We're four races into the 2008 season and although England's leading driver Lewis Hamilton got off to a great start we've seen mechanical failure, driver error and a car that is not only battling for pace with Ferrari's but the BMWSauber team too. It's been a great season so far with new rules & new cars sliding around corners, but the difference between all the top ten cars could not be closer. This makes the fight for pole more crucial and even more challenging than ever.
This year and especially at Barcelona the starting fuel load strategy dictates poll. Most thought that Alonso had emptied his fuel tank to win poll in front of his home fans but with a blitz of a lap from Kimi Raikonen in the Ferrari, he was denied. It was only after the first stop that we really knew how much fuel was in the car - Crucially 2 laps less than the Ferrari's and this showing what fantastic drive and improvement to the Renault car Alonso and Renault have made for the 1st European legs.
This point brings me onto another point that i think is rather important in understanding Mclaren's performance last year compared to this one. Of course there are many factors to consider in analysing and comparing a teams performance but this one in particular i feel is well worth understanding. Last year Mclaren had the world champion Alonso as their No.1 Driver with Rookie Hamilton as No.2 who was viewed as lucky to gain a few podiums in the first season. Everyone underestimated Hamilton's driving skill - Give him the fastest car and he will win races, Give him a reliable one and he will finish them. But most of all because he had nothing to prove there was far less pressure on him to finish and win thus gave him the initial championship lead through consistent podium finishes. My point here is that Lewis is a fantastic driver and that Mclaren is a fantastic team but where have things gone wrong for them both this season?
- B/R Ticket Guide
Above the errors, technical malfunctions and poor strategy i think that the Mclaren team misses Fernando Alonso. Now don't stop reading yet let me go on.....The trouble that he caused at Mclaren was inexcusable, childish and unprofessional for all of those reasons plus more he should have gone but there is one crucial element he brought to the Mclaren team last year that he is now doing with Renault for 08. That is his expert technical input in setting the car up for individual races. Mclaren now have Hamilton and Kovalinen as drivers, both excellent and highly talented professionals but they have less than 40 Grand Prixs between them. Couple that with a totally different car in accordance with 08 rules ie no traction, then they're in uncharted waters. As a contrast and to prove my point look at Renault's performance so far. The Asian leg of F1 saw a medium performance from the Renault with no real spark, come the European leg of the tour where all manufacturers have been working incredibly hard to improve their cars and with Alonso's input Renault challenge for Pole.
In an interview with Renault's technical boss, he discusses how much the engineers respect Alonso and his technical input. Furthermore he said that their technical progress was even further boosted by the fact that all new parts tested and reviewed by Alonso on track in practice were guaranteed to be tested to 100% efficiency. This inevitably boosts the development of their car and pace.
In conclusion, it's going to be a close year. Mclaren need to perfect their setup and strategy to put Hamilton in with a chance of catching Kimi Raikonen. The BMW's have made slow but successful progress over the last year and are now a solid top four contender but watch out for the Renault's. Also Redbull, Toyota and even Force India could be putting in surprise performances.
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8 months ago
i mostly agree with everything you're saying. Except the fact that Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh have been leading the team for a very long time...Pedro De la Rosa is one of the most experienced test drivers along with Marc Gene and Alex Wurz, so ideally, Alonso leaving shouldnt have left that much of a gap. The bad thing is both Hamilton and Kovalainen have been brought up in the age of driving aids, which, as we have seen so far this season has had its effect. Though, they will learn, allbeit the hard way - by playing second fiddle to Ferrari this season.
I'm not sure Alonso deserves the harsh words for leaving McLaren. It was only accidental that the spy scandal evolved while he was there, and he was only a part of it because De la Rosa was and he chose to share with Alonso and not Hamilton. Keep in mind that when Juan-Pablo Montoya moved to McLaren he also couldnt get along with the management and left half-way through the season. I think its because McLaren has a style of leadership that doesnt suit the temperamental characters like Alonso and Montoya.
from 8 months ago
Good, well written article. However, BMW are the third fastest team in the sport, not the fourth. In fact if you look at the constructer's points, they are ahead of Mclaren at the moment. Also BMW have made quite rapid progress if you ask me, they are looking for their first win only three years after the team was founded. If you want to see slow progress, look no further than Toyota who are going to be shut down if they don't at least get some podiums this year or next.
Good comments on the inexperience of Hamilton and Kovalinen. In my mind Hamilton is much too overrated and after all of the talk of his being the next Michael Schumacher it was ironic to see him have that accident at the Nurburgring last year just under the Schumacher S sign. I attended that race and saw a miserable performance from the rookie, including several offs. He is going to need to step up his performance if he thinks he can challenge Kimi this year, all the while he has to keep his eyes on BMW.
