Now that Alonso has been penalised by the FIA for the delay of Hamilton in qualifying today, what do you think will be his future with McLaren? Could this also all be a stunt by McLaren to take attention off the "Stepneygate" scandal?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6929333.stm
2007-08-04 12:40:56 · 11 answers · asked by Ronnieboy34 3 in Sports ➔ Auto Racing ➔ Formula One
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61370
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61371
2007-08-04 12:54:16 · update #1
I agree with and respect the FIA's decision. Both Fernando Alonso and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes deserved severe punishment.
I may be a McLaren fan (or fanatic) but folks, I am all for the prestige of Formula One. You make mistakes, even if it was my team, you pay for it.
This is a very dark situation for McLaren and more so dark in terms of the espionage crisis.
I don't know what will happen in the FIA Court of Appeals but eitherway, Hungary was McLaren's best chance for getting Constructors points and distance themselves pointwise from Ferrari. Well, that is doomed now.
The image of the team as a discplined and a honest group of people has been severely tainted. This is very dangerous as the media will exploit this...what if McLaren get's a race(s) ban or stripped of Constructors points in Paris? Now public opinion will sway in favor of Ferrari.
Damn this has to happen. Damn it has to happen to my team. Damn the greedy Spaniard...Damn them all. I cannot believe this is happening.
I don't think Alonso will leave McLaren but he better get his act together. Also, I don't think this was a stunt...no sane person would bathe themself with dirty water to wash dirt from their bodies. Thanks to Alonso, McLaren will pay the price. And thanks to McLaren's behavior...they will pay the price for trying to cover up Alonso's dirtywork.
Ron tried to preserve the 1-2 grid positions and now he payed for it. And his and the team's image is tainted very badly. The press is all set to crucify McLaren this month...with (who knows?) a bad ending in Paris.
I can only look forward to next year or the year after that.
2007-08-04 20:44:37 · answer #1 · answered by Marc McLaren 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
McLaren- more specifically Ron Dennis, usually have something up their sleeves. I don't think that the move Alonso made on Lewis was planned though because they wouldn't risk the chance for them to win races or qualify first and second respectively on the grid.
Alonso will probably be retained by McLaren but HE is the one who seems to want to leave because he 'feels uncomfortable' and has (or had) some issues with Lewis Hamilton. Anyway, Alonso deserved what he got.
2007-08-04 21:58:31 · answer #2 · answered by , 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It just makes a tension filled relationship between Alonso and Hamilton that much more strained. In my opinion Alonso did it intentionally. When the lollipop is raised the driver is supposed to go. They did the stop before that right when the chief mechanic counted Alonso down before he let him go. Alonso knew that Hamilton was quicker than him and would probably get pole.
However Ron Dennis and the rest of the team bears some responsibility as well. When Alonso didn't move after the lollipop was raised, none of the mechanics looked panicked. Then after the session was over, Ron immediately went around and looked like he was making sure that everybody had their story straight for the press when asked.
2007-08-04 17:02:15 · answer #3 · answered by Brad T 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This will have no impact on Alonso's future with the team. Furthermore no way was it a deliberate stunt on the part of McLaren.
Alonso was basically a selfish bastard, on a par with Michael's stunt in Monaco last year, but any champion will do as much as he can get away with in order to beat his teammate or other rival. Alonso, however, miscalculated the reaction of stewards probably forgetting what happened at Monaco to Michael.
The other interesting aspect of this is the fact that Alonso felt it necessary to do this. He obviously was less than confident that he would be able to beat Hamilton on the track, so he had to find another way to do it.
It may seem unfair to take points off the team for actions of the driver, but the team were basically lying when saying that the holdup, including the extra 10 seconds that Alonso was voluntarily stationary, was due to traffic. While it may have been considered somewhat admirable for them to try to cover Alonso, mucking around the stewards was probably a bad idea, and they deserve their penalty for that reason.
By the way, 1023vw, I find your holding up Ferrari as a paragon of equal treatment incredibly ironic.
2007-08-04 15:38:28 · answer #4 · answered by GCB-TO 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, this stint was in no way to get the media away from the scandal however, I do find Fernando accountable for his actions; he did wait for the 20 seconds that they told him to and for some dumb reason, he waited in additional 10 seconds for no reason! He should be lucky that he didn't get a more severe penalty, but I agree that it's unfair to remove the whole team from earning constructors points! It's the drivers fault therefore only the driver should be punished, not the whole team! This is also gonna effect Lewis as well; if he performs well, it doesn't even matter, he won't earn anything for the team which is bad! I became a fan of the team this year, but I'm starting to rethink my team favorite! I never expected Fernando to pull a 'Michael Schumacher' at all! I seriously thought he was better than him, but now, he's becoming him and I don't like that one bit!!!
2007-08-04 13:32:05 · answer #5 · answered by f1angel 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hahaha I'm loving this. I dislike both Alonso & Hamilton. So my take is - Just sit back and watch the fun!
But this will definitely push Alonso to the edge and seriously think about leaving McLaren
2007-08-04 20:18:26 · answer #6 · answered by Schumi the King 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i don't think this was a stunt to draw us away from the spy saga. i think its a bit unfair to say McLaren can't take any constructors points. that seems to me that Lewis is being punished too. i am expecting Alonso to be right on one tomorrow, we could see some antics. if he can't get passed Kimi then i just have a feeling we will see some 'racing incidents' happen. either that or Alonso will be trying too hard and will go grass tracking again.
2007-08-04 12:53:30 · answer #7 · answered by val f1 nutter 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mclaren is bad at treating both alonso and hamilton equally. before this incident, alonso complained of preferential treatment towards hamilton. now what?? can't they just be like ferrari. both massa and raikkonen get the same treatment. despite raikkonen being behind in the championship and being the newer driver in ferrari.
2007-08-04 14:49:37 · answer #8 · answered by 1023vw 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It became intentional yet Alonso claims that he had a cockroach caught between his tooth LOL Ron could the two sack him, make him provide thank you to Lewis on the beginning up or make him spend double the style of seconds in the pits on his first stop. although, Alonso has publicly blamed his Pit group for containing him, even nevertheless 10s of hundreds of thousands human beings observed his Pit group waving at him to pass. hence, i wish the Pit group get revenge and p*ss in his gas tank, this night besides as refuse to grant him the two gas and tyres at anybody Pit stop.
2016-11-11 05:55:29 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It'll only further tarnish McLaren's image. Afterall, once this race is over, all off this will be a history. But the espionage case will go on.
2007-08-04 21:32:58 · answer #10 · answered by Hornet One 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