Alonso off to McClaren in 2007

Hi.

This has been anounced today

So what are the bets that the Ice Man will be wearing Red in 2007??

I have to admit to being a little surprised. The last Beneto driver to jump ship following a (2) world championships was Schumi but he went to Ferrari.

Whatever next

surprises me too actually ?

i thought that ferrari would be in for him, schumacher can't go on forever, and it's good for their image to have a world champion ?

seems a slightly brave move, given the way mclaren have performed recently ? maybe he knows something nobody else does ?

The Flav says he knew nothing about it either

Surely as his manager he must have recourse under breach of contract?

Kimi in Red? Can't see that somehow. JB in Red - yes please

Originally Posted by sbaddison

Kimi in Red? Can't see that somehow. JB in Red - yes please

JB in red? Is there another JB than Button? Too busy chasing skirt. Not that I blame him, but if it affects your results.......

McClaren are a fast outfit. Look how they were catching Renault last year. It will be interesting to see what they are like now that Adrian Newy has left.

Will Alonso be given any new parts or team secrets after mid way next year. Not bl00dy likely....

See below

Flavio boldly stated that even though Alonso won the title he wouldn’t increase his salary one cent. Fernando probably didn’t take this well and now he is 40 million dollars richer and into a McLaren which was the faster and more aggressive formula, but since they were obviously pushing the limits it wasn’t reliable. As far as I’m concerned, his decision is a no-brainer, he has one more shot with Renault and then his future is secure with McLaren. The past tells us that even the big/rich teams struggle in f1 and then there is a tendency for them to explode and absolutely dominate the crap out of everyone lots of examples of this during the years.

As for the laughable “JB in ferrari” comment,PLEASE!! The guy paid, together with Honda and of course from his own pockets/sponsors/backers a huge amount of money to Williams so he can keep racing with BAR and not go to Williams. Even more intriguing is the fact that not long ago in reverse logic, he was suing BAR so they can release him to WILLIAMS This tells me two things:

1) The guy (JB) obviously cannot make up his mind
2) The enormous importance of the decisions these drivers make of the track. I mean, look what happened to Jacques Villeneuve – he very much buried his career in BAR

Admitadley, Jenson has some growing up to do. I think the last two year's events may just have acheived this. He was being a silly, ill advise, little boy with delusions of grandeour

Mansell has gone on record and backed Jenson as a future word champion. Mansell in a Ferrari was a dream come true. Let Jenson have this season with BAR (Honda) and then see what happens. BAR (Honda) without DR is only going to go downhill Not in 2007 perhaps, but he will drive a red car in the future. He has the driving "style" for it.

Paying to stay with BAR was a savvy move IMO with Williams getting Cosworth engines & ceasing to be a manufacturer lead team.

He may not be as stupid as you think

I never said that he was stupid. What I said was that he was indecisive. Paying to stay with BAR was a very easy decision to make for the simple reason that Honda bought the BAR outfit and fully committed to f1, and as you mentioned Williams lost BMW backing as well as his biggest sponsor HP. Williams said that he believes that they have an advantage because the V8 Cosworth was already in development for two years and most other teams are behind with their development and using restricted V10s. To me this is a political statement and way too optimistic although I really want it to be true because I think they are in trouble and f1 without Williams --- well it’s just not F1 really.

My thinking differs from yours when it comes to Ferrari and JB. I think that they are fighting to bring Kimi in, who has proven himself beyond any doubt and was more then ready to win the championship this year. Even if they bring JB in Ferrari in the future and satisfy your wish he’ll be the number two driver.

i don't think button is ferrari material ?

unless he's brought in to play some sort of barrichello/irvine role ?

he's fast, and he's good, but i just don't feel he has that extra "edge" which sets him apart as championship material ?

same deal with coulthard, never pictured him as a champion either ?

watch out for piquet's son & bruno senna ? big names mean a lot to ferrari, i'm not sure button is a world brand like these two ?

Ferrari will always try to have the best driver available.

One day that might be Button but if I was spending my own money on it, I'd only have Button if I had Raikonnen in the other car.

Ralf S.

Originally Posted by quattrothedog

i don't think button is ferrari material ?

unless he's brought in to play some sort of barrichello/irvine role ?

he's fast, and he's good, but i just don't feel he has that extra "edge" which sets him apart as championship material ?

same deal with coulthard, never pictured him as a champion either ?

watch out for piquet's son & bruno senna ? big names mean a lot to ferrari, i'm not sure button is a world brand like these two ?

