Alonso`s days at McLaren are numbered

Easy Heinfeld.

Yes he is steady but they need somebody fast, add Alonso and they have that. Kubica under Alonso will learn heaps more than under "steady as she goes' Heinfeld.

If BMW really, really want to win, they have to remove Heinfeld, he is just not top draw. Thus Alonso would make the perfect choice IMO.
Pete

 

Here you go. Even Piquet Jr is in the mix now. He's talking to Williams.

http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_2645581,00.html

 

Considering Piquet gave Lewis a decent run for his (Ron's?) money, maybe Alonso would prefer they keep Fisi instead? He's proven he has a hard time living with a quick rookie teammate.

 

What about Bruno Senna, how is he doing in the GP2 series?

I think it is easier to name the drivers that we think will not be around next year.

 

Does RD have any idea who to replace Alonso with if he did leave ?

 

Wow, if that's the case then I hope Alex can get a seat at Prodrive.

 

Massa....

 

No Way .Massa told him to F*** off after the European GP when he and Alonso were arguing.

 

I believe Phil is totally dedicated to SF. He won't leave unless he's kicked out IMVHO.

 

+1

 

I agree with Strasse to a certain point. LH is saying all the right things to the press and is a McLaren man all the way. He's probably been told what to say We probably don't know the real LH.

Maybe I am slipping but it's one thing to believe whatever drivel some dipstick writer is spewing, another to believe a press release from the team. All the signs point to the team being truthfull. LH himself has confirmed this and admitted that he messed up. Holding up your teammate during qualifying is a no no for and driver, number 1 or 2. If your boss tells you to do something you do it. LH's immaturity showed and he has acknowlegded it.

F1 is a shady business, what RD projects to the press and what he really feels can be two different things. He wouldn't publicly slam LH just as he never slammed Senna or Prost.

LH's speed and consistentcy has been a shock to all of us. Alonso signed as the team leader and deserves that respect. If he feels he's not getting it then he should be upset. LH and FA can have a straight fight, LH not following a team directive would be unaccpetable to many people. Imagine the reaction if RB didn't listen to the team all the times he was told to help MS. It's one thing to have drivers on different strategies and have them race. The difference between McLaren and Ferrari is that McLaren lets them race, not hold station and not pass your teammate.

I have to disagree with you, RD seemed upset in general. Without actually being in the man's shoes, we don't know what he was upset about. I'm sure the FA thing didn't help but LH's actions started the whole thing.

No FA's head is no smaller than LH's but FA is a two time champ. LH is not.

 

RD has had no problem slamming other drivers in the past (Michael Andretti & JPM) and showing his displeasure with FA, then why not LH? As for AP and AS, I honestly can't remember if he did or not, it was too long ago and I don't archive F1 races or seasons. However, I seem to recall RD making a comment about AP's claim about AS getting the better equipment and support from the team, I remember RD dismissing the claim and said something like, if AP wants to be the undisputed team leader, then he should win more races, be ahead on points and simply be faster and better than AS. Hard to argue with RD, but we all know that it is easier to say than done.

 

Heidfeld is not "top draw"??? I dunno what you mean but Heidfeld is a great driver. EASILY better than 95% of the field. I think he's as good as Button, and definitely better than Webber, Massa, Barrichello, Heiki, Fisi, and most of the rest of the field. Heidfeld is the kind of guy that ought to be in the 2nd Ferrari seat. Him or someone like Rosberg, Kubica, Button, etc.

 

+1

 

He only slammed Andretti after his disasterous season and many incidents. During the season he was supportive. Same with JPM, his negative comments were towards the end of his run as well. This is as far as I know LH's first indiscresion. Ron Dennis stayed out of the Prost / Senna deal for the most part. When he did step in it was to protect his teams integrity. Also it was a different time, pre-internet and stuff. Information took longer those days so there weren't as many rumors flying around back then.

 

Sorry about having to reply back to you in two parts, I didn't want to disrespect your views and your post by doing a sloppy job in replying back to you.

