Alonso / Renault Split

LampCord · 19 Mar 2007, 20:03 (Ref:1871700)

Its a little early to jump to conclusions but it looks so far that FA made the right move to McLaren.

I was very critical of it last year, going from 2 time championship team to a team that had had major reliability issues.

But so far Renault looks weak and uninspired without him. There is talk of cutting the budget, they've struggled with the new tires and look a little tired as a team.

Alonso just looks like Alonso. Lightning quick, mistake free, professional, motivated, and a threat to win his 3rd straight. He didn't win yesterday but he maximized his outcome in a very Schumacher like performance.

Kieran20 · 19 Mar 2007, 21:17 (Ref:1871763)

yes definatley. it was clear last year also that renault were fading. they were obviosuly no where near ferrari. same in 2005 with mclaren. alonso made a gd move.

Snrub · 19 Mar 2007, 22:52 (Ref:1871829)

It doesn't appear to be too early to tell, Renault is quiet slow. It would be very unlikely that they could improve their speed enough to challange for the championship. Ferrari seems to be significantly faster than McLaren so I don't know that Alonso is truely going to be challanger for the championship.

carlo8 · 19 Mar 2007, 23:45 (Ref:1871870)

It must have been strange seeing your future team having such huge ups and downs !
There's no doubt that he would have had some missgivings at times but it's turning out very well so far.Mac have both reliability AND speed.
Sure they are not up to ferrari's standard yet but everyone knew that was going to be the case.

overall he did well out of the deal-mac are certainly a little faster than renault (i can't say much faster as renault have no fast drivers ...yet)

Gerben24 · 20 Mar 2007, 08:33 (Ref:1872061)

The same might happen to Renault as what happened to Benetton in 1996. I think they need a driver that knows where to take development wise. Fisi doesn't come across as a driver who can take that on his shoulders. He also doesn't seem like a driver who can motivate the team. He only moans about drivers that were slowing him in qualy. You can't really blame Heikki, being a rookie. I had high hopes for him this season. Those hopes have taken a slight blow. I really hope he can take the team foreward.

BootsOntheSide · 20 Mar 2007, 10:16 (Ref:1872168)

Some of the bosses at Renault are not as pro-motorsport as those in the 90s, so the team's investment appears to be dropping off slightly. Although there is an extent of the team suffering for the loss of Fernando, I also think the opposite is true; Fernando expected the good times to end and got out at the right time to keep his momentum going. Right now it looks a good bet that both McLarens will beat both Renaults in the championship.

**Peter Mallett** · 20 Mar 2007, 10:42 (Ref:1872199)

This is the problem with manufacturer teams. Their driver is selling cars but when the market doesn't support your ambitions then the axe falls. This may be what Renault is suffering, particularly as its Nissan partner is struggling.

LampCord · 20 Mar 2007, 16:03 (Ref:1872384)

Even when Renault was winning championships, there were rumblings about the cost of F1 vs. benefit. Imagine what it will be like if they suddenly drop to 4th or 5th which is a real possibility.

I would hate to lose Renault but it almost seems inevitable at this point if they don't get a driver that can really lead the engineering.

It will be interesting to see how Alonso is able to help McLaren get more competitive and if Kimi can do the same for Ferrari's development. I know Ferrari is ahead of the game right now but good driver feedback and focused development can change these things quite quickly.

What will be important for FA is to stay close in the championship until (if?) McLaren can close the performance gap. Of course, this has always been one of his strengths, maximizing his results even when things appear to be going against him.

f1manoz · 20 Mar 2007, 16:11 (Ref:1872394)

Perhaps, all this time, it wasn't just the Renault that was a great car, but the fact Alonso is a great driver and at times dragged that car into positions it shouldn't have been? Perhaps the position Fisichella put the car was the truest potential of the Renault, and that Alonso just seemed to extract more from it.

For '07, his move will prove sound. McLaren seem to be heading in the right direction at the moment. I think this is what they needed - two young, hungry, fit drivers.

Schummy · 20 Mar 2007, 16:36 (Ref:1872408)

I'm pretty much with f1manoz. In 2006 Fisi was 4th at 62 points from Alonso, in 2005 Fisi was 5th, 75 points behind FA.

Alonso is a truly great and he flatters any car. Anyway, another cummulative factor is great drivers are motivators/developers for their teams (or perhaps reversely, that is what make them so great).

I agree with many of former poster: I'm not optimistic about Renault's pace this season. Second post-champion experience for Briatore

Snrub · 20 Mar 2007, 18:37 (Ref:1872485)

For the last couple of seasons Fisi had a miserable time at Renault. The best F1 driver vs. somewhere around the 4th worst is worth maybe .75 seconds a lap on a consistant basis (even that is probably generous). The Renault car is off by a lot more than that. Go back to Fisi's most recent time with Sauber. There were times where the car was similarly close to the front. If Fisi was performing that poorly back then, then Sauber was actually capable of winning a championship with the right driver.

LampCord · 20 Mar 2007, 20:21 (Ref:1872557)

Just to put an explanation point on FA's commitment and professionalism, I read today that he opted to fly back to Woking to do some work on the simulator before the next GP while his teamate will stay down under to avoid extra travel and jet lag.

http://www.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlin...20102454.shtml

Favorite Quote:

Alonso recently enthused about McLaren's simulator by observing that "compared to ours, Renault's is like a PlayStation".

Schummy · 20 Mar 2007, 20:41 (Ref:1872563)

Quote:

Originally Posted by LampCord

Favorite Quote:

Alonso recently enthused about McLaren's simulator by observing that "compared to ours, Renault's is like a PlayStation".

This is a great quote!

Alan Raine · 20 Mar 2007, 20:43 (Ref:1872565)

The Ross Brawn interview in Motorsport last month was interesting. One of the reasons TGF left Benetton was a problem with Briatore and not long afterwards Brawn jumped ship when he didn't get what Flav promised. Alonso commited to McLaren quite early and perhaps needed a more stable relationship.

strider · 20 Mar 2007, 22:30 (Ref:1872651)

Alonso has already been quoted as saying that one of the reasons he joined McLaren was that he felt they kept developing their cars throughout the season, whereas Renault tended to settle for what they had. This was at the end of '05, when he had just won his first title, but been beaten in Brazil by both Montoya and Raikkonen.

Some of the remarks he made during the course of last season suggested that he didn't feel particularly 'loved' at Renault. I think he liked the idea of a Schumacher situation as the undisputed number 1, but from what we saw in Sydney he's not going to get that at McLaren.

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