Ron Dennis Compares Alonso To Senna

[Max Mosley 2]

Ron Dennis says that Fernando Alonso reminds him of three of his most successful past drivers in Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda.

The McLaren team boss was referring specifically to the Spaniard

[Quiet One 15]

Ron Dennis says that Fernando Alonso reminds him of three of his most successful past drivers in Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Niki Lauda.

The McLaren team boss was referring specifically to the Spaniard

[Max Mosley 2]

Yeah Andres, I found this article when trying to find the comments you were talking about. Would be quite funny if Alonso said that, then Ron unwittingly praised him. Tbh I would be surprised if Alonso had been quite so blunt as the article suggested. I'd also be disappointed as I have higher hopes for McLaren than that!

[alonsenna 0]

Yeah Andres, I found this article when trying to find the comments you were talking about. Would be quite funny if Alonso said that, then Ron unwittingly praised him. Tbh I would be surprised if Alonso had been quite so blunt as the article suggested. I'd also be disappointed as I have higher hopes for McLaren than that!

I just posted the link to an extract of that interview and posted and attempt of translation in the the other thread (as best as I could). I believe when you see it you'll find he wasn't so blunt and like many times before, he just answers his truth to what he is being asked, and the way it is summarized and presented, IMO its not really fair to what he really said and meant.

[Quiet One 15]

I just posted the link to an extract of that interview and posted and attempt of translation in the the other thread (as best as I could). I believe when you see it you'll find he wasn't so blunt and like many times before, he just answers his truth to what he is being asked, and the way it is summarized and presented, IMO its not really fair to what he really said and meant.

Agrees 100%...thank you very much Alonsenna...now I can go to bed feeling a lot better!

[Max Mosley 2]

I've just read it Alonsenna. Thanks again - I thought the Argentine paper had probably given a slightly incomplete picture of what he said. It happens all the time and catches me out a lot.

[Autumnpuma 0]

Fantastic post, Murray! I think McLaren's horrid season last year was down to both drivers not putting in proper technical feedback and the car ultimately suffered for it. Pedro is good, but one man can't carry a team. Unless it's Hamilton, then brigades of angels descend from Motorsports Heaven to whisk the team up on oil-stained wings and rush it to the front. Amen.

[Max Mosley 2]

Yep - that's what I think Mike. Technical input is a very important aspect of a driver's craft, especially these days when so much seems to be down to the car rather than sheer driving talent. On a related note, things are shaping up nicely for the new season I think. At first the assumption was that Kimi was a shoe-in but now Ferrari haven't impressed as much as expected, they've tried a new philosophy in their design and their lead driver is widely described as relatively weak at development work. Could be more interesting than I'd feared.

[Autumnpuma 0]

In addition, Kimi has recently stated that the Bridgestones are too hard for his liking. I expect a top-notch team like Ferrari to fix that by Oz, but there's always a chance it wont be fixed at all....and Kimi may suffer if he can't modify his style like Alonso can.....

[Max Mosley 2]

Yep - I thought about posting that story too but thought it might be overkill. Clearly he will have lots of support at Ferrari, but to some extent I guess it's a matter for Kimi to work with the car and tyres and find what works for him. If he is relatively weak technically it may affect him most when he has to change something, and as you say, a lot is changing for him right now.

[la force supreme des mclaren 0]

Fantastic post, Murray! I think McLaren's horrid season last year was down to both drivers not putting in proper technical feedback and the car ultimately suffered for it. Pedro is good, but one man can't carry a team. Unless it's Hamilton, then brigades of angels descend from Motorsports Heaven to whisk the team up on oil-stained wings and rush it to the front. Amen.

U'r bang on target mate! In 2005 they had alex and pedro the best technical devolopment drivers after schumi and fernando. After Alex left in 2006 Pedro couldn't take the workload and kimi and juan couldn't supply enough feedback. So now alonso and lewis joining pedro could bring them back to the front.

[rumblestrip 0]

Interesting... but... how can someone remind you of both Prost and Senna? They were pretty different from each other.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Interesting... but... how can someone remind you of both Prost and Senna? They were pretty different from each other.

If this thread was'nt started by Alonso fans, I might have been slightly impressed..... their worship has gone to extreme levels now, hence the confused comparisons of both Prost and Senna....

BTW: P Sauber compared Kimi to Senna right at the beginning at Sauber....

[Player(1) 0]

Interesting... but... how can someone remind you of both Prost and Senna? They were pretty different from each other.

I say he's more like Prost in that he has high technical knowledge and a thirst for perfection, not being very accident prone also is a very big prost quality while being as fast as anyone else. Senna I see as more just his passion, that latin flair and agression in his driving style by taking the car by the scruff of the neck and making it do what he wants. Perfect example of that is monza 2006 when Alonso showed alot of passion and determination while keeping any mistakes harmless.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

I say he's more like Prost in that he has high technical knowledge and a thirst for perfection, not being very accident prone also is a very big prost quality while being as fast as anyone else. Senna I see as more just his passion, that latin flair and agression in his driving style by taking the car by the scruff of the neck and making it do what he wants. Perfect example of that is monza 2006 when Alonso showed alot of passion and determination while keeping any mistakes harmless.

see what I mean rumblestrip... this poster has proven Alonso is god.....

