agdamis

As an Alonso fan, I hope this thread bites me in the future, but to leave Ferrari, despite their struggles and go to McLaren which is a total crap shoot was a mistake of biblical magnitude. I hope I am wrong but it is looking like history will remember him as the "guy did not get it done" and Vettel, who in the current lineup of drivers is at best fourth in talent, will go down as one of the best drivers of all time with potentially a coveted future driver championship for Ferrari.

My993C2

Fernando seemed upbeat in the post race interview I saw him in. But you know inside this must be killing him as Ferrari has definitely delivered a competitive car this season. It wasn't only Vettel who drove well. Despite his problems in being caught in traffic in a wet Q2 session which caused his out of position 11th on the grid starting position, which resulted in being involved in an incident puncturing his tire and sending him to the back of the field. on the 2nd lap Raikkonen had an outstanding race to finish 4th and would have either been 1st or at the very least 2nd in the race had he not had his troubles.

RallyeChris

If Alonso was still with the Scuderia, they would still be floundering in mid-pack. Alonso was the bottleneck the whole time. Only after his departure was the team able to move forward. Kimi/Allison carrying-on as they did at Lotus. Vettel also making positive contributions. It's a very different team than it was 12 months ago. Look out, Merc!

PPo

I can't agree with you... Alonso knows this is a development year, so he is positive about the developments.

Honda and McLaren know how to win... I doubt Honda is pouring so much money to be a back marker for multiple years, and this is the worst McLaren performance I can remember (since the 80s!!).

I am not a Honda fan at all, I respect McLaren... I think Ron Dennis is an arrogant *****. However, they will be back and fighting for podiums very soon. Not this year, but next year they will podium with Alonso at the wheel at least once.

LuigiVampa

Alonso might have known it was a development year for McLaren/Honda but I don't think he would have left Ferrari if he felt they could have delivered a winning car.

Alonso managed to do exactly the opposite of what Hamilton did.

What would Kimi's race have looked like without the puncture?

consolidated

What does not bode well for the McHonda is that based on lap times, their 2015 car would have been as uncompetitive had it started the same race in 2014. So the extra year of observation and R&D so far shows no advantage.

The yet to be seen promise of the McLaren is that their technology strategy will give them a higher potential performance ceiling than everyone else, even Mercedes...once it's all working properly.

But who knows what the ceiling of Mercedes, and after this weekend Ferrari really is? Scuderia made an enormous step this year. They were hoping to just take the fight to Williams or RB for second in WCC.

Larry Herman

It's hard to say if Alonso would have had the same results this year as Vettel has. There is a different chemistry, and a different style car to drive. I also cannot say that he has made a supreme mistake as none of us really know how much McLaren is throttling back the Honda motor at the moment. If he is unhappy about his move and uncertain about the car, he is not saying ANYTHING, and that is very uncharacteristic of Alonso. This is why I think that we don't know the whole story here...yet.

agdamis

Guys - a few points for all those ready to attack Freddy

Ferrari was begging him to stay and were in the process of making all these changes.

The window of engine development opened post his departure and that is where the car is making it's huge strides so would have Freddy performed the way Kimi and Seb are ABSOLUTELY! Any good driver would.

He wanted to retire from Ferrari but ultimately could no longer stand a car that was constantly one step behind. Once the rules changed and the power plants were supposed to be locked for two years he jumped then the rules changed.

I openly criticized this decision and still do. Ferrari was ultimately going to get it right even if they had to pour half of Italy's GDP to get it right. They only team he should have left for was Mercedes.

Lastly, Mercedes may have an open seat in 2016, he should have given Ferrari one more year and then jumped.

He is not complaining because he has matured and knows that another team fight won't get him anywhere but I am positive watching Seb win in the scarlet car destroyed him inside, it did me and I am just a fan.

If had even one championship for Ferrari he would have been always remembered as a great now he will be in the shadow of Seb.

f8vr993

What some people said already. He's in for the future not this year. Same was true for Vettel...
My only concern is would HONDA end up being Renault like or MB at the end of 2016?

agdamis

Respectfully people keep talking about the future and the long term as if he is 22, he would be lucky to get 5 more years.

consolidated

Indeed, and the young driver talent pool is very deep and ready to be in top cars. Verstappen, Kvyat, Bottas, Sainz...

Rob in VA

Remember that his teammate Jenson isn't a slouch either. They need a reliable car first, then a fast one.

I'm glad to see Mercedes get some competition.

multi21

I've changed my opinion a bit on Alonso. Even the Alonso detractors would agree that he is an exceptional racer and proven that more times than not year after year in machinery that is subpar. In fact, the reason I rate him WAY ABOVE Hamilton is because Alonso has had the best car under him a handful of times in his career and Hamilton has only had a bad car only once in his career.

Granted Hamilton has only changed teams once and Alonso has several times, which leads me to believe Alonso has surrounded himself with bad decision makers, primarily his manager Flava Flav Briatore and to a lesser extent his physio who, based on the Spanish TV documentary of his last race with Ferrari, seems to have an extraordinary influence on FA life than a conditioning and nutrition guy should.

I can't help but think back to the time when he blocked Hamilton in the pits during qualifying in Hungary 2007 that it was he and his physio that were front and center on that. Crashgate was orchestrated by Flavio Briatore, but carried out by Alonso. Spygate, the decision to go back to McLaren for the 2nd time when they don't have a proven engine. etc. etc. etc. The decisions he has made during his career are staggering when you add up all the bad moves and that's why I say that he has surrounded himself with what I believe to be bad advisors.

cretinx

This is so wrong . . . . Alonso is arguably the best driver on the grid; he was saddled with a terrible car last year and a car that can't even finish a race this year.

RallyeChris

Look closely at Alonso's history. He has a magical ability to turn teams to ****. Is he a great driver? Yes. But he can not help make a team better. Who was faster this past weekend in the McHonda? Oh, that would be Jenson.