The Spaniard’s talent deserves a faster car for 2009
Put yourself in Fernando Alonso’s shoes. You’re 26 years old, and in your prime. You’ve already won two world championships; in the process you became the youngest driver ever to become a double champion.
In Alonso’s own mind, now is the time when he should be building his legend, by winning more titles. He is clearly one of the best three F1 drivers out there, arguably better than current champ Kimi Raikkonen or pesky Lewis Hamilton.
But… he’s stuck in a midfield car, the sort of car that only rookies and veterans should be driving. He desperately needs and wants to be in a top car, a Ferrari or McLaren or BMW. Nothing else will do. He deserves to be in such a car, not the Frankenstein’s monster that is the R28. And we, the F1 fans, deserve to see him in a good car.
Alonso is clearly content enough at Renault, comfortable under the wing of mentor Flavio Briatore. He has said that he has “good vibrations” at Renault. If he could just take the whole Renault set-up – i.e. the personnel and the way he’s treated within the team - and combine it with the brilliance of Ferrari or McLaren’s car… that would be ideal for the sensitive Spaniard.
You could argue that a greater driver than Alonso would have stayed at McLaren, purely because they gave him a fast car - never mind that Ron Dennis’s repressed, buttoned-up Englishness didn’t fit with his temperament, or that he was wound up so much by Lewis Hamilton. Part of him must regret leaving a competitive team.
Alonso’s stay at Renault now looks like being a one-year gap year. Asked recently whether he would remain at Renault in 2009, Alonso simply said: “I don’t know.”
It’s believed that Alonso has a clause in his Renault contract that allows him join another team for 2009. Paddock rumours suggest that Ferrari or BMW are the most likely destinations; and indeed, we can’t see him leaving for anyone but those two teams. The only other team he might leave for would be McLaren, but there’s no way that’s going to happen.
Where do you think he’ll end up in 2009?
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3 responses so far
1 jelena // Jun 17, 2008 at 2:07 pm
i dont know….dont think he deserves a good car…he threw away mclaren just because he wasnt the center of attention…he’ll probably do the same again soon in ferrari.
maybe he should be in bmw with kubica…i dont know…
he doesnt act like he’s 26…more like he’s 36…sourpussy
2 ben j // Jun 18, 2008 at 1:02 am
sorry, but there’s no space for him, if you assume that he more or less burned his bridges at mclaren, which I think he did.
ferrari has a solid pair of drivers, one defending the championship and the other capable of winning plenty of races. As much as I want to talk shit about Massa, he’s holding his own AND fitting into the team. Alonso would hold his own on the track, but he’s proven that he’s capable of being a distraction, personality-wise.
BMW probably has a slot, but again, is there really a huge difference between “repressed, buttoned-up Englishness” and driving for a Swiss/German team?
3 Racehound // Jun 22, 2008 at 10:54 am
Of course he should be in a top car!!! He IS the best development driver out there, and regardless of peoples stupid assertions that “He comes with baggage”!! , every team owner in F1 wants him in their car, and that includes McIdiots very own moRon Dennis!!! McIdiots last year should have swept the board with both titles and all, but they bLew it with their team mis-management!! Absolutely disgraceful decisions were made and failed to be made by moRon Dennis in his quest for the extra kudos that would have been heaped upon him had his rookie protege beaten the double world champion to the title in his rookie season!!! Now Dennis is beginning to realise just how stupid he has made himself look now that McIdiots are starting to struggle with the 4/23 without an experienced driver!!! Last years car was a championship winning car, but this years car is certainly nowhere near as dominant! Smart people will draw the right conclusions from that!!! Idiots will just keep trying to put Alonso down fo no real valid reason. We watch racing for the guys doing their job, not because we want to find stupid reasons to criticise or insult them!!! On pure driving ability, almost every team owner really knows Alonso is regarded as the best- it is common knowledge amongst them!