[Wez 0]

Fantastic post, Murray! I think McLaren's horrid season last year was down to both drivers not putting in proper technical feedback and the car ultimately suffered for it. Pedro is good, but one man can't carry a team. Unless it's Hamilton, then brigades of angels descend from Motorsports Heaven to whisk the team up on oil-stained wings and rush it to the front. Amen.

Indeed a great post.

And furthering what Mike has said Kimi is renowned for being useless at car setup, Alonso is renowned for being good at it, Mclaren could be in for a big change in fortunes.

I have no doubt Alonso is the best driver to climb into a Mclaren since 1993!!!

[stopkidding 0]

If this thread was'nt started by Alonso fans, I might have been slightly impressed..... their worship has gone to extreme levels now, hence the confused comparisons of both Prost and Senna....

BTW: P Sauber compared Kimi to Senna right at the beginning at Sauber....

If Kimi is not as gifted in testing and setups as he is rumoured to be, then he is more like Senna than Alonso. By Senna's own admission (can't find the reference now) he relied a lot on Prost's testing abilities while at McLaren. But given a well set up car, Kimi will blaze the track, like senna did.

I know the forum is getting desperate for the season to start, so any sort of garbage is acceptable, but I rather wait for the European leg of the season to start before we can decide who is dominant and who is not!

[JayStorm 0]

Personally, i'd say Alonso was quite a bit like Schumacher, but that's me.

I get bored by these comparisons though, and I think it can put a lot of pressure on drivers to live up to them.

[Wez 0]

If Kimi is not as gifted in testing and setups as he is rumoured to be, then he is more like Senna than Alonso. By Senna's own admission (can't find the reference now) he relied a lot on Prost's testing abilities while at McLaren. But given a well set up car, Kimi will blaze the track, like senna did.

I know the forum is getting desperate for the season to start, so any sort of garbage is acceptable, but I rather wait for the European leg of the season to start before we can decide who is dominant and who is not!

Yes the garbage is acceptable, but we at Total F1 do enjoy laughing at you 'Stopkidding' so dont stop.

Funny, like I said you should mention garbage though, because thats all that came to mind while reading your claim that Senna couldn't set up a car.

Now I understand you may have been about 3 while Senna was racing and I gather you have only been watching F1 for a short space of time, but for the record it is a know fact that Senna had a extremely special touch for setting up a car (probably more than any driver in the history of the sport).

Every documentary and team manager confirms this fact!

Schumacher also had a great setup touch for cars, and Alonso too it seems BUT Peter Sauber even confirmed in an interview with Autosport, Raikkonen couldn't setup ford Fiesta in a street race!

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Yes the garbage is acceptable, but we at Total F1 do enjoy laughing at you 'Stopkidding' so dont stop.

Funny, like I said you should mention garbage though, because thats all that came to mind while reading your claim that Senna couldn't set up a car.

Now I understand you may have been about 3 while Senna was racing and I gather you have only been watching F1 for a short space of time, but for the record it is a know fact that Senna had a extremely special touch for setting up a car (probably more than any driver in the history of the sport).

Every documentary and team manager confirms this fact!

Schumacher also had a great setup touch for cars, and Alonso too it seems BUT Peter Sauber even confirmed in an interview with Autosport, Raikkonen couldn't setup ford Fiesta in a street race!

please confirm this!! Raikkonen use to set up his own karting vehicle, it's difficult to grasp he does'nt know what he's doing at setup all these years in F1? How on earth can he go faster than his teammates all the time? P Sauber said Kimi struggled with the setup terms in the beginning, but it changed during his first season.....

[Wez 0]

please confirm this!! Raikkonen use to set up his own karting vehicle, it's difficult to grasp he does'nt know what he's doing at setup all these years in F1? How on earth can he go faster than his teammates all the time? P Sauber said Kimi struggled with the setup terms in the beginning, but it changed during his first season.....

Peter Sauber didn't say Raikkonen wasn't quick, he clearly is... He just said "I hope Ferrari have very good technical staff to setup Kimi's car in 2007 because he gives very little feedback on car setup". It was from an Autosport at the end of Jan... Had a pic of the new Mclaren on the front of the mag.

[Wez 0]

Going back to my point... Reading Ron Dennis's quotes on Alonso, it seems Ron believes Alonso's skill for setting up a car is a lot better than his previous drivers including Kimi.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Peter Sauber didn't say Raikkonen wasn't quick, he clearly is... He just said "I hope Ferrari have very good technical staff to setup Kimi's car in 2007 because he gives very little feedback on car setup". It was from an Autosport at the end of Jan... Had a pic of the new Mclaren on the front of the mag.

He's not good with tech input, but he's precise in setting up his car.....

[Jem of the Shire 0]

Think about it, kimi MUST be good at setting up his car, cos he's so bloody fast every weekend!

Alonso is similar to Senna AND Prost? The praise is getting more ridiculous

[Max Mosley 2]

The comparison Ron makes is mainly in terms of their technical, setup and development input to the team, I think. Senna and Prost were both before my time unfortunately, give or take a handful of races at the end of their careers and before I knew much about F1. However, like Wez, I thought they were both technically extremely good, at least in their own respective ways. Senna is said to have had an amazing memory and an amazing amount of mental "capacity" left over when driving so that he was able to report back to his engineers every detail of how the car felt at every corner of every lap of a long stint. Prost's technical ability speaks for itself I hope.