RENAULT Releases Alonso For McLaren Test

I agree. I wish BMW and Williams were still together, because the way Williams is racing these days is down right sad, although I have really liked BMW Sauber this season, especially after JV ran out of tampons, causing him to leave.

 

LMAO....I do like RK

 

There seems to be a lot of unusually high expectations for these rookie drivers. HK outdriving GF? Piquet Jr. stepping in? Hamilton outdriving Alonso?

I seem to recall people talking about Rosberg as the next great F1 champion following his debut race but the bloom is off that rose. I also recall a lot of other over-hyped drivers falling flat on their faces once they hit F1. Anyone remember the buzz surrounding Jos Verstappen when he was in F3?

The fact is that virtually all of these guys are going to prove to be mid-pack runners at best and most are going to wind up as answers to trivia questions.

Call me a cynic but I want to see performance before I start annointing one of these kids as Schumacher's heir.

 

Nothing wrong with being cynical but you have to admit that these are exciting times with the influx of new talent-HK, RK, LH..

GF isn't a "has been", he's a "never was"; samething could happen to him this year as happened to JV @ Sauber-BMW. If he's spanked by a rookie then why do you need him unless he brings massive sponsorship $$$$$????

Hamilton will not outdrive FA in the immediate future, beyond that who knows....

F1 is moving towards younger drivers, of that there is no doubt....

NP Jr. and SV will be next to step up, and hopefully Marco Andretti will impress in testing....

 

Hamilton hasn't impressed me so far. Piquet Jr. neither, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Heikki on the other hand has already outdriven everybody else and beaten MS in a Ferrari. Add to this the fact that he is a Fin and has already outpaced GF in testing, then you have the makings of a great prodigy.

Remember not so long ago Alonso was only a nobody with not much credit to his name. IMHO Heikki is the next Alonso. Which is probably why Flavio put him in exactly that seat.

 

The only one I recall hyping Alonso in his Minardi days was Flavio.

I hope you are right about Heikki, he probably has the easiest road than the other two. Fisi is a good benchmark and if Heikki can consistently beat him then he will certainly impress. It doesn't hurt having Flavio as a manager either.

I think Piquet Jr. is a non-starter. I have seen nothing to impress me from his driving. Hamilton may be the real deal but I get a strong impression that the expectations are being blown seriously out of proportion with him.

 

http://www.superwheels.co.za/default.asp?id=199661&des=article&scat=superwheels/formula1

Time sheets sober up the skeptics ASAP.

 

Definitely, on the other hand we know absolutely nothing about setup, configuration of any car, so,.....18 of march is still far away!

 

You never know who is running what with these tests-Massa looked a little slow but I read the Ferrari was on full tanks and was testing new components...

In last year's testing Button/Honda looked strong but we all know what happened on race day....

 

I'm not writing off GF just yet. I also don't put too much weight into a test driver out pacing a test driver. I think a large portion of the Renault's development is directly related to GF's ability as a test driver. Chassis development isn't about going out and setting the fastest lap it's about consistently hammering away at a specified pace. That pace is never at 100%. If Flavio is comfortable running GF as the front driver I think we all should take notice.

 

I was pretty excited.

The good guys look good in any car ...
Pete

 

Unfortunately, GF always strikes me as needing inspiration to perform, and while he may be a good test driver, he is not always on 24/7 trying to win...or at least not as much as others, e.g Alonso. And anyway, if the developments at Renault have been due to his input as test driver, then it would only make sense that he should be performing well because the car would be dialed in for him...but it was obvious this year as to how much of a difference in performance there was between him and Alonso...sometimes baffling! It seems obvious to me that Renault will have a difficult year, and that McLaren will have a ball. As for Ferrari, lean back and enjoy the stylings of Kimi Raikkonen. Massa will have to win by pure grit. Hamilton will need this year to get to grips....but I hope he proves me wrong.

My .02 cents.

 

Flavio had no choice, nobody else was available (MS didn't want it). Of course you don't make a rookie like Heikki your front man in his first season. He will make mistakes.

Besides: With Fisico's fragile ego, making him 2nd to Heikki would have caused him to drive backwards at the start.

 

At the same time Massa is frontman ,Kimi is 2nd at Ferrar!

 

Your joking right?

 

Lol don't bother, T. Some of these guys buy into Massa's BS. Anyone could have won in that car least year. He isn't anything special. Kimi will wipe him next year.

 

+1

 

Check any F-site: Massa is the nr.1 pilot, did you notice last season, that at several races, Massa was faster than Schumi, with a nr.2 car?

 

Put down the Crack Pipe, buddy. What are you going by the stats for the last 4 races of the season? Ah the hell with it, why even argue.

 

Hasn't Todt gone on record as saying there is no number one car this year? Massa got the lower numbered car purely because he has been associated with Ferrari for a while and Kimi is coming in new to the team. Although, I wouldn't write of Massa too soon. I want to see a few races before i cast Massa off, but I would bet Kimi has the lower number car in 2008.

Mark

 

If the #2 pilot makes 5 times as much as the #1 pilot, then I'd like to drive for Ferrari as the #20 pilot.

 

I am #21

 

He has already run somewhere around 100 GPs, how many more races do you need to see before you realize that Massa is mediocre?

 

You can't just say something like that! Just look at Barrichello and how his career went after 100 GPs! Or Jenson Button!


On 2nd thought: Nevermind.