perfectlap

You could not be more wrong if you tried.

First of all I'm no Alonso fan. But your comments are comical.
In Alonso's very first Jaguar test he set the lap record in a car that was absolute rubbish. Since then he has won two championships against a 7x's World Champion and perhaps the greatest Ferrari Team ever assembled. Lewis Hamilton recently called him flat out the driver with the most talent. I'm no believer in the theory that a driver can by virtue of his stellar feedback, can turn a car from a mid pack into a race-winner. F1 doesn't work like that anymore. 99.99% of the work is done in the wind tunnel or at the engine blackboard. But Alonso clearly showed before leaving that if the car was capable of a win he could deliver the prize. If the car was only capable a 5th place finish, he could get it across the line in fifth. Vettel won because Merc blew the tire selection, Alonso would have won by 30 seconds instead of 10 in that last stint.
When it comes to operation at the top 0.001% of pace, he is still by far the most consistent driver in F1.

And SV may be on his best behavior now, but let's check in on him in three months when Kimi is free of the focus on Alonso and driving the wheels off the red car. As far as drama and getting on with with it, there could not be two more different drivers than Kimi and Vettel. SB was quiet the prima dona once he was made to look ordinary by Ricciardo. I doubt he'll be doing that again because Ferrari may be his last shot at becoming a #1 driver but you never know.

As for Alonso, he's not the first driver to foolishly fall for the Ron Dennis bla bla bla. That team has been the most under performing on a dollar basis of the top five in F1. They've lost every top driver that they've had to a rival, a sabbatical or even NASCAR. They don't even have the sense to renew Button's contract without giving him a existential depression. Alonso what were you thinking...if Ferrari sucks in a given year at least you get to drive all the new Ferrari road cars and mangia a lot of delicious pasta. At McLaren? terrible British food with Ron Dennis.

RallyeChris

I am only displaying factual data. You are spewing opinion and what-if theory. The fact is that every team Alonso has joined went backwards after 2 seasons. Give Alonso a good car and he will get you wins, maybe even a championship. But if the car goes in the wrong direction, look out. He will not see the team through and improve the package or team.

Regarding your opinion about drivers influencing car development, you are completely wrong. Because there isn't testing like there used to be, every session on-track is a test session. The driver's feedback it that much more critical. Alonso can not develop a car or elevate a team in need. Fact.

agdamis

Chris give it up man. Alonso may have made bad career decisions, which is the premise of this thread but to say he blows up teams is not factual

Ray S

Pete, we've all had bad advice from time to time and good advice from time to time. What separates the men from the boys is the decisions we make. Bad advice or not the final call was always his.

Alonso has million dollar talent along with a $.02 cent head.....

f8vr993

Guys, what other choice did Alonso have?
Stay Ferrari - Team up with Vettel and get crushed...
Go to RBR - He has already been to Renault camp in the past and knows thing or two why he didn't want to go back again...
MB - Had to take a sabbatical. NOT.
McLaren - only choice left as he believes in Ron Dennis & Honda will eventually make this work. Factory engine means a second or two.
Sauber - no one imagine they would survive the winter let alone design a fast car!!!
William - will always carry second tier engine to MB. Enuf said.
Toro Rosso - another junior team with second tier Ferrari engine. Really?!
Lotus - I'm not even going to comment... Feel really bad for Grojean.

George from MD

Alonso has the ethics of Briatore and has gotten exactly what he deserved. He'll never win a world championship again- which is what he wants more than anything. Cheating and lying don't always pay off- even if you can drive well.

LuigiVampa

I know this will be RL heresy but if I had a choice between Alonso and Kimi I would keep Alonso.

Would he have been crushed by Vettel? I don't think so - it would have been a close fight. In the end I think both would be at each other's throats.

agdamis

Stay at Ferrari. Vettel would not have come to Ferrari if Alonso stayed. Even if he did Alonso crushed highly unlikely, close maybe.

Stay at Ferrari and replace Rosberg at MB if the spot opened in 2016.

Otherwise stay at Ferrari and retire from the most prestigious team in F1 with by the look of things a possible shot at the title.

McLaren / Honda have 2 years before they are fighting and Alonso is no spring chicken with a very strong pool of youngsters.

agdamis

Interesting words from Lewis on Alonso

A difficult time for a great rival
When I was sitting next to Sebastian Vettel after the Malaysian Grand Prix, it crossed my mind what Fernando Alonso must have been thinking.

Fernando chose to leave Ferrari at the end of last season to go to McLaren, who are now at the back after a difficult start to their new engine partnership with Honda.

As an F1 driver, these choices are very tough. When you decide where to drive, you never really know how it is going to work out.

I was relating Fernando's situation to mine, when I decided to leave McLaren at the end of 2012 and come to Mercedes.

That worked out well for me. Had I not done that, I would have had a terrible 2013 and I would not have won the title last year.


Alonso ended his five-year relationship with Ferrari to join McLaren this season
Fernando stuck with Ferrari for five years without getting a car in which he could win the title. I don't know what happened between them, but he had obviously had enough and decided to go somewhere else. It's unfortunate for him that the following year the Ferrari car is amazing.

I'm sure his mindset is the same as mine - he wants to win. And if that was me, it would be hard not to think about the consequences of the decision.

For Fernando's sake, I hope he is back battling at the front where he belongs as soon as possible.

I've said many times that I regard him as my fastest and most talented rival - I think he is one of the best drivers F1 has ever seen.

If he was to finish his career without adding to his two world championships, it would be a tragedy, because it would certainly not be due to his driving.

Ray S

It's an interesting question. Alonso has been clearly better than many of his teammates, but then again many of them were clearly not top level F1 talent. The notable exceptions to this being Hamilton who certainly seemed to get the better of Alonso at McLaren, Kimi who it has been widely reported had an intense dislike for the driving characteristics of the previous Ferrari (F14T) and Massa, who is used to playing the second fiddle role.

I do find it interesting that Button has been besting Alonso for the first few races at McLaren Honda.

RallyeChris

Don't worry. Alonso will be kicking-and-screaming behind closed doors now. He has been out-qualified and out-raced by his nearly-sacked teammate. Until the team is instructed to favor Alonso, Jensen will continue to beat him.

I say it will be maybe 2-3 more races until Ron is forced to give Alsonso all of the technical favoritism he needs to beat Jensen. Or, Alsonso will quit using one of the many performance clauses in his contract. The end is neigh for Alonso, and the tears are beginning to fall.

FGL28

Jenson is a better driver when it comes to development.

pontifex4

I have no idea whether this is true or not, but I do like to watch him battle to hold off faster cars. Off topic, but he's good enough at it and Nico is bad enough at it, that I'm not sure Nico could get by Jenson in one lap...

FGL28

Most of his driving history he has been in 2nd tier cars. He has made them more competitive. Ross Brawn designed a fantastic car, but Jenson made the car he used to win the WDC much better. He helped develop the Honda F1 car. So by default he is the better guy. And his lack of ego makes him the better guy.

CCA

You mean the Honda F1 car that performed so badly for so many years that they, Honda, decided to pull out of F1. Yep, he helped develop that, so he must be better.