The Alonso exit process continues....

As I've been suggesting for some months, Alonso is apparently on the path to leaving Ferrari. Now McLaren are publicly stating they want him.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/24171278

There's no question that De Montezemolo will be behind all this; the public statements of affection mean nothing, he will have been furious at the repeated public humiliations over the last year or so.


Good move for Ferrari, who need the team cohesiveness that they had with Schumacher, and for McLaren who get a very good driver. Not sure how good this is for Alonso, but in the end it's the teams who run this show.

I don't think its entirely LDM's doing. This has been coming for a while now, with each successive season of disappointment.

Fernando must be genuinely frustrated that he's not had the machinery to compete with Vettel over the last 3 seasons. Yes, he's had the odd victory, but it must be little consolation when he's seen Seb and Red Bull rack up 3 (now probably 4) successive drivers' and constructors' titles.

That said, it is obvious that public displays of unhappiness / friction don't do anything for team morale, so if he's that unhappy, the best thing is for him to leave.

Its also far from certain that Alonso will return to McLaren. He's evidently had enough of his barren spell with Ferrari and I would think he will want evidence that McLaren's 2014 car will be up to the job of taking on the Red Bulls, before he signs with them.

Who knows, he might even end up back at his other old team, Ren...er, I mean Lotus.

He wont be going to Lotus if Kimi aint being paid.

McLaren have a poor car this season, but they've been on the money more often than not. Ron Dennis is gone, and Button is closer to Massa than Kimi. Unlikely, but not impossible.

dyrewolfe wrote:I don't think its entirely LDM's doing. This has been coming for a while now, with each successive season of disappointment.

Fernando must be genuinely frustrated that he's not had the machinery to compete with Vettel over the last 3 seasons. Yes, he's had the odd victory, but it must be little consolation when he's seen Seb and Red Bull rack up 3 (now probably 4) successive drivers' and constructors' titles.

That said, it is obvious that public displays of unhappiness / friction don't do anything for team morale, so if he's that unhappy, the best thing is for him to leave.

Its also far from certain that Alonso will return to McLaren. He's evidently had enough of his barren spell with Ferrari and I would think he will want evidence that McLaren's 2014 car will be up to the job of taking on the Red Bulls, before he signs with them.

Who knows, he might even end up back at his other old team, Ren...er, I mean Lotus.

This is a simple case of the boss getting fed up of insubordination. McLaren is hardly the place to find a great car right now.

LDM's done it exactly as any other employer would; first line up another guy on the team who is up to scratch, thereby undermining the power of the troublesome guy, then start touting him around.

GSC wrote:He wont be going to Lotus if Kimi aint being paid.

Agree, Fernando won't go to Lotus. Financially, its not an issue because many people have been stating that Fernando is actually paid the majority of his wages by Santander.

I think it`s just silly season gone out of control. Whitmarsh has said, nobody from McLaren has spoken to Alonso as of yet. I can't see him leaving Ferrari, my respect would go for Alonso if he bottled taking on Kimi.

I don't think it has much to do with Kimi, more the disconnect between Alonso and Ferrari

Ferrari and Alonso need each other. Simple as.

SteveG wrote:Ferrari and Alonso need each other. Simple as.

Not certain that's true with Kimi around   We forget that the Finn was mightily unlucky with an ureliable car, provide by - yes you've guessed MM, in 2005/6

SteveG wrote:Ferrari and Alonso need each other. Simple as.

Why do Ferrari need their team called idiots and their car constantly criticised? The key to winning is a united team, they'll never have that with Alonso there, and now Kimi is there another problem will emerge because the team will happily unite around another excellent and popular driver. That will only exacerbate the Alonso problems and create more conflict.

He has to move, it's obvious. I've been calling this for months and it'll happen; either quickly and cleanly, or in a drawn out mess over a year. It's to all their benefit they take the clean route.

