This killed some time this morning... Enjoy: Fernando Alonso's Top 5 Races - Essentially Sports I do remember watching this race as a kid, and his 2012 Malaysia & European races. Pretty solid drives: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WufmGOnww8s[/ame]
Not sure I agree with the list, specifically 2005 San Marino and 2012 Malaysia. In San Marino it was very much an excellent drive by Schumacher, and he purely lost that race by being held by Button which cost him 2 seconds a lap. He pitted a bit earlier than he wanted, and Alonso scraped past. Half a second is what Schumi needed and he would have easily won. Imola is a tough track to overtake on, and Schumacher wasn't helped by having the slower car and Renault having way superior torque. That Renault had so much torque, he could even get away with positioning his car in such a way that both he and Schumacher had poor drives out of corners but he'd still be far ahead come next corner. As I said, hard to overtake on Imola since it's a narrow track with few overtaking spots, so making the car wide is fairly easy. Truth is he won that race because Button held up Schumacher for 2 laps or so. As for Malaysia, being caught by a Sauber who was very much quicker, I don't think is the mark of a great drive. Remember the engine in the back of that Sauber (ferrari), Saubers first podium in many years on the line and Perez's first. They weren't going to risk that trying to overtake Alonso, who had everything to lose by being overtaken by a junior team with a relative rookie at the wheel. Risk of losing a wing or more was huge. I'm sure those 2 races can be substituted by others he's done that where more remarkable IMO.
Agreed. Uninspiring driver, with limited talent. Did nothing to help develop the car during his Ferrari years.
Re: Imola, I think MS was pushing pretty hard, you can see his wheels locking up. I was on the edge of my seat during those final laps. FA didn't crack under that pressure...
Of course he was pushing, but there was no way past, which was exactly my point. All alonso had to do was make his car wide and that was any attempt done. If MS put his nose in he'd lose it. And any overtaking spot at Imola has a decent straight in front of it, meaning the torque already covered his ass. IIRC he even made a mistake or two but the significant torque advantage meant MS couldn't punish Alonso for it. Schumachers performance stood out that day, bar none. in clear air he was up to 3 seconds a lap faster than ANYONE. That was not for a single lap, but consistent laps after each other.
Hungary 2014. Putting that pig in 2nd, and almost winning even though merc had their issues was a good one.
True. But let's agree to disagree. If FA had made a real error and run wide under pressure, MS was through and gone. Kind of like Nico when LH is behind him...
Calling any 2-time WDC who has raced and beaten greats like Schumacher "sucky and uninspiring" seems a tad much of a stretch and more of a negative emotional response rather than a rational one...
+1 Calling him an 'uninspiring driver with limited talent' really jumps the shark too IMO. The general consensus here, among between what I'd call a 'pretty knowledgeable' crowd (in general ), is that he's the quickest guy out there right now. I concur. (FWIW! ) Cheers, Ian
I'm a fan of Fred and Bas may well be correct, but holding on to the win over Shoe was a seminal event. I believe those in the Class B category of superfans, (mine , I suppose) remember him holding on to that win as history in the making. Although it has nothing to do with racing, I'll always remember Alonso's comments after 911. Pure class and the embodiment of what you would hope represent your favourite sport. Been a tremendous fan of his ever since.
I concur, 'hated' alonso when he wasn't in red, loved him when he was. His talent was there on that day in Imola to take away the doubts that he had the stones to take on anyone, and I rate him close to the top drivers of all time (not quite in the league of schumi, Senna etc but close on talent). While yes, he has had a few moments such as involvement in mclarens cheating, you can't argue that his driving given the equipment would see him edge all current drivers. His issue has been choice of team since 2006, certainly not a lack of talent or attitude. He tried and tried with Ferrari, but the team failed to match the best teams of the time and give him a horse he could win regularly with. Put the guy in the red bull, or in the Mercedes now, and his teammates wouldn't have known which way he went, let alone beat him
There is *nothing* 'Class B' about you Is! Class A all the way! One of the most knowledgeable & valued posters here. (And the best supplier of monikers ever! ) Cheers, Ian
Don't get me wrong, I still don't really like him (though that changed a little since Brazil 2015 strangely, and after his crash Australia), but he remains one of the most talented guys to have raced in F1 IMO. I just think of the top 5 chosen, they could've done a better job on 2 of them.