Yes they do have shiny names but that doesn’t guarantee you a competitive entry into Ferrari or in Formula one for that matter. Ferrari wants championships not big names or PR models and so do the rest of the competitive teams. 2006 is crucial for Bruno Senna – will se if he inherited the same genetic make up as the god himself(Ayrton). Piquet showed early promise in A1 he was fast but you can’t make a valid judgment as long as he is in A1. As for Coulthard, here is a man that at one point of time had the best equipment and resources and he discovered the awful truth-simply not good enough. He wants to be in front, he doesn’t like cars in front of him- these are his own admissions. I remember when he crashed coming into the pits in the pit wall thinking that nothing good will ever come out of him.(I can’t remember which track but I think he was driving a Williams Renault) He proved me wrong though- at least he won some races and has had a shot at the F1 championship in top teams.

Mansell has gone on record and backed Jenson as a future word champion. Mansell in a Ferrari was a dream come true. Let Jenson have this season with BAR (Honda) and then see what happens.

My money is on Jenson being comprehensively creamed by Rubens. The underlying question is whether, as the other RB says, Rubens can manage to formate Honda around himself in the same way as Schumacher did Ferrari.

Originally Posted by fingers99

My money is on Jenson being comprehensively creamed by Rubens. The underlying question is whether, as the other RB says, Rubens can manage to formate Honda around himself in the same way as Schumacher did Ferrari.

Rubens beating JB Can't see that! He's just a seat warmer for Honda until they find a more suitable Japanese Pilot other than Sato (who, after a year with Honda team 2 will be back on the 1st team I betcha)

He (RB) is too much of a Mr Doormat. Jenson will be wiping his feet on him soon enough

To quote DC, if he were serious about making his mark at Honda, he would have pleaded with Ferrari to get out of their contract prior to 31/12/05 and get some Honda testing in ASAP!

Whatever, Shumi will get his 8th Gold Star at the end of the next 19 races (or earlier) and will step down (or up) to a management roll within Ferrari F1

Cheers,

Originally Posted by sbaddison

Rubens beating JB Can't see that! He's just a seat warmer for Honda until they find a more suitable Japanese Pilot other than Sato (who, after a year with Honda team 2 will be back on the 1st team I betcha)

He (RB) is too much of a Mr Doormat. Jenson will be wiping his feet on him soon enough

To quote DC, if he were serious about making his mark at Honda, he would have pleaded with Ferrari to get out of their contract prior to 31/12/05 and get some Honda testing in ASAP!

Whatever, Shumi will get his 8th Gold Star at the end of the next 19 races (or earlier) and will step down (or up) to a management roll within Ferrari F1

Cheers,

I never liked RB or anyone at second seat in Ferrari that always winged about how MS has better equipment and that’s why he is faster then them but stayed in Ferrari up to the last minute. As for JB, sorry to burst your bubble with a bias free comment, but there are much better drivers then him in F1.
I just can’t wait for the new season. Tremendous pressure on lots of drivers and teams, especially on the McLaren drivers (both out of contract at the end 2006) since the idiot Ron Dennis revealed the Alonso transfer one year in advance. But I don’t think it matters anyway I still feel that Kimi will go to Ferrari but one thing is for sure Alonso will be getting much stronger competition no matter who stays in McLaren compared to Fisichella.

As for making such early predictions that MS will get to the top again…….I’m wiser then that. First there is the little matter of the young top guns in great cars and second: the many mistakes that MS made last year (like spinning behind the safety car under yellows and other spins and shunts) which were clear indication at drop of form, it had nothing to do with the slow Ferrari. Those things would’ve never happened to him 2-3 years ago.

Originally Posted by fingers99

My money is on Jenson being comprehensively creamed by Rubens. The underlying question is whether, as the other RB says, Rubens can manage to formate Honda around himself in the same way as Schumacher did Ferrari.

It’s very late for RB to form teams around him nowadays. He never succeeded at this anyway. Honda is formed around Button there’s no doubt about it. They fought tooth and nail to keep him and paid hefty dollars to keep his ass in a Honda seat. So no, it doesn’t look good for RB unless he discovers another “gear” physically or otherwise

Originally Posted by fingers99

My money is on Jenson being comprehensively creamed by Rubens. The underlying question is whether, as the other RB says, Rubens can manage to formate Honda around himself in the same way as Schumacher did Ferrari.

Not a chance! Rubinho is way past its sell by date. Fast but not that fast. Jenson's moody but is altogether faster and more tuned in the team.
I can see 2006/07 being a Mclaren - Ferrari show down.