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blackpebel

Fernando Alonso, Testing and Comeback

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D/T 2021.08.25 16:51 CEST

Well, he makes himself a centre of attention.

Quote

"BTV vras nduvrg ddwa," it began. "Eno iw giadt gby awa, Q'z xwptbvrg ewqf mn ndlr!!!!"

Consequently the original tweet became: "BIG news coming soon. And to tease you all, I'm tweeting this in code!!!!"

Can't wait.

Alonso actually made an attempt to ride next to Verstappen, said Dr. Marko.  (Also next to Hamilton, but I doubt Hamilton is interested in that scenario). He could also switch a seat with DR.

McLaren is not happy with DR, and that could go both ways.

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1 hour ago, Sakae said:

McLaren is not happy with DR, and that could go both ways.

That is NOT news, it IS obvious.

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1 hour ago, lipstick79 said:

That is NOT news, it IS obvious.

Inclusion of this note was not meant to be news, as you mistakenly believe. Point is being made, if "big news" Alonso is promising is him changing teams, than for reasons stated, he could perhaps switch with DR. Please read my initial post again, this time slowly, and you find it also in there.

The truth to be said, I am however sceptical McLaren would take him. I am under impression that relationship between the team and this driver is broken. We will have to wait.In terms of upwards mobility this would be however the only team which could realistically open door for him. 

...or...

maybe he is getting married and continue where he is...(I think he is still single)

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2 hours ago, Sakae said:

Inclusion of this note was not meant to be news, as you mistakenly believe. Point is being made, if "big news" Alonso is promising is him changing teams, than for reasons stated, he could perhaps switch with DR. Please read my initial post again, this time slowly, and you find it also in there.

The truth to be said, I am however sceptical McLaren would take him. I am under impression that relationship between the team and this driver is broken. We will have to wait.In terms of upwards mobility this would be however the only team which could realistically open door for him. 

...or...

maybe he is getting married and continue where he is...(I think he is still single)

I'm not familiar with Alonso' contract duration at Alpine.

Is he predicting/teasing an extension at Alpine... or

Like you, I find it hard to believe he will switch back to Mclaren, if he did'nt burn bridges there. Since they are on an upward trajectory, it could really be Big News!!! With Ric struggling, just could be... Remember he does idolize Mclaren. and where does that place Ric.... Alpine, AR or AT?

 

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2 hours ago, Sakae said:

relationship between the team and this driver is broken

Whilst I COULD agree with U.  Peel the onion, Mclaren is NOT the mp4, that Alonso drove 4.
Ron IS gone.  It is NOT the same anymore.
Alonso would NOT bring the no 1 2 the car.  That he did previously - reason 4 his signin
Mclaren HAS also cut ties with the GP2 engine.

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15 hours ago, BradSpeedMan said:

I'm not familiar with Alonso' contract duration at Alpine.

Is he predicting/teasing an extension at Alpine... or

Like you, I find it hard to believe he will switch back to Mclaren, if he did'nt burn bridges there. Since they are on an upward trajectory, it could really be Big News!!! With Ric struggling, just could be... Remember he does idolize Mclaren. and where does that place Ric.... Alpine, AR or AT?

 

Alonso is certainly teasing his sizeable flock with coded messages. (Novel way to stay in headlines.) Perhaps he is really getting married and stays with Alpine after all. 

As a late addition to this post I have to admit to later adoption of same views as some thoughtful folks, that we should not have a twitter at all, medium I believe some drivers are using. I had no opinion about it until recently. Medium such as twitter seems to be destroying fabric and core common sense in us. (I am quoting L. H. Lapham, old school (Yale), and BTW brilliant thinker).

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Alonso can keep racing in F1 with Alpine says CEO

Meanwhile I am slightly worry about forthcoming race. Unless there is significant attrition rate on the first lap involving front teams, this is hardly AM's track to place well in normal race conditions. I do expect both drivers to place in the race outside of top 10.

