Alonso to Ferrari, Massa to Toyota: Speculation

[maddy42]

Well hopefully alonso stays in F1 and doesnt put his ego in front of him and opt out of racing(he would be stupid to do that but you never know)
Also there is no conspiracy in yesterdays race as it was fair and square.

Loved the part where hami went on the gravel!!!!

[ethanh_hunt]

After what happened last week, I really dont think there is any chance of Alonso continuing with Mc unless he wins the championship (highly unlikely). It is very clear that LH will be their Preferred driver (there is always one) for a long time to come.

It would be great for the fans to see them compete with different teams. Maybe the start of a famous rivalry?

[2theMax]

It was a plain driver error that beached hamilton (IMO), and its plain stupid of alonso to expect some kind of treatment from ron & team , after all the favours he has done to them .

Alonso should shut up and quit mcl if not happy .

[RacingForIndia]

Well its the Chinese GP and its the time of the year when Alonso accuses his team of not supporting him. I wont read too much into his comments, he is finished, not just with McLaren but with any other top team on the grid. Only the real desperate ones, like Toyota or Honda which are under performing and need something to pull a cover over the eyes of their share holders would like to have Alonso with them.
Really, what a waste of talent Alonso is. If only he would maintain his dignified silence for a longer duration.

[im_srini]

Hi guys, I think we need to give Alonso a break ! Remember, when he first won the championship in 2005, he broke Fittipaldi's record of being the youngest F1 champion ! And he's also the man who fought & won against Schumi. Of course, Renault & Michelin had a finger in Alonso's pie - but he's always conducted himself well, & not shot his mouth off - unlike some rookie we "love"

We're condemning Alonso on what the media says is happening within the McLaren team - of the stoic Dennis, tolerating Alonso's tantrums. For all we know, the team could be snickering behind his back, making fun of his English, & scratching anti-hispanic graffiti in the stalls. I thought cricket was a 'gentleman's sport', that is, until someone told me about "sledging". We don't know what's happening in Woking, has Alonso's IQ dropped sharply all of a sudden that he does not realize the implications of what he's saying, or doing ?

He's a double world champion, does that not warrant a bit of bias, or respect ? We expect that in everything we do, don't we ? Consider where McLaren were last year, & where they are this year ? Notwithstanding the spy scandal, maybe Alonso did contribute significantly to McLaren's success, maybe he did bring in a ton of knowledge from Renault. A more modest man would swallow his pride & not expect anything other than equality from his team, but I don't think we can criticize Alonso for him expecting otherwise.

Don't get me wrong, all of it could be true, Alonso could be an insufferable brat... I'm just saying, let's not hasten to lynch him, he's an exceptional driver, in one of the most challenging sports in the world, would wipe the floor with us in equal machinery - just give him his due...

[aseem]

The fact of the matter is that poster boy Hambuger is only winning as Mc Laren want him to win. After years of following F1, do any of you truly believe that there can be 2 equal cars? There is always a better engine, there is always a better strategy, there is always a better time to stop. The fact that Ron Dennis claims car are equal is a big joke....
The fact of the matter is that motor sports is predominated by British and German press. Thus our opinions and perceptions are formed based on what is fed to us.
In recent races in China and Japan, Alonso has claimed that his tyre pressure has been doctored. Its not entirely baseless as there are investigations going on for the same. If you look at Ron's look when Hamburger crashed in China, and the fact that no one at Mc Laren even called to ask about Alonso's health after his crash in China, its not totally far fetched. They celebrated when Hamburger won, and had nothing to say when Alonso came second in China and Hamburger crashed.
In addition if you look at the fact that after all what happened in Hungary, in which Hamilton triggered Alonso's 5 grid penalty, after the fact that he was helped by Marshals in a race where he had crashed, its not easy to summarize that Alonso would be leading the championship.
I for one realize that its IMPOSSIBLE for Alonso to win the title in Mc Laren if Hamilton doesnt have a realibility issue, as its Mc Laren racing against Alonso who is driving a B-Spec Mc Laren. This is what Alonso believes as well. All I hope is that with sooo much spotlight on Mc Laren, perhaps they wont be allowed to doctor the tyre pressure now, and maybe, just maybe, Alonso can be a champion for the 3rd time.

