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[Nicktendo86]

Alonso chickening out? Are you having a laugh? Ferrari are nowhere and someone as good as him wants to be in a winning car. Sure, he has shown in the past he wants to be numero uno in a team but he clearly is now as he has Kimi beaten so easily.

 

[Hammer24]

And writing to Ferrari doesn't confirm that it was his decision. How many people you know have been asked to submit their resignation?

That's not how it works with drivers in F1.
And even if that had been the case - knowing ALO he´d raised a big stink. With his managers extremely close ties to Spanish media, we´d be reading how much FER sucks now for weeks.
Nope, it was his decision. And probably a mix of losing #1 status, having a mediocre car, and Honda showing him the love and big money he craves.

 

[NHale]

Alonso chickening out? Are you having a laugh? Ferrari are nowhere and someone as good as him wants to be in a winning car. Sure, he has shown in the past he wants to be numero uno in a team but he clearly is now as he has Kimi beaten so easily.

Well if this year proves anything is that you don't need a contractual #1 driver clause to be a #1 driver. Sometimes that just happens naturally.

That's not how it works with drivers in F1.
And even if that had been the case - knowing ALO he´d raised a big stink. With his managers extremely close ties to Spanish media, we´d be reading how much FER sucks now for weeks.
Nope, it was his decision. And probably a mix of losing #1 status, having a mediocre car, and Honda showing him the love and big money he craves.

Some of that happened. But at the same time is very well known that Alonso tried to get a Mercedes/RBR deal last year, so it's not like he was just happy staying at Ferrari. This looks like the best of both worlds for everyone involved: Alonso gets out of a team that he doesn't believe anymore, Ferrari gets the driver they wanted for years and Vettel avoids the shame of being a 4 WDC title winner beaten like a puppet 2 years in a row by a teammate.

This was always going to happen but what happened at RBR this year made it happen 1 year earlier. Vettel was never going to Ferrari if Alonso was still there, RBR isn't the dominant car anymore, Newey left, Promodrou left, Ricciardo has won the teammate battle so far, so he decided to jump out of the sinking ship before it was too late. Ferrari will always be Ferrari. RBR nobody knows if they will still be in F1 in 2020.

 

[brotkasten]

Hey Hammer, where is my Kimi / Bianchi pairing for 2015?

I've been gone for a long time, but lurk here and there. So is MJ the new Omiee?

At first I wanted to say that he isn't that bad, but after the last few posts it looks like he has gone full Omiee. Such a shame.

 

[Hammer24]

snip

Yep, exactly.
Oh, and did you hear/read Dr. Marko´s latest interview? Went exactly like we discussed.

 

[Juz]

Damn just saw the Seb to Ferrari news

 

[duckroll]

I missed qualifying, but it looks like driver movements are more interesting than qualifying results today! Woo!

 

[TCRS]

just finished quali. vettel getting schooled again lolol. alonso #fifthforever.

fucking love this track.

 

[Myoclonic Jerk]

That's not how it works with drivers in F1.
And even if that had been the case - knowing ALO he´d raised a big stink. With his managers extremely close ties to Spanish media, we´d be reading how much FER sucks now for weeks.
Nope, it was his decision. And probably a mix of losing #1 status, having a mediocre car, and Honda showing him the love and big money he craves.

That actually makes more sense than my assumptions..

Ah well, I hope he gets into macca and they get a good car. As much as I hate him, he truly deserves at least one more WDC

 

[Myoclonic Jerk]

Hey Hammer, where is my Kimi / Bianchi pairing for 2015?



At first I wanted to say that he isn't that bad, but after the last few posts it looks like he has gone full Omiee. Such a shame.

Who's Omiee? And why is it a shame? Lol.. Is it that bad to be a kimi fan and an Alonso hater?

 

[TCRS]

Good article on the whole Vettel and Alonso situation:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/29487931

In some ways, the numbers mean nothing. The consistent excellence of Alonso's performances over the years - his speed, his repeatedly breathtaking overtaking moves, his sheer, bloody-minded relentlessness, his forcing of uncompetitive cars into places they don't belong - has long since rendered irrelevant the statistical disparities between his career and, say, Vettel's.

But in other ways, especially to Alonso himself, the statistics mean a lot.

It is the fact that his hero Ayrton Senna won three championships that makes the number so important to him, so it is fitting that it is to the team with which Senna achieved his greatest success that Alonso now turns to achieve his own aim.

 

[DD]

Soo, Sky or BBC for JB next year?

Super Formula, so he can stay close to Jessica all the time. :'D

I don't want to see him leaving. ;(

 

[DrM]

Looks like weather could allow race tomorrow, with more rain in the morning and less in afternoon (with another portion in the evening). Rain should be moderate and not very heavy.

