Alonso V Fisichella - Who Will Have The Edge?

[BootsOntheSide]

Weve had threads discussing a fair few of the likely 2005 rivalries, but not this one. Alonso has experience of the team and is Flavio's favoured son, but Fisichella has had the better of every team-mate he's had, including some extremely good ones. So who will come out on top?

[Knowlesy]

Alonso will have the edge. He's got the difficult second year over with and we'll hopefully see him back to his best.

Fisi will be no pushover though, if he carries on from where he left off.

[luke]

I have a gut feeling that Fernando will have an edge at the start of the season as he is familiar with the car but I'm sure Gincarlo will be matching his pace, I really hope he makes his name and scores some big points finishes and hopefully a win?

[Kirk]

I agree Luke. After Fisi gets comfortable, I think it will be very, very close. I suppose the question is: how long will it take for Fisi to settle in. Perhaps longer than usual if the Renault is anything like the '04 version.

[Knowlesy]

Getting used to the car won't be an issue.

Both will have the same chances in the 2005 spec car.

And I'd expect the 2005 Renault to be totally different in characteristic to the 2004 car. I mean, can you really see it being so understeery?

My bet is that they will sacrifice traction for a pointier car.

But I digress......

[Kicking-back]

Alonso will absolutely dominate Fisichella.

I'll admit I have a blind spot towards Giancarlo, but I can't see this supposed greatness in him that others do.

[ASCII Man]

I think Alonso would be a bit better in the beginning but once Fisichella has settled in i think he should be able to beat Alonso quite comfortably.
If not, then i'll eat my.. uhm... NEVERMIND!

[Mr V]

Now this is a thraed for our very own Inigo Montoya, where are you buddy

[Adam43]

I bet he's watching Brazil '03 again.

[alesi95]

Alonso.

Withoutout a shadow of a doubt.
Flavio has made it quite clear that he took Fisichella because Webber was unavailable. He'll make the podium, sure.

[Inigo Montoya]

Ahhh, a thread about Giancarlo - thanks Boots. Kicking Back still has his mouth full of pie from last year when he predicted that Massa would dominate Fisi, so don't pay any attention there

As others have said, Alonso will get the better of Fisi for the first couple of races, as Giancarlo gets used to his new team (like last year at Sauber). Then, there will be order in the universe again, and Fisi will take over.

Alonso is very very fast, so I expect the battle to be closer than usual, but ultimately Fisi will be on top.

[jetsetter]

I think that Alonso will just shade Fisi in what will be a very close fought battle.

[climb]

The main problem is what Flav really desires.
If he lets the thighs happen without any bias of him, I think Fisi will outperform, albeit not by miles, his teammate as it's always happened in his career.
Otherwise Alonso will beat him.
In any case I agree that Alonso will supposedly prevail at the beginning.

[Mr V]

Iirc Flav's no longer in charge of Renault????

[jet]

I think that Alonso will do better than Fisi just because
he has a little more talent and he'been longer at Renault.
But it's going to be very close between this guys.

[BootsOntheSide]

I'm pretty sure Flavio doens't leave Renault until the end of 2005.

In any case, Webber was available - it was Flavio's choice to keep his 2 drivers apart, and that involved negotiating directly with Frank over Fisichella's availability (Giancarlo was free to leave Sauber to join Williams, Ferrari or McLareb, but not Renault).

As a result, I'm not convinced that things within the team will be entirely even - if Fisichella looks like beating Alonso, it's bad news for Flavio's finances. Certainly, if Alonso wins the battle, I'll be taking it with a certain amount of salt.

[Kicking-back]

Correct, Boots.

Flavio is there until the end of the season.

[Ryo28]

Fisichella has never been beaten by any of his teammates consistently, including the likes of Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button. But Alonso has usually beaten his team mates as well, though he did 'wobble' a bit against Trulli last year...

It'll be fascinating to see who comes out on top!

[BootsOntheSide]

In truth Fisichella has faced a much better line-up of team-mates than Alonso, especially once you remember that JV wasn't there under equal circumstances to Alonso. If Fernando drives the way he did at times last year, it'd be easy for Giancarlo, but I'm sure FA will learn from his mistakes and build on his huge potential.

[Glen]

I don't think that if the car is difficult that will favour Alonso, since Fisi has got a lot of experience in getting the best out of a troubled car - probably as much experience as any driver in fact. I'd go so far as to say that a tricky car would be to Fisi's advantage in the battle againt his team-mate.

Neither do i believe that the understeery character of the Renault especially suits Alonso, much less was actually engineered into the car to suit him - that just doesn't ring true and sensible to me. I do think that Alonso has shown fabulous maturity as a driver to adapt his driving to suit that facet of the car though - most driers are unwilling and/or unable to change their style to any great degree.

My money's on Alonso - not because I don't rate Fisi (because I do) but because FA is he coming man and will continue to get better.

Gonna be a great season for team-mate battles, with a few potential classics: Renault, McLaren and Toyota in particular.

[f1manoz]

Alonso to edge it, but not by much. The gap will be larger at the beginning as Fisichella adjust (yet again) to a new team and new surroundings, but by season's end there'll be nothing to separate them. I expect a win from both if the car is good enough.

However, given the treatment Trulli received this year from Flav, who's to say Giancarlo isn't going to be set up as a lame duck to make Alonso look better?

[Tye]

It depends on how reliable the car is and if Flavio lets his drivers drive. I think that if all things are equal, and that is the important factor, then Fisichella will get the better of the two.

I'm looking forward most to this pairing and the battle at McLaren next year. It should provide us fans with some great racing within the teams. The battle at McLaren will be one of the most anticpated in recent memory for me.

Tye

[Tweed]

I think Alonso will show that Fisichella's speed is an invention of the specialist media!

Alonso will/should have learned from this year's up/down nature.

[Rich R]

if fisichella gets the jump on alonso at the start of next season, ala trulli, then i can't see alonso coming back in the second half like he did this year, unless something start going wrong with fisichella's car.
absolutely fascinating line-up for next year though, someone will have their reputation boosted at the end of it.

[ASCII Man]

Uhm, when does Flavio's contract run out?
At the end of next season or has it already ended?