la force supreme des mclaren 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2007 Ramirez predicts Alonso/Massa battle Former McLaren team manager Jo Ramirez has backed Fernando Alonso to win the 2007 championship - but he expects Felipe Massa to be the Spaniard's main title rival. "Alonso will win," Ramirez was quoted as saying by Autosprint. "There are no doubts over his driving talent, of course. "However, what's new is that McLaren-Mercedes will regain their reliability: things have changed for the better with the new car. "The first time Fernando tested for the team he was perplexed, while now he is enthusiastic. "Ferrari will take full advantage of the know-how they've developed through their long partnership with Bridgestone. They will fight with McLaren and it will be a great fight, but I've already said how I think it will end. "The thing is that in my opinion the real challenger to McLaren won't be (Kimi) Raikkonen, but Massa. "Felipe is improving massively and in the end he can reveal himself to be more performing than Kimi." Ramirez emphasised the importance of McLaren's influx of new sponsors, headlined by former Ferrari backers Vodafone, and praised Alonso's rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton. "The team have terrific potential and have also found so many important sponsors that they can be considered the richest, as far as commercial partners' contributions are concerned," he said. "The revelation will be Lewis Hamilton: he is a sensational driver, a natural talent. I'm sure we'll see him winning a race in his debut season. Ramirez also tipped BMW-Sauber to impress in 2007, but he believes that defending champions Renault will have a tougher season. "BMW have taken enormous steps forward, people will talk about them," he said. "Renault's car hasn't impressed much, even though it's improving. "But (Heikki) Kovalainen is a rookie, while (Giancarlo) Fisichella has already shown what he's capable of, and I frankly don't see him in the role of World Championship contender. "To me he looks perfect in the role of number two." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->>>>>> Jo Ramirez stating the obvious. For those of you who don't know Jo Ramirez, he is one of all time F1 greats who was like Ross Brawn and pat symonds in the 80's. I think he is the best placed than any one of us guys who knows what is nearly going in F1 right now. Oh boy.I'm gonna get an earfull from Kimi fans now,aren't I? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bathurst1000 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2007 you sure are.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shooting Star 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2007 Oh wow. I'm going to bet everything I own since its F1's own clairvoyant-extraordinaire, MR.RAMIREZ!!! shedding his wisdom. Imma gonna be a millionaire... muhahahahaha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UrKo 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2007 Massa a champion contender? ok...maybe But my money goes between Kimi and Fernando. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Max Mosley 2 Report post Posted March 1, 2007 Very interesting. I'm still betting on Kimi and Alonso too at this stage. Would be exciting to be proven wrong for once though! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wez 0 Report post Posted March 1, 2007 But my money goes between Kimi and Fernando. Yes I agree. I think Massa is extremely over rated!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
