2008 French Grand Prix - Race 8/17

NathanE said:
Personally I think he and McLaren can still do it. But only if:

1. LH banishes his media demons and focuses on the job more.
2. HK starts scoring some good points at important times to keep points away from Ferrari and BMW.
3. McLaren improve their car to be realistically on-par with Ferrari - not just at specific tracks but the majority.
4. McLaren improving their sometimes wierd tactical decisions.
5. LH stops making stupid pit lane mistakes.
6. LH accepts that starting in the mid to rear field means your race is already compromised so you shouldn't compromise it further by making risky overtaking moves that 1) could result in a damaged front wing or worse and 2) drive through penalties!
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I agree with all that, he has also started getting paranoid that the fia are out to get him. You can keep giving me penalties and I will keep coming back etc

The pressure is definately getting to him as a team leader. I don't think all the PR and sponsor work can really doing him favours when he really needs to focus on winning the first title.
 
TomWilko said:
LH's attitude stinks at the moment in my opinion. I will always be a British fan, I will always be a fan of McLaren. But at the moment every interview I hear with LH all I hear is arrogance, and not confidence which is what he needs to get back to.

I have found myself more and more being less fussed by who wins the GP and am focussing back on the likes of DC and JB in the midfield/back end of the race.

The sooner someone gives LH a reality check the better, he is not there by devine right.
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Welcome to the party :D

You swallowed the red pill too? ;)

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
Testing Times - Silverstone Day 1

Code: 
[b]Pos  Driver      Team                     Time      Laps[/b]
 1.  Massa       Ferrari             (B)  1:20.188   71
 2.  Kovalainen  McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:20.477   90
 3.  Kubica      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:20.995   82
 4.  Kobayashi   Toyota              (B)  1:21.335   82
 5.  Rosberg     Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:21.410   88
 6.  Webber      Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:21.656   94
 7.  Piquet      Renault             (B)  1:21.797   68
 8.  Button      Honda               (B)  1:22.081   90
 9.  Liuzzi      Force India         (B)  1:22.250  108
10.  Vettel      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:23.853   10

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68618
 
NathanE said:
Part of the problem is that his car just is NOT as good as it was last year. And last year he was very significantly boosted by Ferrari's main man still getting used to the new car, the brakes (which in the end he had Ferrari change the pad material on!) and the Bridgestone tyres... He needs to come to terms with the fact that his car isn't as good and alter his strategy. He needs to give his team mate some encouragement too. It's not all about just yourself making good results. Get your team mate "up there" and it will be taking away vital points from your rivals too. It's the whole rear gunner thing.
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I know this has been covered before, but this just goes to show how much Alonso brought to that team, and they (a lot of people) just wont admit it.
Alonso helped bring tenths to the car "When I arrived in December, I remember the car I drove; I remember the results they had in 2006. And now, you know, I brought to the team half a second, six tenths, whatever, and I don't see anything giving me back." Looking back, he was right.
Not only that he was also taking big points off the Ferrari's. If McLaren had taken Alonso as the number 1 driver, they would have won th WDC last year, but their priority wasn't winning the WDC, it was trying to get a rookie to win the WDC, i suspect it would have been a swan song for RD.
I still think McLaren's biggest mistake was going with a complete rookie team. Hamilton was good last year, but when you copy a lot of your setups etc from a double world champion, it will work. Heikki was rubbish last year, i was shocked when he got a drive at McLaren, i bet Flavio was too.
 
Jumpurs. I said the same thing throughout last season and this.

I refuse to believe that it was one big coincidence that in 2006 McLaren were nowhere near Ferrari or Renault. Then as soon as Alonso arrives in 2007, McLaren suddenly become the team to beat and by further coincidence Renault drop way back down the pecking order.

McLaren put all their hopes into Hamilton for 2008, believing that he would be able to handle the pressure, etc. Not only that, but they gambled on Heikki. This could yet be the correct decision as the season is not over, but I just feel that they let Alonso go 1 year too soon.

In 2008, Alonso would've been on fire as he wouldve done everything possible to beat Hamilton into the ground. He would do his best to not only beat him, but humiliate him (professionally, of course). McLaren couldve taken advantage of this competitive spirit and as a result scored a lot of points in 2008. Furthermore, they wouldve given Hamilton another year to learn the ropes, before he leads the team in 2009.

The decision to get rid of Alonso and bring in Heikki, was based on emotion and trying to be a happy family. It certainly wasnt based on attempting to achieve the highest points total for 2008.
 
sunama said:
I refuse to believe that it was one big coincidence that in 2006 McLaren were nowhere near Ferrari or Renault. Then as soon as Alonso arrives in 2007, McLaren suddenly become the team to beat and by further coincidence Renault drop way back down the pecking order.
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No coincidence. There were 50 mi££ion reasons they all of a sudden had a car comparable to the Ferrari.:p
 
Is it possible that as part of the "deal" with the FIA that Alonso was forced to leave the team. Maybe there is something in all of this involving Alonso?

As someone said, it does seem wierd than in 2006 McLaren were no where near Ferrari and then in 2007 they caught up big time.

Although could that catch up be explained by:

1. Ferrari's flexible floor being banned after 1 race. Possibly Ferrari had baked this into their car design very deeply and its removal really screwed the balance up which took a long time to fix?

2. Alonso really did bring "0.6sec/lap" to the silver car? Although, in that case, why is that McLaren are only around 0.1 to 0.2sec/lap off the pace of the Ferrari this year after Alonso left?

3. Assume that Massa is not a top driver and that Kimi was still getting to grips with the red car, not liking the brake pads and learning the Bridgestone tyres. So for the first half of the season Ferrari were off the pace that their car truly deserved?
 
Testing Times - Silverstone Day 2

Code: 
[b]Pos  Driver      Team                     Time      Laps[/b]
 1.  Kovalainen  McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:20.015   72
 2.  Trulli      Toyota              (B)  1:20.391   95
 3.  Rosberg     Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:20.624   74
 4.  Piquet      Renault             (B)  1:20.787   87
 5.  Vettel      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:20.795   84
 6.  Kubica      BMW-Sauber          (B)  1:20.982   67
 7.  Massa       Ferrari             (B)  1:21.069   69
 8.  Webber      Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:21.170   39
 8.  Button      Honda               (B)  1:21.445  106
10.  Fisichella  Force India         (B)  1:21.583   52

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/68637
 
It was also the WMSC general meeting today, and a couple of announcements were the introduction of F2 in 2009 and the F1 calendar for 2009 - including Magny Cours and a new race in Abu Dhabi.
 
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