8 months ago
Good comments stoil, particularly the emphasis on an experienced Mclaren Team behind even a driver like Alonso but it has made a difference. In this sport milli seconds mean a lot and it is a collaboration of minute elements that make success, my points are simply one of them.
The comments on Alonso were not that harsh in my opinion but you're right about the management style between teams and the big personalities of the drivers. There's bound to be fall outs!
8 months ago
"The trouble that he caused at Mclaren was inexcusable, childish and unprofessional", yeah right!!!
A team that hasn't won a championship since god only knows when, takes a double world champion and disrespects him!!! What other outcome did you expect???
from 8 months ago
Please remember the point of this article is what Mclaren lost when Alonso left and is not intended to spark a debate about the issues of Alonso and Mclaren last year.
8 months ago
Nice article.
Stoil also brings up a good point, that Hamilton and Kovalainen are both young, enexperienced, and are used to traction control and other aids. They are both great drivers but I do think we will see a few mistakes made by both this year, giving an edge to the old farts at Ferrari. LOL!
I do think Mclaren misses Alonso's experience and ability but I don't think they miss his attitude. However, if I were the head of the team, despite chemistry problems between the drivers and team, I would have retained Alonso. This would provide the team with a good comination of world championship experience (Alonso) and youth/exuberance/determination (Hamilton). I think for the first half of the season anyway, we'll see, especially Kovalainen showing signs that he isn't quite ready to be in his position.
8 months ago
"The trouble that he caused at Mclaren was inexcusable, childish and unprofessional" - oh please..
Looking at Alonso's professional status and achievements when he joined McLaren, I think it’s perfectly normal for him to expect a certain amount of respect and status within the team. Not to mention, he did just win 2 championships and he was getting paid way more then LH. If the team wants to invest in winning a championship they could have managed Alonso allot better. Isn’t it about keeping the driver positive? Instead they applied all of Alonso knowledge and team data into LH car. They did it slowly trying to not make it obvious to Alonso and the public. Alonso saw it all unfold and hired his own person to watch his car. You think he wanted to do something like that? I really doubt it, I'm sure that’s very embarrassing to go thru. Obviously, there is allot more to what happened inside that team that no one will ever know. What was public has been twisted and turned around by the press to make Alonso look like this “inexcusable, childish and unprofessional" person. When in reality Hamilton added to it by taunting Alonso publicly to the press. If anyone was "inexcusable, childish and unprofessional" it was LH. If a team is doing bad because of teammates/team not getting along why would a driver add to the fire? (very unprofessional and very childish) He ruined a champions reputation and career in many ways.. and that is inexcusable. Now even Ferrari might not take FA because of all the things McLaren started. Open your eyes and please stop the negativity towards FA. Its 2008 MOVE ON!
from 8 months ago
I agreed with you Drave, very well said...
from 8 months ago
Well said Drave.
As i recall, In early 2007 FA had gained 1/6th of a second for Mclaren.....
Mclaren were pretty much on top the rest of the year ... !! While in 2006 they had Bad Reliability, and a Terrible Management (Montoyo left the team half season thru..) .. Mclaren have had history of the same in the past during ASenna days if i recollect right.
Mclaren will lose out on championships unless they look into their past record and LEARN ..!!
Mclaren for sure Miss FA , it shows in their results .. (and Renaults results too )
And Hopefully FA finds the Best in Renault ... The Good old Days .. :)
-A.R
from 8 months ago
Again, the main point of this article is a testament to Fernando Alonso's technical and driving input to a team. I write about what Mclaren miss about Alonso NOT about the issues that took place there last year.
from 8 months ago
Matt,
I appreciate the fact that you don't want the discussion to center on Alonso vs. Mclaren, and true the main point of the article is something else. It's just that the author of the otherwise good article cannot resist taking cheap shots at Alonso, to wit "The trouble that he caused at Mclaren was inexcusable, childish and unprofessional".
Jay
8 months ago
I think that fernando alonso is the best driver by far right now to be able to almost get pole with that sub par piece of crap car is remarkable. He sets the cars up better then anyone. Viva alonso
8 months ago
Alonso is Great. Just think if it wasn't for the fact that Lewis' car was setup using information from Alonso, then Alonso would have done a lot better point wise and won the Championship. McLaren might have tried to treat both drivers equally, but in doing so, lost themselves the Championship.
