Alonso: "I'm not comfortable in McLaren"

[Venari]

Whenever I see Alonso now, I just see that shoal of fish from 'Finding Nemo'.

Wah, wah wah, me me me, wah wah, me me, wah.

 

[superberkut]

Whenever I see Alonso now, I just see that shoal of fish from 'Finding Nemo'.

Wah, wah wah, me me me, wah wah, me me, wah.

Really? I think the seagulls would do better:

Mine mine mine mine mine mine mine

I don't recall any fish.

 

[<_Spike_>]

All I see is a giant neon sign stating "Grade A Spoilt Prat"

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Yeah, he had it far too good at Renault. Heck, he had it far too good before he got to Renault because he was Flav's favourite. Button, who was also one of the drivers Briatore managed and had already been in the sport a few years, had proved himself an able - if not remarkable - driver, but lost his Bennetton drive in favour of the less-experienced Alonso. True, it was a gamble and it paid off, but Briatore was wrapped around Alonso's finger to the point where other drivers had their careers hampered simly because he was favoured. I'm not saying JB's move after long the Bennetton drive was a bad one - he did, after all, bring BAR-Honda into the upper-midfield - but I've never thought much of Flavio simply because he doesn't treat his drivers equally. If Alonso returns to Renault, it's likely he'll be partnered with the over-rated Fisichella simply because he won't want to race against a driver like Kovalainen who is young and could be a talent; Heikki out-performed the far more experienced Italian in his debut year in a car that was one of the worst on the grid compared to the previous incarnation (the other being Honda) ... Kovalainen's career could take a severe hit simply because a spoilt Spaniard says "no". Mind you, there's probably a whole host of teams willing to take his services on after his performance this year.

 

[Blake]

Mind you, there's probably a whole host of teams willing to take his services on after his performance this year.

Most notably Williams, who could soon be needing to fill a young German&#8217;s seat should he go to McLaren. In any case, Williams have a spare seat. I wonder whether Toyota will push them to give it to Nakajima, though&#8230;

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Most notably Williams, who could soon be needing to fill a young German’s seat should he go to McLaren. In any case, Williams have a spare seat. I wonder whether Toyota will push them to give it to Nakajima, though…

Wasn't Nakajima's employment a condition of the engine supply-deal? The way that I saw it, Williams had a terrible '06 and decided to part ways with Cosworth. They needed engines - and fast - so they went to Toyota, who only agreed if a driver of their choice was a test driver. And that driver, obviously, was Nakajima. There were several comments over the season about how the Japanese youngster was a "capable test driver"; reading between the lines, Williams didn't think he was race material (though this was early in the season).

But Williams had a good season this year, finishing fourth (fifth if McLaren were included), unlike the eighth placing in 2006. They've risen back up through the ranks, so now Sir Frank has gotten himself a bit more power. Toyota may lean on him to give Nakajima the seat, but Sir Frank may be able to resist a whole lot more than last time because he's in a far better position this year than he was twelve months ago. I do confess to being a bit of a fan of Sir Frank - this goes back to when I was knee-high to a grasshopper and the only two cars I knew were Senna and Mansell's Red Five (I never understood why it was red, though) - but I honestly think that they've got a lot of potential, they simply can't get their driver line-up right. Sure, Alex Wurz was immensely experienced, but I also think he was damaged after that smash in Monaco a few years ago.

If I were Sir Frank and Toyota were leaning on me to take Nakajima, I'd be telling them to employ Alonso in exchange for letting me take Kovalainen if Renault decide not to renew his contract (though with Alonso out of the picture, that may not happen). Alonso can bring a lot to that team and Toyota really need to get their act together (and soon).

 

[Alfaholic]

So i dont know about that but what i do know is that if Michael Schumacher came back. Everyone wouldn't be full of themselves.

I can't see how that would affect Alonso's level of self-fullment (I just made that term up) since he beat the old man in his last two seasons anyway.

Red Five: The one car had red numbers, the other car had white numbers, apparently to help the team identify which car they were looking at (was probably easier than trying to read a number passing them at 200mph). It's common practice - see the Audi R8s in GT4 - one has yellow highlights, the other red. My group C Sauber in the game has a yellow square around its right hand taillight. I believe its sister car had a red square.

