ALONSO Interview Feb 21: No Podiums For Renault?

It's great for team morale when the superstar driver comes out and says the car sucks, is way off the pace, and doesn't have a hope in hell of winning anything in the season that has yet to start.

I know if I was a Renault F1 team member, I'd be really rushing to rally behind the little prat and turn the situation around.

Realistic is Schumi - who some years ago was much more diplomatic, less condescending and FAR more supportive of his team. Coincidentally, he managed to rally the team to the point where they came out with a WDC-winning car. A car which looked to be ready to lay the wood to Alonso in the Renault until it suffered an engine failure in the last race. When the shoe is on the other foot, we see why Alonso is not 1/100th the champion that Schumi is... where Schumi man'ed up and stood by his team, Alonso tosses them in the shredder and makes excuses before the season even starts.

He's an evasive little weasel though - so Renault's got that going for them, which is good.

 

You're still mad Schumi got beat by Alonso. Honestly, I thought it was the perfect ending. I'd say Alonso is 2/7ths the champion Schumi is. :shrug:

 

I like it Mike

 

Yes Mike I can go along with that, only the fact he is a weasel makes me think it just maybe a ploy to throw others of the scent of the true pace of the car, and if that is not the case he has his excuse. We shall see soon.....

 

+1 Mike

IMO, once MS and Ferrari got the car situated, MS and Ferrari did "lay the wood to Alonso and the Renault". (IIRC) MS won 5 out of the last 9 GP's of the 06 season. FA's only win came at the expense of Ferrari's shockingly rare engine failure. MS was clearly leading FA in that race as well. Now, I'm not the biggest MS fan but IMO, FA is not even close to level of champion that MS is.

 

Making excuses is definately one thing that Alonso is World Champion of.

 

Renault is an excellent organization that's capable of producing huge results on a relatively small budget. Their only weakness is being able to produce year over year stability. From Ghosn pissing away Alonso to McLaren to Flabio tossing out Kova with the bath water, I have to wonder what those in charge are thinking, or smoking, or injecting.

From an engineering perspective, Renault have some of the best in the business. Last year aside, they are very capable of producing results. Don't discount Renault based upon previous years' results. Look at Ferrari in 2005 for proof of that.

Beyond all that, I know that if I was an engineer at Renault...or any team, I'd constantly be pushing to produce better results, discounting negative comments made by a team member. As you have said, you'd not rush to rally behind a loud mouth and would rather sit on your thumbs than push yourself and make the team better...because you'd be all butt-hurt and would rather produce nothing than something that would carry the team forward.

 

Mad? Hardly.

Alonso won fair and square - the major difference is very clear to see. Alonso whined about it. Remember him being caught on the radio whinging about Fisichella not pulling over to let him pass with his "what more I have to do?" complaint to the team. Hey you prat, what you have to do is to pass him! And remember him actually claiming his team was sabotaging his WDC hopes when the wheel nut came loose? I mean, how disconnected from reality does a driver have to be in order to actually think the team is sabotaging him, and how immature and idiotic does that same driver have to be to actually go on record in the press and make such a claim?

Contrast with Shumi's defeat... when the engine blew he went into the garage and thanked the team for their efforts and told them it was OK and it was not their fault. Thats a champion. Alonso has talent but he has very very very little in the way of maturity, team spirit or well-rounded skills. That's why his 2nd WDC will be the last one he ever wins. He was in the catbird seat - he lucked out and was the guy who was in the right place at the right time at Renault during his 2 WDC wins. He was fortunate enough to let lightning strike twice when he went to McLaren, who at the time sucked. But he then unwound all of his luck and smarts by being a bonehead - having a hissy fit and pouting his way out of McLaren. That will forever be remembered as the biggest bonehead move of his career and will be the single reason he will never win another WDC as long as he lives.

Now it's the Kimi/Hamilton era... Alonso is yesterdays news.

 

I think Alonso's ego is about a billion times larger than his smarts are, so I tend to think it's genuine excuse-making and not a cunning plan to throw the dogs off the scent. We shall see!

 

I gotta disagree with you on most of these points.