 

No more secret: Alonso has signed for 1 more year with Alpine  ( D/T 2021.08.26 13:54 CEST )

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2 hours ago, BradSpeedMan said:

.... and with a little whimper

I think Alonso was under consideration to replace Perez. It appears Alpine figured out that offer was only in early MAYBE, thus played their cards right, and forced the issue.

... or is it really a WIN for Alpine? I do actually have my doubts. Alonso should fade off the stage gracefully in his age.

 It's easy to second guess difficult strategic decisions, but I would have choosen DR instead (had he wanted to return), or even better, maybe superb Gasly (or Perez?).

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3 hours ago, Sakae said:

Alonso should fade off the stage gracefully in his age

Age has nothin 2 do with it.
If U R good enough, U R the RIGHT age
Y should Alonso fade off the stage, he IS still marketable.
Brings sponsors & $$$ 
He is NOT languishin at the back, STILL a midfield runner at best.
He has just made some bad career decisions, movin at the WRONG time.
As such, he has NOT been able 2 maximise his potential.

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Alonso and Renault (Now Alpine) signed with hopes that they would both work towards the 2022 project sooner rather than not, so it was a logical plan to continue.

If the reports are true that he was looking for a different seat other than Alpine... That too would have been a sensational move. Alonso in a competitive machinery is fun to look at.

He seems to be bringing all his experience and grit together in his final years to put up a stellar show. Infact, the way he's fighting on the track, seems like it is too early to be talking about him.. 'fading off'

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All the so called "experience" was of no use to anyone this year, until Alpine changed massively his car to match his driving style. I find it it ironic to make of it as positive development, especially when next year they will need to change a car again to new specs and on limited budget. Once he leaves, hard to say for whom they are planning to sell that development, especially when expenditures will be at short supply.

Fact is, contrary to old wife's tales, Alonso is not being able to drive just any car, so much was proven, but he is not alone. I've heard this me-experience-song once before, when a British driver was busy with self-promotion as the indispensable consultant to Honda upon their return, yet that experiment has turned out at the end to be nothing, but expensive crash at great cost to Honda. These aren't anymore normally aspirated engines, and construction of a vehicle is a job for engineers, with peripheral minor changes according to input from a driver. All modern drivers are capable of it, yet if the car is designed from ground up for one driver's style, then that could be an issue for next guy who will take that seat. That happened at Ferrari when Alonso was there.

Alonso is/was a good driver, I am not doubting that, but so are others on sidelines, who are waiting for lack of available seats; call them F1 future, if you will. At his age of 40 one could safely say - he had his chance. IMO, clinging to the past is not making much sense at more than one level. At the end however Alpine is free to spent their money anyway the wish. Good luck to all of them.

  

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4 hours ago, blackpebel said:

If the reports are true that he was looking for a different seat other than Alpine...

Logically he HAS always been lookin, for a different seat other than Alpine.
That seat IS the panacea, currently occupied by Botas.
Redbull R makin the gp2 engine look good with Max - somethin Alonso could NOT do.

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2 hours ago, lipstick79 said:

That seat IS the panacea, currently occupied by Botas.

LOL.. Yeahhh.. that..

2 hours ago, lipstick79 said:

Redbull R makin the gp2 engine look good with Max - somethin Alonso could NOT do.

That's actually a feather in Max's hat.. he is THAT good.

........

This narative that Alonso goes to a team and the car changes for him.. in my opinion, is a very naive outlook on how car development works. Let's be honest 2021 car was NOT by him, Ric and Oco were responsible for it last year. Alonso has mentioned in his interview recently how he prefers the feel of the car to be available to him on his steering, rather than the whole car, and that's the change Alpine was able to accommodate for him this year coupled with the existing philosophy from last year. Plus Ocon and Alonso are both having a good season..

Alpine has benefited a huge amount by having Alonso in the garage, their cost of operations has been the lowest on the grid. He has for most part kept the car on the track which minimized the costing. In that regard too, he seems to be a good asset to a team..