[Rtech]

Ron Dennis' comment at/after the Chinese GP "we were not racing Kimi, we were racing Alonso."

That is not something a driver expects to hear from his own team principle. It's acceptable coming from the teammates crew chief, but not the person who runs the team.

Usually Ron is very correct when he speaks in public. But I guess everyone slips up sometimes, and its only then we get a true look into what that person is really thinking.

[Aditya]

Looks like Alonso has finally made a decision to move back to Renault. It seems he has signed a letter of intent to rejoin.

[thefreak]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Looks like Alonso has finally made a decision to move back to Renault. It seems he has signed a letter of intent to rejoin.

Any news out in the public domain on this or is it speculation?

Would be great if happens. Renault/Ferrari/McLaren would vie up for the title and three teams is something that has not happened to F1 for a long long while now!

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by thefreak

Any news out in the public domain on this or is it speculation?

Here you go.
racing-live

[maven]

Very unlikely. speculations were rife of him moving to Renault. Dont know how ferrari got into the picture.

[aseem]

Originally Posted by maven

Very unlikely. speculations were rife of him moving to Renault. Dont know how ferrari got into the picture.

It was very nearly confirmed last race he would be moving to Renault after his manager and wife watched the race from Renault pit space. He had basically two offers, one from Toyota and other from Renault. Toyota had offered him record sum of 150$ million USD for a 3 year contract, close to what Schumi used to earn at the end of his career in Ferrari. However Fonzo was not too sure if he could challenge for wins with a Toyota. He was shown the roadmap and the car plans for Renault in 2008 to become champions again. He wanted a 1 year contract but Renault wanted a minimum 2 with an option for 3rd.
Write now they have signed a letter of intent. It is only after he negotiates his exit from Mc Laren would this contract come into effect.

FIA in addition would be sending an official to monitor the last race and ensure that Alonsos car is not doctored. It has been claimed and official complains have been doing rounds that Alonsos tyre pressure has been doctored with in qualifying of the last 3 grand prixs to give Lewis the advantage. If indeed true, goes to show what level F1 can get down too. In any case with equal cars it would be too close for Mc Laren. They definitely wouldnt want a car thats faster than Ferrari, as chances of Alonso winning increase if they are faster than Ferrari. They would ideally want a car thats .2 tenths slower than Ferrari, ensuring that even if Kimi and Massa come first and second. Lewis boy can at least secure a 5 position. Much better than Alonso coming first and Lewis ensuring that he is at least second.

Lets see if my hypothesis comes true. I also believe Ferrari would be giving a better engine to their engine partners, so that they can have virtually 4 Ferraris on track....

[diwa]

I think Alonso will be back with Renault for 2008. Renault have delayed announcing the driver line-up for next season so far and are discussing a 2 year contract with Alonso.

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[2theMax]

well put out aseem , adding more to that , kimi and hamburger(like his new name ;-)) will be running new engines , and fonso and massa 1 race old engines , so chances of fonso throwing up blue smoke is more .

If hamilton wins , its a script well written for ron .

[im_srini]

So, F1's version of musical-chairs begins... If Alonso moves back to Renault, either Fisi or Heiki will have to move to other teams. Ralph's already out of Toyota. Alonso's place at McLaren would need to be filled too ! Would we seeing any surprises in 2008 - like Ralph in a McLaren ?!? Yeah, I know it sounds weird, but wouldn't Mercedes-Benz like a German driver at McLaren ?

And then of course we have to consider Spyker, would Narain or Karan figure in their driver line-up ?