I remember a race, when I was a kid... the commentator said something like "You can tell driver A's car from driver B's car in team X because driver A has a little red slash on the tip of his nosecone..." It was a long time ago and I can't remember what team or drivers it was, but I do remember thinking "..... or you can look at the large number on the sidepod, you numpty. " . Of course, that's probably much easier on TV than it is standing on a pitwall.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I can't see how that would affect Alonso's level of self-fullment (I just made that term up) since he beat the old man in his last two seasons anyway.

Red Five: The one car had red numbers, the other car had white numbers, apparently to help the team identify which car they were looking at (was probably easier than trying to read a number passing them at 200mph). It's common practice - see the Audi R8s in GT4 - one has yellow highlights, the other red. My group C Sauber in the game has a yellow square around its right hand taillight. I believe its sister car had a red square.

I remember a race, when I was a kid... the commentator said something like "You can tell driver A's car from driver B's car in team X because driver A has a little red slash on the tip of his nosecone..." It was a long time ago and I can't remember what team or drivers it was, but I do remember thinking "..... or you can look at the large number on the sidepod, you numpty. " . Of course, that's probably much easier on TV than it is standing on a pitwall.

That makes sense. But I like Honda's way of doing things better: put the number on the rear wing and make it so big that you can easily pick drivers apart. That's what everyone should do; it makes it easier to identify our favourite drivers.

And SauberBMW, who exactly would Schumacher drive for? He can't go to Ferrari because they're full up ... and he was beaten twice in his last two years. I can't imagine him dominating everyone in a comback ...

 

[Diego440]

McLaren's way in the West (Pre-Johnnie Walker) days was much cooler, putting the driver's name on the car.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Yeah, but that was still cigarette sponsorship. You'd get all the clever ones like Jordan's "Bitten and Hisses / Sssschuey Fisssssi and Hissss", the odd ones like Williams' "R?" and the unimaginitive ones like Ferrari's "/////////", but you still knew they were advertising cancer sticks, even if it didn't say so. And with tobacco sponsorship on the outer as of 2009, no-one wants to be affiliated with them anymore.

 

[Diego440]

I' just saying which one was cooler, not which they should go ahead with

 

[Hun200kmh]

I remember a race, when I was a kid... the commentator said something like "You can tell driver A's car from driver B's car in team X because driver A has a little red slash on the tip of his nosecone..." It was a long time ago and I can't remember what team or drivers it was, but I do remember thinking "..... or you can look at the large number on the sidepod, you numpty. " . Of course, that's probably much easier on TV than it is standing on a pitwall.

I don't know if you're more than 25 years old (I am ... ), but the first team I remember to put different colours in the nosecones of their cars was Renault. Here you have the 1982 cars, red for Alain Prost, blue for René Arnoux:

 

[Alfaholic]

I don't know if you're more than 25 years old (I am ... ), but the first team I remember to put different colours in the nosecones of their cars was Renault.

Yup, I'm well over that hill

I don't think it was the Renaults, I think the particular incident I remember with the commentator was sometime after that, but still in the '80s when the sidepods were square enough to paint a readable number on. Same idea, of course. Thanks for posting those shots. I'd forgotten how good those cars looked!

 

[Metar]

I don't know, Nakajima proved to be a terrific racer at Brazil...

I remember a race, when I was a kid... the commentator said something like "You can tell driver A's car from driver B's car in team X because driver A has a little red slash on the tip of his nosecone..." It was a long time ago and I can't remember what team or drivers it was, but I do remember thinking "..... or you can look at the large number on the sidepod, you numpty. " . Of course, that's probably much easier on TV than it is standing on a pitwall.

Easiest: In F1, the 1st driver has a red camera-housing on top of the engine-cover, 2nd driver has a yellow one. Easy to notice even when you're stationary.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Easiest: In F1, the 1st driver has a red camera-housing on top of the engine-cover, 2nd driver has a yellow one. Easy to notice even when you're stationary.

Shame that they're moving at, you know, three hundred kilometres an hour ...

 

[Metar]

Shame that they're moving at, you know, three hundred kilometres an hour ...

I said. Easy to notice even when you are stationary and they move.

I have no trouble identifying which car is which when they move. And exposed helmets make it even easier, especially with the Alonso/Hamilton differences.

 

[superberkut]

If you haven't watched F1 in 6 years, like me, you could even get the Williams cars and the BMW-Saubers mixed...

 

[Metar]

I only started watching F1 since this year's Canadian GP. Yet I had no problems, come race-day, to identify each and every car. Drivers took another GP or two, but that's a different story.