Alonso leaving McLaren

[Woody]

Why doesn't Ron stick Gary Paffett in the car next year??
I'm sure he'd be a great number 2 (oh sorry - equal driver...) and with his testing/development experience they'd be covered on that side as well.
And I'm sure he'd be a bit cheaper than some of the others - and with a one year deal Ron gets to keep his options open for 2009.

Chris

[megy]

Flipatron said:

TuxMan said:

roll on Jenson would be great to see him in a great car !!!!

Has Jenson ever produced a class overtake in his entire career? I can't think of any. Don't believe the boy has the balls to pass.

Didnt he produce many a good and spectacular overtakings in 2004, especially Hockenheim taking both MS and FA and finishing 3rd in the championship over the year?

[Teppic]

Autosport.com said:

According to the newspaper (The Guardian), former Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher was among those expressing interest in driving for McLaren but the German was reportedly informed he is not on the squad's shortlist.

Can't think why...

[Leithen]

Outright speed not essential, technical head crucial. (No-one springs to mind sadly.....)

[stew-S160]

Teppic said:

Autosport.com said:

According to the newspaper (The Guardian), former Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher was among those expressing interest in driving for McLaren but the German was reportedly informed he is not on the squad's shortlist.

Can't think why...

even im higher up their list than he is. and im not even on it.

[rubystone]

BigBen said:

Flipatron said:

TuxMan said:

roll on Jenson would be great to see him in a great car !!!!

Has Jenson ever produced a class overtake in his entire career? I can't think of any. Don't believe the boy has the balls to pass.

Think he was responsible for some of the best racing this past season, not for positions of consequence but still some good stuff.

Ben

Sadly,as you say, we won't really know. The TV coverage naturaly focusses on those at the front.

[Killer2005]

stew-S160 said:

Teppic said:

Autosport.com said:

According to the newspaper (The Guardian), former Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher was among those expressing interest in driving for McLaren but the German was reportedly informed he is not on the squad's shortlist.

Can't think why...

even im higher up their list than he is. and im not even on it.

Princess Diana's chaffuer is probably higher up the list the Ralf

[GregE240]

I heard Ralf was going to BSM.










To wash cars.

[Knick Pee]

GregE240 said:

I heard Ralf was going to BSM.










To wash cars.

he'd be too slow at that at well.

[Stuismyname]

GregE240 said:

I heard Ralf was going to BSM.










To wash cars.

Let's be fair, he's still farking loaded. Quite how he's managed to coin so much dollar from a frankly tepid career and 'dregs of the gene pool' talent must be a testament to the managerial brilliance of Willi Weber. They'll both be laughing all the way to the other sides of their own massive houses in Switzerland.

[egomeister]

skinny said:

kovy hasn't got enough experience to partner lewis in mclaren, don't think it's a good idea to have two rookies challenging for the titles, despite having experienced testers for development.

Both Heikki and Lewis have a season of racing under their belts and HK did a stack of testing the previous year at Renault - If anything I'd say he's more experienced!

Paffett is good, but I don't think he's a serious contender for a race drive. He's not been a consistant tester for them (unlike PDLR for example) and I think he's missed the boat as far as F1 is concerned.

[djmotorsport]

With Jarvis and Di'Resta getting their tests, what are the chances of one of them taking PDLRs testing position for a year while he moves up to the race team?

[LanCat]

djmotorsport said:

With Jarvis and Di'Resta getting their tests, what are the chances of one of them taking PDLRs testing position for a year while he moves up to the race team?

Nah, surely he's damaged goods...

[Paulle]

[/quote]

Princess Diana's chaffuer is probably higher up the list the Ralf
[/quote]




Oh OK

[hostile17]

Flipatron said:

TuxMan said:

Has Jenson ever produced a class overtake in his entire career? I can't think of any. Don't believe the boy has the balls to pass.

I'd respectfully have to disagree with this statement.

How about his work in the first 3 laps of the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring this year? 17th to 4th in 3 laps: I'm guessing he overtook at least a couple of people.

Or how about his pass on Kimi Raikkonen in Brazil last year? Into turn 1, from a long way back - not quite as far back as Hamilton's pass on Rubens this year, but close; and Kimi isn't exactly an easy man to pass - just ask Lewis Hamilton...

