Alonso Missing Monaco to do Indy 500
Discussion
Rude-boy said:
You know with the obvious 2007 issues aside i really am finding it hard to find any reason not to really like Alonso.
He's a great driver, he has balls and he doesn't mince words.However I couldn't really bring myself to like him. As far as I can tell he's a total snake. More often than not a toxic influence on the team. A spy in 2007. McLaren gave him a car which could demonstrably compete at the front. He spent the season moaning about Hamilton and creating a toxic atmosphere. A cheat in 2010. The man has been taking careers advice from Flavio Briatore for Christ's sake. Then he spends years publically rubbishing Ferrari before leaving under a cloud
These days he has the cest la vie demeanour of a man who knows that his attitude has cost him over the years and it is getting too late to change it. He seems to have slammed every door and burned every bridge. Alonso at McLaren has a bit of a 'last chance saloon' feel about it but even so he can barely keep a lid on his negativity and chooses to publically and vocally express his disappointments in the car when the team cannot stifle him white towing the corporate line at all other times.
He seems so insincere.
If Alonso leaves F1 with only two titles it'll be a damn shame for he and the sport because god knows he's been good enough for long enough to set all kinds of records. I feel that his failure to do so is basically self-inflicted though.
We can only hope that assuming McLaren Honda aren't going to build a winning car, Renault comes back to save him. I suppose he hasn't created a stink at Mercedes yet either... Hamilton to win 3x WDCs with Mercedes and then go elsewhere? I'd love to see that.
Great vehicle for McLaren to attract sponsorship from US based corporations. They can illustrate the draw of F1 and the McLaren brand by leveraging one of the top current drivers and the McLaren history to show how they can generate significant interest, and do it right on the back doorstep at a blue-riband event.
HustleRussell said:
Rude-boy said:
You know with the obvious 2007 issues aside i really am finding it hard to find any reason not to really like Alonso.
He's a great driver, he has balls and he doesn't mince words.However I couldn't really bring myself to like him. As far as I can tell he's a total snake. More often than not a toxic influence on the team. A spy in 2007. McLaren gave him a car which could demonstrably compete at the front. He spent the season moaning about Hamilton and creating a toxic atmosphere. A cheat in 2010. The man has been taking careers advice from Flavio Briatore for Christ's sake. Then he spends years publically rubbishing Ferrari before leaving under a cloud
These days he has the cest la vie demeanour of a man who knows that his attitude has cost him over the years and it is getting too late to change it. He seems to have slammed every door and burned every bridge. Alonso at McLaren has a bit of a 'last chance saloon' feel about it but even so he can barely keep a lid on his negativity and chooses to publically and vocally express his disappointments in the car when the team cannot stifle him white towing the corporate line at all other times.
He seems so insincere.
If Alonso leaves F1 with only two titles it'll be a damn shame for he and the sport because god knows he's been good enough for long enough to set all kinds of records. I feel that his failure to do so is basically self-inflicted though.
We can only hope that assuming McLaren Honda aren't going to build a winning car, Renault comes back to save him. I suppose he hasn't created a stink at Mercedes yet either... Hamilton to win 3x WDCs with Mercedes and then go elsewhere? I'd love to see that.
ukaskew said:
M3ax said:
Looks like JB has the Monaco drive.
BBC Sport?Read the article carefully, it carries as much weight as if you or I wrote it on this forum.
t like that. It's pure clickbait.Basically he's saying "Jenson is the only logical choice", which is what the article headline ought to have been, had there been any need to write one at all.
In fact, there are 38 people with F1 superlicenses this year, of which 21 have already driven an F1 car in 2017 in one session or another.
Several of the remainder are entered into the Indy 500 already, including Alex Rossi, who will be driving one of the sister cars (they have a total of 5 cars entered) to Alonso's in the 500 for Andretti Autosport/Honda.
It's probably useful to note at this point that a straight swap for Fernando Alonso with Alex Rossi into the McLaren for Monaco is unlikely because Alonso actually bumped one of Rossi's teammates off the Indy 500 roster (Stefan Wilson) - they'd not have done that had Alex Rossi been vacating his Indy 500 seat anyway.
So yeah, JB is possible. So are various others.
tbh i'd be surprised if it wasn't Button ...but it does beg the question why McLaren didn't use him for the Indy 500 & marketing purposes, rather than risk Fred. The triple crown must have also crossed Buttons mind at some point when he was thinking about retirement- so i doubt he'd have said 'no'
jamiebae said:
I have a small amount of experience of motorsport marketing and how it all works, and to me this just doesn't add up. I suspect it may have been Zak's idea to do Indy, but only because he needed to find something to stop Fernando walking out and joining Porsche to do LMP1 or similar.
Alonso isn't as money-motivated as some so he would have been a higher risk of walking away from his contract than most - he moved back to Spain from Monaco a few years ago in spite of the fact it knocks 25-50% of his take-home pay in tax, and if an interesting drive was available with no sign of improvement from Honda then I'm sure he'd be off like a shot.
This is not as complex as you think. Alonso wants to go down in the history books. He is not going to do it in F1, so, he wants to do the triple, Monaco F1, Indy 500 and Le Mans. It really is not rocket science.
angrymoby said:
tbh i'd be surprised if it wasn't Button ...but it does beg the question why McLaren didn't use him for the Indy 500 & marketing purposes, rather than risk Fred. The triple crown must have also crossed Buttons mind at some point when he was thinking about retirement- so i doubt he'd have said 'no'
I think you've missed the point entirely ... 
KevinCamaroSS said:
It does not matter where any of them live, they pay tax in the country they earn it, therefore Alonso still only pays tax in Spain on 5% of his income related to driving.
F1 stopped racing in India precisely because India was trying to tax them as you suggest; http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/racing/i...I'm not at all sure it works as you are suggesting.
angrymoby said:
tbh i'd be surprised if it wasn't Button ...but it does beg the question why McLaren didn't use him for the Indy 500 & marketing purposes, rather than risk Fred. The triple crown must have also crossed Buttons mind at some point when he was thinking about retirement- so i doubt he'd have said 'no'
Current generation indycar is bloody dangerous compared to F1, I doubt he would consider sitting in one. Fred is letting his emotions rule his decisions again, There is a good reason indycar isn't the draw it was when it was CART, it's a third rate series compared to when Mansell and Zanardi were driving.There are far more injuries and deaths in this series than F1, hopefully Fred gets through the weekend intact.
KevinCamaroSS said:
This is not as complex as you think. Alonso wants to go down in the history books. He is not going to do it in F1, so, he wants to do the triple, Monaco F1, Indy 500 and Le Mans. It really is not rocket science.
It speaks volumes when a former world champ decides that racing an F1 car at Monaco isnt interesting enough and he'd rather go do something else that weekend. What if he decides that Silverstone's forecast is a bit wet, so he'll go take a bike round Laguna Seca instead that weekend.
Doesnt look particularly motivating for the team behind him. It's not that I think he's a t
t for doing it, more a shame that McLaren Honda havent got something good enough to think 'I'll do a full season this year' This kind of stunt really says to me he's not that serious about it and probably will bail before end of season.
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