8 months ago
I totally agree that Mclaren are seriously missing Alonso. Last year was very difficult for the team, and Alonso responded in the way he did because he would have felt humiliated had Lewis, a rookie, pipped him to the championship. Alonso, a two time champion who defeated a legend twice in a row, and sent him into retirement. So what was he expected to do? Alonso responded in the best way he could under the circumstances. Lewis put him under way too much pressure. With hindsight Lewis could have compromised and catered to Alonso's ego. If he had taken a backseat and helped Alonso win the championship, Lewis and Mclaren would have benefited from Alonso's raw talent and experience in the long run. But one can understand Lewis' desire to win since he had the chance, and unfortunately, Ron Dennis couldn't do anything to rein him in. I really don't think Mclaren have a chance of winning anything in the near future given Ferrari's supreme dominance, particularly without Alonso, and one hopes that the team don't end up resenting Lewis for that. is there any chance, no matter how slight, of Alonso returning to Mclaren?
In any case, one has to applaud Raikkonen. The man is just so solid and utterly dominant and rarely makes mistakes.
from 8 months ago
"is there any chance, no matter how slight, of Alonso returning to Mclaren?"
For that to happen, Mclaren will have to first get rid of Denis and LH. And it would make sense if they did, as neither is going to ever make Mclaren champs.
Jay
from 5 months ago
hmm, jay do you have any knowledge of F1?
Ron has produced many WDC and WCC's. Lews is set to win this year, and if Alonso ever went back to Mclaren, they wouldnt have a forename of Fernando!
8 months ago
i agree to, i'm a big fan of alonso, im glad he's back at renault, the thing is last year there was a moderate amount of favouritism towards hamilton, a lot of media garbage too, especially towards the end of the year. in anyone's shoes when yor a back to back double world champion you don't expect the red carpet treatment but at the same time not to be cast aside. his knowledge was shared with hamilton last year. would his results have been the same without the guidance? the top field at the min are strong, kimi has an unstoppable car as does massa, the difference is massa isn't confident enough to cahllenge, without (tc) finding an overtaking line into and through the corners is difficult, you have to have the experince to keep your back end in and carry the speed needed. there are a few like that, hekki is another. kimi and fernando are both experienced and skilled enough to be a cahllenge to one another, the question remains though, can renault give him the car to do it. the r26 was in a class of its own, with alonso at the wheel twice beating the great schumacer so what happend with the r27? i hope that improvements still come to the r28 and alonso is given a car he can compete with.
gavin bailey
8 months ago
I think mclaren do miss Alonso especially in terms of car setup. Alonso knew how to make a car faster and was very good at giving feedback to his engineers and they could use his guidance to make the car faster.
Hamilton and Kovalainen don't seem to be able to set this year's car up very well and that is a big problem for mclaren.
Their main rivals Ferrari and BMW Sauber both have drivers capable of setting up the car well, Heidfeld for example is very experienced and has driver a varying standard of F1 so there is alot of experience to draw back on, Lewis and Heikki don't have this.
I feel Alonso could possibly have more points than Lewis and Heikki if he was driving the this year's mclaren because it is quick but mclaren and their drivers haven't made the most of it yet.
Some say Alonso brought 6 tenths to mclaren last year, the team could do with that 6 tenths now to challenge Ferrari.
8 months ago
People blame Alonso for his conduct at Maclaren. I think he was justified. People need to understand this. I remember Ron Denis saying we were racing Hamilton against Alonso. I also remember how jubilant Denis was when Hamilton won a race and how he failed to same jubilation when Aonso won.
Alonso left because he wanted peace of mind. I think the team is indeed missing Alonso. The team never won any podium in 2006. When Alonso joined in 2007 it was marvellous and they thought they could do without Alonso. Here is the result now. Ferrari is already winning the championship with Kimi.
David Nyirenda at ddynyirenda@cham.org.mw
8 months ago
I think that 6-tenths that ALonso brings is overrated.. He did make the car faster but i guess LH is also a very gud driver, especially for a rookie.. he didnt make more than 2 mistakes last yr.. and the whole point of intra-team rivalryn i feel is gud for the sport.. even though i am a Ferrari fan, i hav felt bad many times for Rubens Barrichello when he wasnt given equal chances like Michael.. i believe both rivers shud be treated equally!
8 months ago
I think as Ron Dennis took Hamilton through his karting and eary career, the bias was always going to be on Alonso and is Flavio Fernando's manager or something like that?
It has paid Ferdy to come back to Renault as it can be seen that the team love him. To us outsiders it is plain to see that the favourite boy is Hamilton and the more experienced and the better driver (I knew I had taste in drivers.......JV is also a big fave of mine)
Formula one has become an antiseptic cooperation machine and fernando has make it more human in my opinion like what J.V. did. Driver like schumi (although 7 times world champ!) you have to lay down the law on some of schumi;s tactics, some of it was downright dirty! F1 doesn't need pillocks who cheat to ruin the race, the cars in the new formats with reusing gear modules/boxes and the engine is bad enough, without the loss of the traction control. It should be fun back on slicks though!
I love Alonso and have done since he came to F1, I was overjoyed when he was world champ! the guy deserves nothing less
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