At an age of 40, it can also be assesed that a lot of times situations were unfair to him in a championship battle, and having shown this year that he is still Fast enough to fight for a championship, him sitting in a championship worthy team should be no surprise...

He seeems to me like the guy who works hardest on his fitness to keep up his form up there with the best on the grid, age is just a number..

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‘Tension’ in Alpine garage as Alonso/Ocon duelled

It sounds like the old Alonso is now really back. Nothing new, and it was predictable. The same is common happening wherever he goes.

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12 hours ago, Sakae said:

The same is common happening wherever he goes.

You mean how competitive he is against his team mate wherever he goes, Right?

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Alpine advisor and four-time Formula 1 champion Alain Prost last week said the team needs to be very careful to manage the new dynamic between two-time world champion Alonso and his teammate Esteban Ocon. "You have to be very careful about that, because problems between the drivers can kill you as a team," Prost told Le Figaro.

I think Alain knows what he is talking about, namely disruptive tactics Alonso deploys until he gets his way. This would not be first time paddock is talking about it. I've never doubt Alonso's driving skills. Ocon can learn from him, despite not being slouch himself. Record this year is there for all to see. His annoyance however is with the Alpine team, which is changing car to cater driving characteristics of his teammate, rather than his. We have seen this tendency before in Ferrari, to name just one, when he partnered Kimi. I've said this before, but I am hoping Alpine knows where is their future. 40 years old driver, or something else. Ocon was doing quite well, until Alonso began to advise the team how to change the car. Now Ocon is in trouble, and Alonso is getting better, but at what price? Ocon has no choice, but work with leftovers. Maybe that will be OK, maybe not. It remains to be seen.

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8 hours ago, Sakae said:

where is their future. 40 years old driver, or something else.

Alpine can NOT get 2 the somethin else WITHOUT the 40 year old driver.
F1 IS about bein seen.  The 40 year old driver, regarded as 1 of the best has valuable input.
Input NOT just limited 2 racin.
The 40 year old driver BRINGS marketability.  Guaranteein that the Alpine brand WILL B seen, around the world.


 

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20 minutes ago, lipstick79 said:

Alpine can NOT get 2 the somethin else WITHOUT the 40 year old driver.
F1 IS about bein seen.  The 40 year old driver, regarded as 1 of the best has valuable input.
Input NOT just limited 2 racin.
The 40 year old driver BRINGS marketability.  Guaranteein that the Alpine brand WILL B seen, around the world.


 

I don't agree with you. I don't think Alonso was not brought in at all for reasons you state, but whatever. Renault, had their primary objective been advertising of their brand, the team would have called Renault, instead Alpine. Secondly, if you think to which segment of society a product is targeted, and as much I am not privy to their marketing strategy, from some indicators it seems to be youth (twenty something). The same people who do ask Alonso who..? 

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6 minutes ago, Sakae said:
7 minutes ago, Sakae said:

he 40 year old driver BRINGS marketability.  Guaranteein that the Alpine brand WILL B seen, around the world.

not brought in at all for reasons you state, but whatever. Renault, had their primary objective been advertising of their brand,

Hello, U HAVE just contradicted URself.  I said;

6 minutes ago, Sakae said:

The 40 year old driver BRINGS marketability.  Guaranteein that the Alpine brand WILL B seen, around the world.

Which IS consistent with,
                                             Renault, had their primary objective been advertising of their brand,
               

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17 minutes ago, Sakae said:

youth (twenty something). The same people who do ask Alonso who..? 

The youth (twenty something) R NOT CEO`S, or have influence in the media.
An article, surrounded by advertisements WILL say, former double world champion Alonso currently driving for Alpine ...
Raisin awareness to those adverts and, Alpine (F1 team, Renault car model)

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This exchange bores the heck out of me. Renault or Alpine will do whatever they think it's good for them. Hiring Alonso and let him transforming the team to his image while upsetting Ocon, a home guy, is up to them. I think it's insane strategy (can I actually call it a strategy?), but my thoughts are just that, my thoughts, and nothing more. 

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