F1 2007/2008 Winter Testing and Rumours

sunama said:
So that Hamilton will have less competition and can be left to win title after title, in years to come?

Getting rid of one of the best drivers of our time and the only current F1 driver to beat MS twice in a row isnt the way forward. We want to see the best drivers in F1 and Alonso is certainly one of them. (This goes for any sport - you want the best sports-people competing in their chosen sport).
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I meant I didn't want him to join Honda, not out of the sport completely :)
 
sunama said:
If Alonso joins Honda, it should be very interesting to see how Button handles him. Alonso now knows what its like to have a team mate who is fast and given equal equipment, so I think 2007 has made him a better driver mentally. If he crushes Button, then it might signal the end of Button as a possible front runner. Remember, when MS used to beat his team-mates, it used to signal the end of their careers as front running, possible WDC winning contenders. JJ Lehto and Herbert were both drivers who I felt were very quick - MS pretty much ended their careers.
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Why would Jenson have any reason to fear Alonso. Alonso has shown he like MS is only happy if he has an advantage over his team mates. Well he wont get preferential treatment at Honda. Jenson has shown himself to make the least driving errors of any driver on the grid. Alonso last year showed without being able to dominate a driver he makes a heap of errors.

I fancy Button to be much better than Alonso with the removal of the aids.

Why would anyone fear a driver that couldn't beat a rookie and then spent the rest of the season bitching about not being treated like a world champion.

If he was actually confident in his abilities he wouldn't need a contract that said he got preferential treatment.
 
dannyjo22 said:
Why would Jenson have any reason to fear Alonso. Alonso has shown he like MS is only happy if he has an advantage over his team mates. Well he wont get preferential treatment at Honda. Jenson has shown himself to make the least driving errors of any driver on the grid. Alonso last year showed without being able to dominate a driver he makes a heap of errors.

I fancy Button to be much better than Alonso with the removal of the aids.

Why would anyone fear a driver that couldn't beat a rookie and then spent the rest of the season bitching about not being treated like a world champion.

If he was actually confident in his abilities he wouldn't need a contract that said he got preferential treatment.
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hahahaaaa - Alonso - 2 times World Champion
JB - 1 fluked race victory

Enough said :D

On a more exciting note, Hamilton will be appearing on Top Gear this Sunday!
 
I reckon Button and Alonso would be a great driver combo to watch As long as the British hype brigade were still all drooling over Ham, we'd maybe be able to see some good on track fights, without biased **** being spewed forth from the likes of JA etc...

All it would need is for Honda to make a car that wasn't slow, unreliable and rubbish in every way.
 
dannyjo22 said:
Why would Jenson have any reason to fear Alonso. Alonso has shown he like MS is only happy if he has an advantage over his team mates. Well he wont get preferential treatment at Honda. Jenson has shown himself to make the least driving errors of any driver on the grid. Alonso last year showed without being able to dominate a driver he makes a heap of errors.

I fancy Button to be much better than Alonso with the removal of the aids.

Why would anyone fear a driver that couldn't beat a rookie and then spent the rest of the season bitching about not being treated like a world champion.

If he was actually confident in his abilities he wouldn't need a contract that said he got preferential treatment.
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Hmm and now youre bitching?
 
Spunkey said:
Lewis to be the 'Star in a reasonably priced car' - http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2930447,00.html

Wonder if he beats Mansell? Probly be in the wet if it was filmed in the last week or so.
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Someone on another forum said it was wet and there was oil on track from a VXR on track earlier. Apparently anyway.

Would be nice to see Ross Braun join Honda and in time give Jenson Button truely competitive equipment. Fair enough, he doesn't cut it, get shot of him but at least he got a fair chance.

Would be very cool to have 2 brits fighting over the honours. :)
 
NicktheNorse said:
It's not true: http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/64169

He'll be coming back to Renault, not to worry*

This statement is merely the opinion of the poster and certainly does not represent any official statement from ING Renault F1 Team.
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Doesn't that depend on Renault still being in F1 after their Spygate II hearing next week and the two parties coming together with an agreement as to the length of contract to be offered?
 
Type_R said:
hahahaaaa - Alonso - 2 times World Champion
JB - 1 fluked race victory

Enough said :D

On a more exciting note, Hamilton will be appearing on Top Gear this Sunday!
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Yep but for just about his whole career Alonso has had a better car than Jenson. If jenson ever gets a car of the sort Alonso has had he would win a title.

Alonso's titles came through reliability. If kimi's macca stayed reliable he would have taken atleast one of those titles from alonso.

Jenson has always raced a team mate equally, something clearly alonso hasn't done since he left minardi.
 
A Button vs Alonso situation at Honda would be very interesting. Could be the true making or break of Buttons career I think.

Personally, having seen how smooth Button is when watching him at GP's over the last few years I think he is going to be my man to watch out for next season. You hardly ever hear him engaging traction control when he takes corners...unlike the now retired MS whose car was just one big 'pop pop pop' all the time.
 
TomWilko said:
A Button vs Alonso situation at Honda would be very interesting. Could be the true making or break of Buttons career I think.
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Definitely.

I hope that Alonso does move to Honda. If he does move there, even if Honda are fighting for the lesser positions (which is what I suspect, for the few months), it will make for an interesting battle.