Team order is team order, it is either there or it is not there, regardless if it was during testing, practice, qualifying, racing or even bathroom breaks or whenever. Team order is also never been "fair", as it always asks someone to sarcrafice for the better of the team or his/her teammate. RD telling LH what to do is no different than JT telling RB what to do. JT is RB's boss and, by your own logic as well, that's the end of it. The nature of the beast remain the same, just in a different light, or rather, in different colors as in silver & black instead of the famed scarlet red. You can't honestly think and tell me that if both title races are a little closer with only 1 or 2 races left in the season, still with FA/LH/McLaren leading but with KR/FM/Ferrari being only a couple points apart in both WDC and WCC points, RD will not impose a team order during races in fear that his drivers risk taking each other out. AP and AS were allow to race each other only because there was no other serious threat, in 1987, 1988 and 1989.

Schumacher and Ferrari's approach has always been the same in the MS era, as long as there is a chance mathmatically of competiting, you do not give up on the title races. This same principle is also applied when they are leading, as long as there is a mathmatical chance of losing the titles, you don't let up. I agree and do not fault Ferrari or Schumacher for this approach, as I am and always will be a team first, driver second type of fan, and I strongly suspect that I am not the only one, not only here but also around the world. As for this approach making the season boring, blame FIA for it, not Ferrari or MS. The current point system was created to avoid having Ferrari/MS running away with the titles, but at the same time, it also makes catching up very difficult, unless the leading team or driver suffers a DNF, which is exactly what FIA was counting on, the DNFs, hence today's engine rules. What FIA didn't count on was the reliabilities of the F2002 and F2004, and also the shear brilliantness of today's engineers.

 

Andretti, JPM, AP & AS also didn't tell RD to "**** off" openly and on air either, at least not to my knowledge. Either RD has mellowed out due to his age or he treats LH differently as he does with any other McLaren drivers, either in the past or present. I think you and most of the people will agree that LH-RD relationship is not just a typical F1 boss-driver type but more of a father-son relationship.

 

Just saw this and find it very interesting. http://www.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/070808165019.shtml

FA was suppose to go to Ferrari, who knew?!

 

You are correct in saying a team order is a team order. There is however, a bit of a difference between a team order in qualifying and in the race. Before the MS era at Ferrari, team orders were generally at the end of the season with the title on the line. This year will be no different if it comes down to this, team orders make sense in that circumstance. Most other teams operate this way, including Ferrari now. The driver that is ahead in points going into the last few races gets the preferred strategy and equipment. MS had team orders from the first race of the season.

2002 and 2004 didn't have to be so boring if Ferrari had let RB race MS when RB was the quicker driver. Ferrari wasn't under any threat then either.

 

We don't know what was said on the radio during the AP/AS years. Team radios weren't broadcast back then, as they are now. I believe the first time a McLaren team radio conversation was 1991 in Brazil when Senna won. McLaren flipped out when they heard that the team communications were broadcast (Senna screaming that he couldn't believe it and crying on his victory lap) and started, with help from Kenwood, scrambling thier radios. I'm not 100 percent sure but the FIA might have banned teams scrambling thier radios. Who knows what the heck was said between JPM and RD after indy in 06. I'm sure it was a colorful converastion though....

 

I think that if Alonso really came calling, and if Ferrari wasn't contractually obligated to it's two drivers, Todt and Alonso would find a way to forget 01 and make it happen. It would have been something to see Alonso VS MS in equal cars but that situation probably would have ended badly.

 

FYI, team orders were once even more dramatic than now...in fact, in the past when the #1 driver had a car problem, the #2 driver would actually be required to get out of his car mid-race and let the #1 driver get in to finish the race. Even the Schmucker-cheater never did that...

 

I'm not so sure Ferrari would want someone like Alonso after so many years with Schumacher. MS may have often been ruthless with the opposition, but he never bad mouthed the team or pointed fingers at them. His words were always directed towards accentuating the positives and motivating the team to do better. Alonso has shown, both at Renault and now at McLaren, that if things aren't going his way he will blame the team publicly, regardless of what that does for team morale.

 

I know. Good thing those rules are now pretty much banned.