I do discount Renault. Yes they have good engineers - but I don't rate their tech any higher than I rate Honda, BMW, Ferrari, McLaren or any others. They are no more talented than any of the other mid-to-top level teams. I think they got lucky the 2 years they won... well, not so much lucky but they stumbled upon the right combination of tech, setup and driver that matched the rules of that season very well. Renault is not a team that has a history of winning in the manner that Williams, McLaren and Ferrari do. I don't think they were slow for lack of trying the last few years, and they just happened to be up during a time that Ferrari and McLaren were down. That won't happen again. Ferrari (and McLaren) have been perennial winners having an off year here and there. Renault is the inverse - generally not in the top 2-3 teams except when they have an uncharacteristically good year.

Beyond all that, the driver is the one that tends to get all the glory from a win. Engineers tend to want to be recognized for their efforts. If they like the guy they are working to help, it tends to rebouble their efforts - i.e. Schumi in 2006. If their morale is down because their superstar driver is already saying he can't win a race because the team (read: the engineers) have not provided him with a winning car, then it's not very motivational. Alonso is 1/100th the man Schumi is in this respect. I predict a whole lot of whining from Alonso this year. The only unknown is whether Flavio has a good enough relationship with Ghosn and Alonso to keep the relationship together, because I have no doubt Alonso will be running to the press whining consistently and Ghosn will get pretty sick of it pretty quick.

And if (as I hope) Alonso does not get the Ferrari drive if Kimi leaves, he has already burned bridges at 2 of the top teams... he's got nowhere else to go other than following in Ralf/Weber/DC's footsteps and taking jobs at the slow teams who will put up with his BS at a greatly reduced salary. If Kimi wins 08 then I tend to think he will re-sign with Ferrari. If Alonso implodes this year, I think it will only serve to solidify Ferraris resolve not to have a prat like him infecting their team with his BS -and Alonso will further descend into crying and blaming the world for his lack of continued success.

 

How can you not consider FA as one of the top driver to fight for WDC. I personally do not care for him but he definitly has what is takes to be on top. Look he already has 2 titles and I'm sure it wasn't easy.

 

Top on the grid now or top of all time?

Of all time, no way - not even close (IMO). On the grid, I personally think Kimi is quite a lot better, and I think Hamilton is a fair bit better too. As for the others, it's hard to rank them because they are all in different cars, but I suspect there are a few drivers who would give him a run for his money, if not beat him. So, I would say he may be 3rd best at most. One of the top on the grid? Yep, for sure. THE top? No way.

 

Alonso needs to grow up. I mean really! He is a fantastic driver and I have tons of respect for him because he can drive the hell out of a car... His biggest problem is that he has to be #1 and that just can't happen all the time. Even the best know that they can't win all of the time and better yet they have respect for the guys who do win. I don't see Fernando having any respect for anyone else but himself.

 

+1000!

 

A champion is one who wins. Nothing more or less. It doesn't matter if you are a nice guy, or a good team player, or anything like that. You might say Alonso is a fluke, but he did end up with the championship in two ultra-competitive seasons (and 1 point off in a 3rd season).

 

Well, obviously I am using the term "champion" in a complementary way. Metrically, of course anyone who wins a WDC is a champion, and that includes Alonso, Schumi, Kimi and others. I don't think Alonso is a fluke, I think he is a great driver. But I think he is a driver who was somewhat flattered by a great car those 2 years with Renault... not to take away from his level of talent but I don't think he has 1/4 the talent Schumi does. I also don't think Kimi has near the talent Schumi does.

However, when the term "champion" is used in a complimentary way as opposed to a descriptive way, I think Alonso falls far short. Luckily he will never come remotely close to Schumis legacy and will forever be a 2-time WDC winner. In great company for sure, but never one of *the* greats. I also think Hamilton will achieve more in his career than Alonso has, and this will infuriate Alonso to no end, who will become Mr. Sound Byte in months and years to come, always willing to throw his lofty opinion out about guys he can't hang with.

 

I'm skeptical. Once Kimi retires, who will Ferrari go for? It seems like there are many possible situations where Alonso might get hired by them. Maybe not even by them, what about BMW? The question is simply about being on the right team at the right time (unlikely on any given year, but over a career it becomes a higher probability).