The McLaren MP4-22

[JayVee]

Yeah and they said the same about the Renault in 2005 and in 2006.

Alonso's era started in 2005 and will last another 5 years at least. He more than anyone or anything else should be credited with ridding us of Michael

Lapping him in Hungary, frustrating him in San Marino, passing him at 130R in Japan and easily overtaking him in the wet in Hungary. Those things play weird things to the brain of a multi-world champion.

Go back a few years and remember that Michael said he will only leave when someone young comes and beats him. Well Alonso did it twice in a row

[jacfan]

First things first

This looks awesome. I was really worried that the red Vodafone would be dominant but that wasn't the case.

I bet it was Alonso's influence that he didn't want too much red on the car

As I mentioned some time ago, if this car is reliable Alonso will win the 3rd title this year
Last year many doubted Alonso to win with an untested V8 and with tyre changes but he did it (and I was right and will be right again )


For sure there are doubters but McLaren have domintated in the past and with Alonso they will do it again.

I would have to agree that McLaren have the potential and with Alonso behind the wheel they should be among the front runners. I wouldn't discount Alonso or McLaren.

[gkaytaz]

Still can't find it...

Not a problem, I understand what they are saying(i think)

He is not going to get there and be fighting for wins straight away.....

I finally got it. It was in Auto Motor & Sport magazine... Anyway... An unnamed Renault official says that despite the fact that McL is at its strongest, financially, with all the changes that happened in the team they will struggle big time in 2007 and Alonso will look back and regret his decision of leaving Renault...

[jacfan]

Interesting. Sometimes money is not the answer.

[gkaytaz]

Now for my opinion:
McLaren will not win the title in 2007. But they will do better than 2006 for sure. It's just that the reliability problems necessitated a few changes in the car and that will keep on being the trend throughout 2007. Alonso is not a guy that easily adapts to those changes. At least not as easily as Schumi. So... McLaren will win a few races but won't be as good as Ferrari. They may be able to pass Renault if Kovalainen's lack of experience causes him to lose some precious points. Fisi is not champion-material anyway. All in all I say Ferrari will win, Renault and McL fighting for the #2 spot.

[gkaytaz]

Yeah and they said the same about the Renault in 2005 and in 2006.

Alonso's era started in 2005 and will last another 5 years at least. He more than anyone or anything else should be credited with ridding us of Michael

Lapping him in Hungary, frustrating him in San Marino, passing him at 130R in Japan and easily overtaking him in the wet in Hungary. Those things play weird things to the brain of a multi-world champion.

Go back a few years and remember that Michael said he will only leave when someone young comes and beats him. Well Alonso did it twice in a row

Alonso has quite a few years ahead of him to perfect his style (barring any unfortunate events). Undoubtedly he's a great driver. Though I still rate him below Senna... but that could change in time. As of now my #1 of all time is Senna, followed by Jim Clark and Schumi. Don't get me wrong, it's not a question whether I support any of these drivers or not. I am just judging them all by skill, speed and technique.

[gkaytaz]

Interesting. Sometimes money is not the answer.

Yeah. Money may not make one happy but it certainly enables a person to look for happiness in more places than usual

[JayVee]

Now for my opinion:
McLaren will not win the title in 2007. But they will do better than 2006 for sure. It's just that the reliability problems necessitated a few changes in the car and that will keep on being the trend throughout 2007. Alonso is not a guy that easily adapts to those changes. At least not as easily as Schumi. So... McLaren will win a few races but won't be as good as Ferrari. They may be able to pass Renault if Kovalainen's lack of experience causes him to lose some precious points. Fisi is not champion-material anyway. All in all I say Ferrari will win, Renault and McL fighting for the #2 spot.

Very logical and may actually happen.

One thing I would like to understand from you (as you do put some thought in your posts), how did you reach the conclusion that Alonso is not a guy that easily adapts to those changes. At least not as easily as Schumi ?
Do you have examples or proof or is this just a feeling ?

[JayVee]

Yeah and they said the same about the Renault in 2005 and in 2006.

Alonso's era started in 2005 and will last another 5 years at least. He more than anyone or anything else should be credited with ridding us of Michael

Lapping him in Hungary, frustrating him in San Marino, passing him at 130R in Japan and easily overtaking him in the wet in Hungary. Those things play weird things to the brain of a multi-world champion.

Go back a few years and remember that Michael said he will only leave when someone young comes and beats him. Well Alonso did it twice in a row

Alonso has quite a few years ahead of him to perfect his style (barring any unfortunate events). Undoubtedly he's a great driver. Though I still rate him below Senna... but that could change in time. As of now my #1 of all time is Senna, followed by Jim Clark and Schumi. Don't get me wrong, it's not a question whether I support any of these drivers or not. I am just judging them all by skill, speed and technique.

