Why would Ferrari sign Alonso?
Discussion
If the rumours are to be belived then it looks like Alonso is going to Ferrari next year. My question is why would Ferrari sign 3 world class drivers when they only have 2 seats?
If it all comes off it looks like they will have to buy Kimi out of his £30m a year contract in order to put Alonso in the seat. Is Alonso really worth £30m more than Kimi, or is it all down to the Santandar deal? Have they insisted Alonso is part of their sponsorship deal?
If this were the case then why didn't Santandar have that as part of their contract with Mclaren. I know he was there the start of their partnership with Mclaren, but it cant of been a clause of the contract or Mclaren wouldn't have been able to get shot of him and he would still be there.
So why sign up 3 drivers?
If it all comes off it looks like they will have to buy Kimi out of his £30m a year contract in order to put Alonso in the seat. Is Alonso really worth £30m more than Kimi, or is it all down to the Santandar deal? Have they insisted Alonso is part of their sponsorship deal?
If this were the case then why didn't Santandar have that as part of their contract with Mclaren. I know he was there the start of their partnership with Mclaren, but it cant of been a clause of the contract or Mclaren wouldn't have been able to get shot of him and he would still be there.
So why sign up 3 drivers?
Kimi will probablystill be powered by Ferrari next year. He has motivational issues. On his day he is the fastest driver on the grid, the rest of the time he is below par. Massa is far more consistent and popular with the fans and the Italian media circus. Alonso is wanted by Santander.
Kimi to Sauber Ferrari for 2010.
Kimi to Sauber Ferrari for 2010.
Until recently I'd have said that Ferrari had one champion driver with motivation issues and one competent driver. But Raikkonen's performance post-Massa accident has me wondering if the Massa/Schumacher axis in the team has been disruptive. Kimi cares not for his team mate's pace but I wonder if he shouts for his corner or whether the other side of the garage is more demanding on resources?
As Alonso himself has said, he may not be the outright quickest be he is very very consistent that coupled with being fast enough to win races and his technical feeback to the engineers is one of the reasons why he's a multiple world champion.
Ferrari know that the smoothest way to constructors titles is to have a consistently fast driver on board, who's capable of giving detailed feedback
Ferrari know that the smoothest way to constructors titles is to have a consistently fast driver on board, who's capable of giving detailed feedback
AndrewW-G said:
As Alonso himself has said, he may not be the outright quickest be he is very very consistent that coupled with being fast enough to win races and his technical feeback to the engineers is one of the reasons why he's a multiple world champion.
Ferrari know that the smoothest way to constructors titles is to have a consistently fast driver on board, who's capable of giving detailed feedback
I am not disputing what Alonso can take to Ferrari but is he £30m better than Kimi?Ferrari know that the smoothest way to constructors titles is to have a consistently fast driver on board, who's capable of giving detailed feedback
kevin ritson said:
Until recently I'd have said that Ferrari had one champion driver with motivation issues and one competent driver. But Raikkonen's performance post-Massa accident has me wondering if the Massa/Schumacher axis in the team has been disruptive. Kimi cares not for his team mate's pace but I wonder if he shouts for his corner or whether the other side of the garage is more demanding on resources?
If Kimi has a good car he is the most capable driver on the grid. Give him an averaged car and he cant be arsed. IMO the easiest way to sort that is to give him a competitive car.I'm not buying the whole "kimi is the quickest driver in F1 on his day"! I think he should got to Mclaren and make the perfect no.2 ie. someone who thinks they're a no.1 but rarely beats the other driver whilst scoring enough points to help take the constructors.
That way Ferrari get the most complete driver on the grid in Alonso and they have time to see if Massa comes back or can find a replacement.
That way Ferrari get the most complete driver on the grid in Alonso and they have time to see if Massa comes back or can find a replacement.
1, I've been trying to work this out myself for months but the rumour mills insist that it's happening, in the face of all logic and no evidence!
I'd say it's going to happen, but I've been wrong about almost every big driver move before. I didn't think Alonso would go to McLaren either!
I'd say it's going to happen, but I've been wrong about almost every big driver move before. I didn't think Alonso would go to McLaren either!
1 said:
kevin ritson said:
Until recently I'd have said that Ferrari had one champion driver with motivation issues and one competent driver. But Raikkonen's performance post-Massa accident has me wondering if the Massa/Schumacher axis in the team has been disruptive. Kimi cares not for his team mate's pace but I wonder if he shouts for his corner or whether the other side of the garage is more demanding on resources?
If Kimi has a good car he is the most capable driver on the grid. Give him an averaged car and he cant be arsed. IMO the easiest way to sort that is to give him a competitive car.If you could get the car set up perfectly for every race then you'd be paid more than any driver. In reality its far easier to have someone like Alonso who can drag an average car to the front of the grid.
Ferrari will be sorry later if they let Kimi go IMHO. Give him a good car and he is as fast as the fastest drivers out there - he holds joint third place for fastest laps in the history of F1.
Kimi also does not warm to the corporate thing admittedly - that's his personality. He also does not wipe imaginary sweat from his brow, not had his teeth whitened or feels the need to suck on a drink every time whilst being interviewed.
Kimi is refreshingly straight forward - give him a good car and the rest will struggle to keep up - there's no bulls
t about him - and he is partial to a good knees up 
, the way I prefer hard racers to be.
I can not blame the lad for not driving the life out of a mediocre car with the hope of finishing amongst the monkeys (in the words of another driver).
Kimi also does not warm to the corporate thing admittedly - that's his personality. He also does not wipe imaginary sweat from his brow, not had his teeth whitened or feels the need to suck on a drink every time whilst being interviewed.
Kimi is refreshingly straight forward - give him a good car and the rest will struggle to keep up - there's no bulls
t about him - and he is partial to a good knees up , the way I prefer hard racers to be.I can not blame the lad for not driving the life out of a mediocre car with the hope of finishing amongst the monkeys (in the words of another driver).
SRT77 said:
I don't buy this Alonso being the most complete driver in F1 thing. It's just something a few TV commentators have come up with. He wasn't completely complete at Mclaren.
No one is saying he is the most "complete" driver, but I do think that he is the best natural talent on the grid.The true test of this would be to take all the drivers out for a couple of beers the night before, then put them all in an F1 car none of them had driven, something with a nice neutral set up, then see who is quickest.
Hamilton may be the best at telling you how to improve the car, Alonso may be the most consistent over say 20 laps, but my money would be on Kimi posting the quickest time.
So I may have answered my own question, maybe Alonso's mix of abilities is worth £30m more than Kimi's raw talent?
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