If they are like our meteo guys, they will be drowning tomorrow in Suzuka

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Looks like weather could allow race tomorrow, with more rain in the morning and less in afternoon (with another portion in the evening). Rain should be moderate and not very heavy.

If they are like our meteo guys, they will be drowning tomorrow in Suzuka

Is the start time as normal? Trying to decide how much time to tack onto my DVR. I already set it to an hour extra.

 

[kirby2096]

That BBC intro for the qualifying repeat was great. HAM and ROS fighting it out as avatars in various retro video games, I loved the part with Mortal Kombat when HAM does the underuppercut.

 

[Wax Free Vanilla]

What's up with Hulk recently? Not really been all that impressive.

He's lost his drive and is on his way out of F1? Eddie mentioned that he could be off to the WEC.

 

[Juicy Bob]

The thing with Alonso is, even if he ends up with only two titles, he will forever go down as one of the best and be hailed as the man who deserved more championships than he ever got.

He's lost his drive and is on his way out of F1? Eddie mentioned that he could be off to the WEC.

EJ seemed fairly convinced that Hulk and Checo were being retained by Force India next year.

 

[Wax Free Vanilla]

EJ seemed fairly convinced that Hulk and Checo were being retained by Force India next year.

He can't have been that convinced if he said this WEC thing, then the rumour of Gutty moving to FI next year that popped some weeks ago coupled with his loss of performance = something must be up.

The Hulk and Jense out while jokes like Kimi and Gutty remain is just wrong.

 

[Alebelly]

Alonso's options are limited no matter what he thinks, most likely he's already got a ride and is just going through all the negotiation tactics he feels are necessary to satiate his ego

It would be crazy if it gets announced that both Vettel and Alonso are at Mclaren

But Horner did already mention Vettel and Ferrari

(How truly great can a driver be considered if to win a championship all one must do is pass Vitaly Petrov)

 

[theignoramus]

Why? It would have been a brave step a year ago, now it just looks like he's jumping ship after one not so great season.

Red Bull still has the second or third best car on the grid and will probably be even better next season. They are a regular podium contender, Ferrari is manifestly not.

 

[Zeppu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPQkYxxftfU

:lol

 

[Kyougar]

The thing with Alonso is, even if he ends up with only two titles, he will forever go down as one of the best and be hailed as the man who deserved more championships than he ever got.

If Vettel does a Schumi and can bring ferrari a championship (either driver championship or constructor championship), than Alonso will be remembered as the One who DIDNT do it.

Alonso switched to Ferrari to become a Legend. He failed at that. His entire legacy will be judged on the fact that he couldnt tame the horse, that is Ferrari. He can only hope, that Seb doesnt win a championship with Ferrari. How his entire past and future carreer is looked upon is not dependend on him, its on Seb. If he wins a Championship with Ferrari, Alonso would be the one who failed. Thats... a little sad.

Because, as we all know. Championships mean nothing if you didnt do it at least once with a Ferrari. (something that was slapped in the face of Vettel for the last 4 championship years)

And Vettel has a good shot to do a Schumi with Ferrari. He has the restructured Ferrari (hopefully he can bring more good people like schumi did and has more freedom) and is someone who can work on and improve the Car. Unlike Alonso, who needed a winning car, despite his extreme Talent as a driver. He just cant improve the car, something that is a must have, to win in a Ferrari.

 

[hadareud]

Because, as we all know. Championships mean nothing if you didnt do it at least once with a Ferrari. (something that was slapped in the face of Vettel for the last 4 championship years)

Didn't hurt Senna. Nor Prost. Nor several others.

What was "slapped" in Vettel's face was that he won in an uber dominant team and that he had to prove himself somewhere else before he could be considered a great. It had fuck all to do with Ferrari.

The Ferrari "myth" is so overrated, it's not even funny. It's self fulfilling. If you call yourself legendary for long enough, people will eventually start believing the bullshit you're feeding them.

 

[Ark]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPQkYxxftfU

:lol

Hahahaha. Brilliant.

 

[Myoclonic Jerk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPQkYxxftfU

:lol

MASSIVE LOL.. "come to Ferrari"!!! WahahahahH

 

[kiyomi]

So no chance of the race being moved in the schedule?

Enjoy your ~55 laps of Safety Car guys.

 

[Addnan]

So no chance of the race being moved in the schedule?

Enjoy your ~55 laps of Safety Car guys.

2 laps and then half points. Think I read that somewhere, could be completely wrong. Thought a certain number of laps needed for half points.