I said it before and I will say it again, I don't rate Alonso as a great yet. If he continues to impress for the next few years maybe. Comparing him to Senna, I'll think about that when I consider him a great.

But one thing for sure, Alonso is and has been the best driver out there since 2005. IMHO
And yes I don't consider a driver letting off steam in public as a negative. I actually like to see that in a driver, it makes you realise he is human.
When he made those comments in Monza and then in China, why not, why not let the world know what he thinks.

We don't really want machines driving cars do we ? Or do we now ?

[gkaytaz]

Now for my opinion:
McLaren will not win the title in 2007. But they will do better than 2006 for sure. It's just that the reliability problems necessitated a few changes in the car and that will keep on being the trend throughout 2007. Alonso is not a guy that easily adapts to those changes. At least not as easily as Schumi. So... McLaren will win a few races but won't be as good as Ferrari. They may be able to pass Renault if Kovalainen's lack of experience causes him to lose some precious points. Fisi is not champion-material anyway. All in all I say Ferrari will win, Renault and McL fighting for the #2 spot.

Very logical and may actually happen.

One thing I would like to understand from you (as you do put some thought in your posts), how did you reach the conclusion that Alonso is not a guy that easily adapts to those changes. At least not as easily as Schumi ?
Do you have examples or proof or is this just a feeling ?

It's a combination really. I have read a couple of articles in the F1 Racing mag in the past regarding this very subject. Then there had been that mass damper incident. Alonso managed to get his bearings in a couple of races but I think the main problem is not his ability to adapt. It's more of a morale thing. He's a Spaniard, hot blooded... Positive and negative incidents have a larger effect on him compared to Schumi or a few other Northern European fellas. Maybe not as bad as in JPM's case though, which is good Being emotional is not necessarily a bad thing cuz it helped him be faster than Schumi at times. As long as he can curb it when needed that is.

[jacfan]

Interesting. Sometimes money is not the answer.

Yeah. Money may not make one happy but it certainly enables a person to look for happiness in more places than usual

Money in an F1 team or any other sport doesn't instantly solve problems.

[gkaytaz]

Yeah and they said the same about the Renault in 2005 and in 2006.

Alonso's era started in 2005 and will last another 5 years at least. He more than anyone or anything else should be credited with ridding us of Michael

Lapping him in Hungary, frustrating him in San Marino, passing him at 130R in Japan and easily overtaking him in the wet in Hungary. Those things play weird things to the brain of a multi-world champion.

Go back a few years and remember that Michael said he will only leave when someone young comes and beats him. Well Alonso did it twice in a row

Alonso has quite a few years ahead of him to perfect his style (barring any unfortunate events). Undoubtedly he's a great driver. Though I still rate him below Senna... but that could change in time. As of now my #1 of all time is Senna, followed by Jim Clark and Schumi. Don't get me wrong, it's not a question whether I support any of these drivers or not. I am just judging them all by skill, speed and technique.

I said it before and I will say it again, I don't rate Alonso as a great yet. If he continues to impress for the next few years maybe. Comparing him to Senna, I'll think about that when I consider him a great.

But one thing for sure, Alonso is and has been the best driver out there since 2005. IMHO
And yes I don't consider a driver letting off steam in public as a negative. I actually like to see that in a driver, it makes you realise he is human.
When he made those comments in Monza and then in China, why not, why not let the world know what he thinks.

We don't really want machines driving cars do we ? Or do we now ?

Nope, definitely no machines. I am totally okay with a driver commenting on other people and things as long as they don't pull a Scott Speed.

As for rating the drivers... I rate Alonso among the greats. Just like I rate Senna, Schumi, Clark, Fangio or a few others. He has deserved that much scoring two championships in a row. The fact that despite being one of the fastest and still having room to improve makes him a great racer in my opinion.

[gkaytaz]

Interesting. Sometimes money is not the answer.

Yeah. Money may not make one happy but it certainly enables a person to look for happiness in more places than usual

Money in an F1 team or any other sport doesn't instantly solve problems.

No. It does not. However it is a pretty good start

[<T-K>]

its a merc it will fall apart on the first race and it will be alonso's.

it looks like a rusty nail.

This will be a fun season...

[Southernman]

I've gone for option two. Alonso can win a few races but I have doubts that Hamilton as good as some of the press make him out to be.

At least I say who I vote for.