stolen data, but alonsos did. They couldn't punish alonso due to the protection so they striped mclaren of points. even though it was alonsos fault and not the teams.

HEADRAT · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:12

sunama said:
It was wrong for Alonso to have blackmailed Ron Dennis

Well Ron in Team Principle so he was really trying to blackmail McLaren, for me he should have been sacked there and then!

sunama · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:14

HEADRAT said:
Hope he gets a seat in a Spyker, we'll see just how good a driver he is, after his antics this season his doesn't deserve to race with a decent team.

He will most certainly get a drive. Of the available seats, he will have first choice.

Even though Raikkonen is widely regarded as the outright fastest driver in F1, I still feel that Alonso is overall, the best driver in F1. Speed is only one facet. Developing the car during testing, setting it up on race days and driving the car in a cool, calm and collected manner, while making the right decisions are other important factors, amongst others.

I find it very strange that there is a lot of hatred directed towards Alonso. When Senna used to moan, everyone used to sit up, listen and call him the saviour of F1. Its strange that when the double world champ (Alonso) does the same, people hate him for it.

jaykay · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:15

Dont let button into Mclaren he will just be another David Coultard. Nooooooo.

HEADRAT · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:16

I don't hate Alonso but if you live by the sword you die by the sword, anybody that tries to blackmail their employer deserves just one thing!

Glaucus · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:17

sunama said:
I find it very strange that there is a lot of hatred directed towards Alonso. When Senna used to moan, everyone used to sit up, listen and call him the saviour of F1. Its strange that when the double world champ (Alonso) does the same, people hate him for it.

did Senna go out of his way to punish his team through the fia...

Emlyn_Dewar · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:17

AcidHell2 said:
Alosno and his cheif engineer sourced and "used" ferrari data, no one else in the team new or used it.

Where did you see this information? (Trying not to use the word "source" as I hate it.)
I only briefly looked over that pdf from FIA (only looked at the emails bit tbh) I thought it was just him being passed info from PDLR? The only response that I remember was when he said they should look into what gas Ferrari were using in their tyres?

sunama · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:17

HEADRAT said:
Well Ron in Team Principle so he was really trying to blackmail McLaren, for me he should have been sacked there and then!

When Alonso said those things to Ron, he was angry and it was all said in the heat of the battle. Moments earlier, Hamilton had sworn at Ron, which Ron replied back with expletives of his own. This was a very stressful time for all concerned. So stressed was Ron, that in the heat of the moment, he informed on his own team. In hindsight, I'm sure he would have done differently.

Alonso made a threat that he would not have carried out, in the heat of the battle. Thats all.

Glaucus · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:18

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Where did you see this information? (Trying not to use the word "source" as I hate it.)
I only briefly looked over that pdf from FIA (only looked at the emails bit tbh) I thought it was just him being passed info from PDLR? The only response that I remember was when he said they should look into what gas Ferrari were using in their tyres?

Theres not any evidence they used the data, but alonso and his engineer certainly had the info.

Torch [P4] · 2 Nov 2007 at 13:19

it will be good to see what he can bring to a lesser team as it stands this season ie renault or red bull?
too many rumours on who's going where tho
another thing to watch will be qually and if there's opportunities to hold up certain drivers