TomWilko said:
Personally, having seen how smooth Button is when watching him at GP's over the last few years I think he is going to be my man to watch out for next season. You hardly ever hear him engaging traction control when he takes corners...unlike the now retired MS whose car was just one big 'pop pop pop' all the time.
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Button is indeed a very smooth driver, just as Damon Hill was, in the 90's. The problem was that MS would beat Hill more than Hill beat MS. Smoothness doesnt necessarily equate to speed.

According to the following new story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7080715.stm

MS took part in some tests, with the 2007 car's driver aids removed. He did this in order to offer some advice to Ferrari - to assist in the development of the 2008 car. He was fastest on both days.

MS was generally the best overall driver whatever driver aids were available and whatever the rule changes were made. He was very versatile, being quick in dry and wet races, as well as qualifying. I doubt that removal of driver aids in 2008 will make any difference the driver standings. The top drivers in 2007 will continue to be the top drivers in 2008.

The only thing that will move a driver up or down the grid is if the car itself is slower/faster in comparison the rest of the grid. Expect Honda to be further up the grid as 2007's Honda was terrible - it would be some achievement if Honda managed to make a car that was as bad as 2007's.

My prediction for 2008 is a strong showing from Ferrari, while McLaren (without Alonso) will be fighting for 3rd place. Had Alonso stayed with McLaren, I think it wouldve allowed McLaren to score more points in the contructors title and Hamilton to score more in the drivers championship. If Alonso moves to Renault, I expect Renault to make consistent progress forward during 2008.
 
dannyjo22 said:
Yep but for just about his whole career Alonso has had a better car than Jenson. If jenson ever gets a car of the sort Alonso has had he would win a title.

Alonso's titles came through reliability. If kimi's macca stayed reliable he would have taken atleast one of those titles from alonso.

Jenson has always raced a team mate equally, something clearly alonso hasn't done since he left minardi.
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Rubbish (again)

for someone who claims to know people in the industry you've really made a botch job of knocking Alonso all year, almost shameful TBH.
Alonso won his titles from consistancy and being able to keep faster cars behind him, not to mention not cracking under pressure, like schumacher, Hill and Hamilton all did.
Theres no point knocking Alonso because he had a reliable car, so did schuamcher his main rival both those years, how far do you want to go back with this theory of who would have been world champion with more reliability? how about Mansell at least 3 world titles, theres no point whinging on and on about it.

Button may be one of the quickest out there, but he doesnt appear to have that extra needed to take a team forward, or the ability off the track. Obviously something considered by Renault when they replaced Button with Alonso. Button's management also leaves a lot to be desired.

I've watched Jenson at the grass roots where he learnt most of his trade, Alonso and Hamilton were far more impressive TBH.
 
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dannyjo22 said:
Yep but for just about his whole career Alonso has had a better car than Jenson. If jenson ever gets a car of the sort Alonso has had he would win a title.
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I wouldnt expect Button to be able to score more points than Hamilton, Raikonnen or Alonso.

dannyjo22 said:
Alonso's titles came through reliability. If kimi's macca stayed reliable he would have taken atleast one of those titles from alonso.
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If's and but's.

The fact is that Alonso didnt bottle it. He held is nerve and beat the all-conquering combination of Ferrari and MS. Only Hakinnen can lay the same claim. Hill and Villeneuve only beat MS after he had moved to the weak team that was Ferrari.

dannyjo22 said:
Jenson has always raced a team mate equally, something clearly alonso hasn't done since he left minardi.
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That doesnt make Alonso a weak driver. It just means that he believes that he is the best and believes that he shouldnt have to compete for points by racing against his own team mate. His theory is actually correct - in 2007, had McLaren told Hamilton to back off in 1 race and allow Alonso through, Alonso wouldve been 2007 World Champion. Similarly, if Alonso had moved over to let Hamilton through in one of the races, then he wouldve been 2007 World Champion. This was originally MS's strategy and it was tried and tested to be the way forward. Alonso is/was merely copying MS's strategy. Nothing wrong with following a winning strategy.

No doubt, Brawn at Honda, will be using the MS/Ferrari strategy (of having a No1 and No2 driver), to move forward.
 
SC04 said:
I've watched Jenson at the grass roots where he learnt most of his trade, Alonso and Hamilton were far more impressive TBH.
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Hamilton was almost bred for racing in F1. No other driver has been educated in the way he has. Providing his career is not prematurely ended (ie. by death or a serious crash), there is no reason why he cant break all of MS's records.
 
sunama said:
Only Hakinnen can lay the same claim. Hill and Villeneuve only beat MS after he had moved to the weak team that was Ferrari.
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Ferrari wern't weak, they finished third in 1995 with podiums and pole positions, the same as McLaren in 2006. They also had plenty of staff from the World championship winning team go over, which not many drivers have had the luxury of, and by todays standards Ferrari would have probably been in court facing copying charges.
You could also argue how come schumacher struggled to beat rookies like Hill and Villeneuve, and even Hakkinen hadn't won that many races until all the real greats had left the sport.
 
jaykay said:
I hope Jenson ain't Number 2. He will just be another DC. :(
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Should Alonso move to Honda, Button will be No2. Alonso wont move to a struggling team like Honda to be No2 to anybody. Brawn will ensure that the strategy that he and Ferrari used with MS is used again with Honda and Alonso. Thats IF Alonso moves to Honda.
 
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