Question on Alonso?

[LolaT440]

How bad can it really be to race for McClaren that he is so unhappy there? You can't get much better of a team. What in the world is he moaning about?

[Comp89]

He went in there thinking that he was going to be the king of the castle and found himself just another prince with the junior prince doing a lot better than expected and getting more attention than him.

[Keith Carter]

He went in there thinking that he was going to be the king of the castle and found himself just another prince with the junior prince doing a lot better than expected and getting more attention than him.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Outshined by who was supposed to be #2.

[D.T. Benner]

I think Comp89 has it pegged.

[LolaT440]

But....

So he can't win against him in an identical car. The Merc is the top car right now. So if he goes to a #2 team, what makes anyone think he would beat him then in a lesser car?

It makes no sense. Either way he still needs to race against him, so why leave the best team?

If I was hired to race as number 1, and Jimmy Clark was hired. I would think it a great opportunity to learn. If it is because the driver is younger and better, well he better get used to those things real quick.

[TimW]

It makes no sense. Either way he still needs to race against him, so why leave the best team?

Never underestimate the fragility of the ego of a professional race car driver my friend....

[Brian]

I think Alonso, and pro drivers in general, figured out long ago that the car makes all the difference, and anything you can do to get in the best car AND get the other guys in worse cars, is where the edge is. Alonso wants Hamilton to be in a worse car, or worse situation, anything so that he can get an edge - since he apparently can't just flat out drive him.

Brian

[Thomas Copeland]

I wrote it first 3 weeks ago. No rookie can have the experience to develop a winning car. Now read what Alonso says (it's the same thing):

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61742


Hamilton has gotten a ride on Alonso's backside all year. Without Alonso, McLaren would be having the season they had in 2006 and Hamilton would be struggling for 4th place finishes.

While providing equal machinery to both drivers is good for the team, defining the contributions made by both driver's in promoting the team to championship form as equal is total B.S. In that scheme, Alonso has given McLaren far more than he has received back, and Hamilton has given the team far less than he has gotten back in return. Alonso has every right to complain about his treatment. McLaren the best team? Without Alonso McLaren would go back to it's 2006 form, and Hamilton would look like Coulthard.

[Walt Heinig]

Alonso is a whining bi#ch. Suck it up and beat the kid straight up instead of trying to pull the B.S. he did in Hungary

[TimW]

Without Alonso McLaren would go back to it's 2006 form, and Hamilton would look like Coulthard.

McLaren's 2006 form was pretty dominant at many circuits except for reliability issues, no? That was pre-Alonso.

[andyllc]

I agree with what Thomas wrote.

A couple of notes....
Yes Merc might be the best team right now but if you are second in that team then you are not first whereas if he was with another team then he would at least have the CHANCE to be number one (in the team and in the points).

From teammates I have had through the years who have also teammed with Lewis they say that he is the most naturally gifted driver ever but that does not mean he can set up a cadillac to go down the highway. This of course is all a relative statement but no Hamilton cannot set the car up as well as Alonso. Lewis relies more on his natural ability and also using Alonsos set ups. If you note for the first few weekends of the year Alonso was quicker each weekend at first but every practice session that went by during the weekend Hamilton would get closer, part of that is learning these tracks in an F1 car and part of that is using the set up that Alonso would find and then with an equal set up and learning the track Lewis is suddenly in front.

Well these are fierce competitors and Alonso didn't win two world championships by being stupid so now if you look he isn't always blindingly quick during the practice day on Friday and I am convinced it is to force Hamilton to do more of his own set up work plus I am almost certain Alonso is carrying more fuel on Fridays than Hamilton.

With fuel in mind if you look at the beginning of the season Hamilton would typically have an extra lap or two of fuel on board in qualifying than Alonso. That serves several purposes and one is it provides a great excuse for why Alonso is quicker than he is during qual sessions because you have to remember that at the beginning of the season Hamilton was an unknown quantity in the sense of how he would perform in F1. Sure there was all the hype and McLaren backing for years, etc but he hadnt actually been in an F1 race yet so the extra fuel is a great excuse in case he was off the pace. Plus I am absolutely convinced that the heavier fuel loads in qualifying end up being better. A lot of times you will see that the heavier driver is able to stay close enough and run long enough that when the car in front pits he will be able to overtake by the time his stop is done as well. That goes back to helping Hamilton but as you see in the recent races (since Silverstone I would say) Lewis has had the lighter car and not the heavier car and he has struggled. I would say Austria was a great example of Hamiltons natural ability. In horrible conditions throughout the weekend with his wreck in qualifying (not his fault) and his speed all weekend and in the rain in the race that was a brilliant drive that was completely underrated since he wasn't actually at the front. The ability to think while he was in the gravel to keep it running to get picked up by the crane and put back on the track to continue on was brilliant, tell me the last time you saw that happen.

But anyways, now that it seems Alonso is running heavier fuel loads and hiding a bit of his potential on Fridays Alonso seems to have a bit of the upper hand. So again why would he leave the team? Well I hope he doesnt but as much as the team tries to have no number 1 driver (and I think McLaren does a great job of that) it is hard since Lewis is British and has been part of the McLaren family for so many years now. If the politics are that bad in the first half of the first season then they will only get worse. He doesnt want to have to carry the load of the whole team only to have Lewis take the spoils. And believe me nothing else matters to these guys except winning races and championships. I think this is being handled much better than Prost V Senna at McLaren in the early 90's.

Another thing to note is that Alonso was setting the records a few years ago for being the youngest ever.....(fill in the blank) and now Lewis is right there beating some of them (ie youngest to lead the points, youngest to score so many consecutive podiums, etc)

Sorry for my long winded response

edit: No, 2005 the McLaren was right up there but last year it was the Renault and Ferrari show for the most part.