The reason why I say they need each other is because if Alonso wants to win another championship then where else can he go? With 2014 on the horizon surely the best place is with a team that makes its own engines and happens to have the deepest pockets in F1. Reciprocally if Ferrari want to win then they need a driver of Alonsos qualities - I suspect he's faster than Kimi over one lap and he races even better than he qualifies. Kimi is a top drawer driver but is he really better than Alonso? and will he help develop the car or as someone has already said just turn up, drive, and then go home - read somewhere that Ferrari got massively frustrated with him last time round, when, after going thru a bad patch for a few races the team finally asked what was wrong - Kimi replied the steering wheel is crap - well why didn't you tell us weeks ago? You didn't ask!! ARGHHHH

I see your point, certainly I can't see a good move for Alonso as RB and Mercedes are not in play. I guess it comes down to opinion of the feasibility of this working at Ferrari, and whether on balance even Alonso's driving is enough to compensate for the cost I believe he brings in terms of disunity.

bogbrush wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:I don't think its entirely LDM's doing. This has been coming for a while now, with each successive season of disappointment.

Fernando must be genuinely frustrated that he's not had the machinery to compete with Vettel over the last 3 seasons. Yes, he's had the odd victory, but it must be little consolation when he's seen Seb and Red Bull rack up 3 (now probably 4) successive drivers' and constructors' titles.

That said, it is obvious that public displays of unhappiness / friction don't do anything for team morale, so if he's that unhappy, the best thing is for him to leave.

Its also far from certain that Alonso will return to McLaren. He's evidently had enough of his barren spell with Ferrari and I would think he will want evidence that McLaren's 2014 car will be up to the job of taking on the Red Bulls, before he signs with them.

Who knows, he might even end up back at his other old team, Ren...er, I mean Lotus.

This is a simple case of the boss getting fed up of insubordination. McLaren is hardly the place to find a great car right now.

LDM's done it exactly as any other employer would; first line up another guy on the team who is up to scratch, thereby undermining the power of the troublesome guy, then start touting him around.

Disagree. LDM is obviously fed up with Alonso's outbursts, but they are a result of his growing dissatisfaction. lets face it, if he had been winning, or at least competing with Vettel, this situation wouldn't have arisen.

Its quite likely he feels that Ferrari aren't going to up their game anytime soon (and the clock is ticking on his F1 career). He could decide to take a gamble as Hamilton did. A lot of people said Lewis was daft to take the drive with Mercedes, but its worked out better than most would have thought.

The new regs for next season mean everyone is effectively starting with a clean slate and it could be worth a punt going to a team that can interpret them better, rather than start the season behind the curve and hoping to catch up.

Alonso tried the nice guy approach last season to coax more performance, now he's being the taskmaster.

Such is Alonso, in his mind his success is paramount, and he needs a team that agrees.

dyrewolfe, I'm not sure what part of my post you disagree with. Obviously if he was winning he'd not be moaning, but that's not the point.

Alonso should be frusterated. He is by far the best driver in F1 and they are only providing him with about the 4th best car. The fact he so nearly won the World Championship and was in fact unlucky not to last year in that car, is a testement to how amazing he is. Nobody else could have done that.

Alonsos qualifying pace hasn't been very good recently. That's the biggest difference between him and Vettel

Actually it has been poor compared to Massa lately.

Granted although India was down to tyre choice

It is not just India though. There have been a few times of late that Massa has out-qualified Alonso.

Hence the granted part

Kimi isn't the fastest guy on 1 lap either so that might be fun

GSC wrote:Alonsos qualifying pace hasn't been very good recently. That's the biggest difference between him and Vettel

While true, I'm not sure it would make that much of a difference. The Red Bull has pace to burn and at best, Alonso would be finishing 2nd more often than he has managed to (rather than 5th, 6th etc.)

CaledonianCraig wrote:It is not just India though. There have been a few times of late that Massa has out-qualified Alonso.

But his race performances have, for the most part, been less impressive...and the points are only dished out on a Sunday.

I don't know if its something Alonso's learnt, due to being in an inferior car, but he usually overcomes poor qualifying with good race performances. Perhaps he's been getting tips from the mighty Jenson Button?

bogbrush wrote:dyrewolfe, I'm not sure what part of my post you disagree with. Obviously if he was winning he'd not be moaning, but that's not the point.

Sorry...I rather thought it was.

If Alonso was winning, he'd have no cause to make the comments he's made about the team, thus upsetting LDM. I also rather doubt he'd be looking to engineer a move either. Success breeds happiness and all that.