Or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrk44vOWZQg - a move on Alonso, back when Honda knew how to make a decent car?

Or this column: http://www.autosport.com/journal/article.php/id/11... - written by a man who isn't prone to b****hit and is in a position to actually observe Jenson's driving first-hand.

Edited by hostile17 on Tuesday 6th November 15:16

[nioks]

hostile17 said:

Flipatron said:

TuxMan said:

Has Jenson ever produced a class overtake in his entire career? I can't think of any. Don't believe the boy has the balls to pass.

I'd respectfully have to disagree with this statement.

How about his work in the first 3 laps of the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring this year? 17th to 4th in 3 laps: I'm guessing he overtook at least a couple of people.

Or how about his pass on Kimi Raikkonen in Brazil last year? Into turn 1, from a long way back - not quite as far back as Hamilton's pass on Rubens this year, but close; and Kimi isn't exactly an easy man to pass - just ask Lewis Hamilton...

Or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrk44vOWZQg - a move on Alonso, back when Honda knew how to make a decent car?

Or this column: http://www.autosport.com/journal/article.php/id/11... - written by a man who isn't prone to b****hit and is in a position to actually observe Jenson's driving first-hand.

Edited by hostile17 on Tuesday 6th November 15:16

A wee bit disingenuous there. That was a re-pass. Alonso has him coming out of the hairpin at Magny Cours at the beginning of that clip, and Jens has him back on the next corner. He must have been asleep to allow the first move!

Edited by nioks for talking bo**ox!

Edited by nioks on Tuesday 6th November 15:30

[LocoBlade]

nioks said:

A wee bit disingenuous there. That was a re-pass. Alonso has him coming out of the hairpin at Magny Cours at the beginning of that clip, and Jens has him back on the next corner. He must have been asleep to allow the first move!

It was at Hockenheim
Im not sure its fair to say he was asleep either, at the very start of the sequence before the clip starts, Alonso was in front. Button got a run on Alonso into the hairpin to overtake him as the clip starts, which meant he was on the inside line which obviously compromises exit speed and allowed Alonso to get back up the inside of him on the exit. Add in the fact that the Renaults of that vintage had markedly better traction out of slow speed corners than anyone else its hardly suprising Alonso got back past on the exit. It doesn't mean Jenson particularly did anything wrong, no more than Alonso did anything wrong in the second part of the sequence.

All this whilst having to fight with a loose / faulty chinstrap on his helmet which meant he had to take one hand off the wheel to hold his helmet steady on the straights which must have been a bit of a distraction.

Edited by LocoBlade on Tuesday 6th November 20:54

[FourWheelDrift]

Latest round of musical chairs puts:-

Alonso into RedBull Racing
moving Webber into Renault
and moving Kovalainen into McLaren.

Or Maybe not.







I'm free next season if anyone from McLaren is reading this.

[Flipatron]

hostile17 said:

Flipatron said:

TuxMan said:

Has Jenson ever produced a class overtake in his entire career? I can't think of any. Don't believe the boy has the balls to pass.

I'd respectfully have to disagree with this statement.

How about his work in the first 3 laps of the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring this year? 17th to 4th in 3 laps: I'm guessing he overtook at least a couple of people.

Or how about his pass on Kimi Raikkonen in Brazil last year? Into turn 1, from a long way back - not quite as far back as Hamilton's pass on Rubens this year, but close; and Kimi isn't exactly an easy man to pass - just ask Lewis Hamilton...

Or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrk44vOWZQg - a move on Alonso, back when Honda knew how to make a decent car?

Or this column: http://www.autosport.com/journal/article.php/id/11... - written by a man who isn't prone to b****hit and is in a position to actually observe Jenson's driving first-hand.

Edited by hostile17 on Tuesday 6th November 15:16

When Jenson had a front running car three seasons ago, he only really moved up the field during pitstops. Can't really argue with his speed on a clear track and in qualifying but time and time again I'd come away dissapointed at his lack of bottle when faced with an overtake. Maybe he could borrow one of Lewis Hamiltons b0ll0cks.

[Flying Toilet]

FourWheelDrift said:

Latest round of musical chairs puts:-

Alonso into RedBull Racing
moving Webber into Renault
and moving Kovalainen into McLaren.

Correct on two.