 

[Topi]

MASSIVE LOL.. "come to Ferrari"!!! WahahahahH

What does he mean though? Why does he say 'come to Ferrari' when he's not going to be there anymore?

 

[Mastah]

Andrew Benson ‏@andrewbensonf1 59m59 minutes ago

Gushing praise for Alonso from Rob Smedley: "Fernando is the very best driver of his generation. I am a massive fan of his..." "I would go so far as to say if not (the best) ever. He is that good. He brings that much performance to the team"

But yeah, Vettel will change Ferrari into winners with his "it doesn't suit my style".

 

[Draconian]

2 laps and then half points. Think I read that somewhere, could be completely wrong. Thought a certain number of laps needed for half points.

What a joke.

 

[kiyomi]

2 laps and then half points. Think I read that somewhere, could be completely wrong. Thought a certain number of laps needed for half points.

Yeah, I was being facetious. We're not gonna get a race because F1.

 

[Massa]

Button won his title thanks to Honda bailing out of the sport, now he's losing his seat thanks to Honda coming back.

 

[Psychotext]

Didn't get a chance to watch quali. Was Vettel just slow or did he screw up somewhere?

 

[Addnan]

Didn't get a chance to watch quali. Was Vettel just slow or did he screw up somewhere?

He had to correct in the hairpin before spoon corner which lost him a bit of time.

 

[Psychotext]

Cheers.

 

[DrM]

Is the start time as normal? Trying to decide how much time to tack onto my DVR. I already set it to an hour extra.

Yeah, start is at 3 pm local time, as it was planned all along

 

[marvelharvey]

13 hours until lights out, here's the latest weather forecast:

Pretty rainy as expected, but the wind speed will sure make the aero interesting:

 

[Fantomex]

Questions. Why did Honda leave?

 

[Risgroo]

Super Formula, so he can stay close to Jessica all the time. :'D

I don't want to see him leaving. ;(

Shit, I totally forgot about Jessica! Someone hire Jenson pls, Sutil's GF isn't enough.

Spoiler

WHAT IF SUTIL RETIRES AS WELL

Questions. Why did Honda leave?

They'd spent a fortune on their F1 team without any results, and the financial crisis hit them hard, so I guess they couldn't justify the expense.

 

[kharma45]

Questions. Why did Honda leave?

Money. They deemed it an expense not worth having when things went tits up in 2008.

 

[ramparter]

I wish they had brought the start one hour earlier, have to leave at before 4pm race time. But it will probably be a boring race behind SC anyway...

 

[Osiris]

Questions. Why did Honda leave?

F1 teams are expensive
Works F1 Teams are a whole other level of expensive.

Poorly performing works teams tend to bow out quicker than smaller, non-works teams if they don't achieve front of the grid competitiveness, i.e. BMW, Renault, Toyota, Honda.

 

[Fantomex]

That's what I figured. Thanks fellas.

 

[DrM]

If weather turns to worse tomorrow evening, teams will have quite a feat to get their equipment from Suzuka to Sochi in right time.

 

[Dilly]

Haha, what a guy.

 

[Aiii]

So I have been watching old FIA year review recaps, specifically 1994 and 1995 today. I really miss that cars would exit with technical issues, most races barely had ten drivers make it to the finish, with people either ending knee deep in sand after spinning off the track or retiring with blown engines and what not. It really added an element of unpredictability, even a dominant number one could see his race ended at any time.

Add to that the fuckload of stop-and-go penalties for false starts, race restarts due to first corner massacre crashes, full race banning for all kinds of reasons and every race being a surprise because teams would revamp their engine or gearbox and aerodynamics and suddenly be at the front due to that.

F1 really lost out with cost reductions, season test ban, engine freezing, homogenized parts... What a shame, really.

 

[Tubie]

Alonso to McLaren makes no sense, his chances at a decent car there will be the same as if he stayed at Ferrari (really low).

Outside of Mercedes, his best bet would be Red Bull. If only for the money they are willing to throw at cars.

 

[TCRS]

Haha, what a guy.

lol wth is he doing.

 

[Norwegian Rudo]

So I have been watching old FIA year review recaps, specifically 1994 and 1995 today. I really miss that cars would exit with technical issues, most races barely had ten drivers make it to the finish, with people either ending knee deep in sand after spinning off the track or retiring with blown engines and what not.

That's an exaggeration. Yes, the early season races had a ton of DNFs, but by midseason you usually had most cars finishing.

 

[TCRS]

you know I always wondered why Alonso was so happy during the last couple of races, always smiling during interviews etc. I thought it's because he has already given up and just doesn't care anymore. I was sort of right: he had given up with Ferrari and was happy that he is leaving.