Encouraged by his good results in the past Alonso hopes to have a good race at the Malaysian GP this weekend. He thinks the key to succeeding in the championship is taking podium finishes at the beginning of the season while McLaren develop the car. I wonder if he forgets Ferrari are also developing the car. Article link
Well, he has a few things going for him: - The Schumi effect will lessen as the season progresses: The current Ferrari is in part so good because MS developed it. - The dream team around MS is no more and unless the new managers are just as good as the previous ones, there might be a decline in performance of the team and the development of the car. - Alonso is a key figure in car development and as the season progresses he can influence more and more the new McLaren. Just how good Alonso is as a development driver? Look how he got Renault to 2 titles and look at the mess they're in right now. Just today BMW announced their new goal for this season is no longer to come in 4th in the constructor's championship, but to beat Renault to 3rd. While I still believe Kimi will clinch the title, Alonso's thoughts aren't that far off.
They just might be able to do it, too. I would like to see Heidfeld enjoy some success, he is long overdue.
BMW's problem pre season and still now is their breaking gearbox. At least that's a problem you can throw a bunch of engineers at and fix it.
I would have been more concerned for Ferrari if Massa has won the first race ... as that would have complicated things within the team as Kimi found his pace later in the series. As that did not happen and Kimi came out firing this season could become a boring walk over. I though do rate Alonso and the McLaren car has started the season well. Alonso is also a mature driver so we do not really know the pace of the car yet as he was driving for a safe second at Melbourne. Pete
I think it will become a boring walk over for Kimi. At least the Scuderia keeps things interesting with leaking coolers. Maybe Kimi has to go back 10 places from pole at Sepang to win the race from there.
