Alonso retires from F1

conaero

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Love that man, shame, but hes achieved a lot and yes, I500 would be a great swan song.

So, rumours are SV is out of McLaren too so we are looking at a complete new driver line up for 2019???
 

conaero

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Rather than new drivers they need to concentrate on a competitive car

Well, thats a given. They seem to have reliability but they are just now where near Renault Team, intact they seem to be falling further behind.

So do we assume chassis and aero?
 

Andyk

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Not a suprise this. You can feel his frustration through the TV screen. He's not really been happy for a number of years.
 

TridentTested

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The only surprise is that he has stuck that shed of a car for so long. His in-car radio has been a pointer to his feelings for the last two seasons:
McLaren: "which tyres are we going for now?"
Fernando: "put whatever tyres you like on it, we're still going to be last".

Alonso has been a great ambassador for the sport and he has put a lot back into it promoting young drivers. It's a shame to see him go.
 

bigbob

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Shame but a wonderful demonstration on why the top drivers need top managers to choose their teams as he has been a masterclass in how to make the wrong choices.
 

TridentTested

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Shame but a wonderful demonstration on why the top drivers need top managers to choose their teams as he has been a masterclass in how to make the wrong choices.

It's true. Championships at Renault (like Schumacher) who were always seen as a competent but not great team, he should have moved onto a top team and had a series of championships but he chose a series of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 

outrun

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You say that however when a driver wins in a top car, questions still remain about whether "any decent driver could win in that car". Vettel is making a career out of proving this, as did Jenson Button, probably Hamilton too. Alonso is seen as the best of the best alongside Hamilton on the grid because he managed to get the most consistently out of cars that where not the best. He came runner up in the Championship in a rubbish Ferrari for example. So, in a strange way, his ability to prove the best when not provided with the best equipment, has added to the mystique. There is no way way to prove who is better and so the debate will rumble on forever however for me, he's in the top handful of drivers of all time and the best of the current crop by some way, with Hamilton (the wee twit) in 2nd place. All the others are very good but not in the top rung, including Vettel who should have won last year and looks like he might repeat the fate this year.

F1 is poorer without Vettel and will be poorer if Kimi goes too. Kimi is not from the top rung but he's cool as F and sport needs personalities to be interesting, especially when it's a 2 horse race with the odd intervention by Red Bull.
 

TridentTested

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with Hamilton (the wee twit)

Made me laugh


Kimi is not from the top rung but he's cool as F .

I've been a Kimi fan since reading Autosport's "Track Side Views" columns about him when he burst onto the scene. Their view on him was he was doing things with cars through the corners that the others hadn't even thought about. He may have lost some of that raw ability but he is still the coolest guy on the grid. "Did you see Michael's award ceremony?", "Eh no, I was taking a dump".
 

midlifecrisis

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The word on the boulevard, is that Stoffel will be gone by the end of the year to make way for Lando. in fact Stoffel is lucky to racing for the second half of the season. Mclaren would probably have to buy him out of his contract and they haven't the cash to do that.
 

midlifecrisis

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Here's Fernando today, it's a hard life.

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zagatoes30

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I guess there will be a few more seat shuffles before the end of the season especially with the new money coming into Force India
 

midlifecrisis

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Stroll will go to force India if his dad buys the team. Gasly to Red Bull, LeClerc to Ferrari, Norris to Mclaren (debuting at Spa FP1) . Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Verstappen staying put. Sainz, Ricardo already signed to Mclaren and Renault respectively.
 

alfatwo

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Made me laugh




I've been a Kimi fan since reading Autosport's "Track Side Views" columns about him when he burst onto the scene. Their view on him was he was doing things with cars through the corners that the others hadn't even thought about. He may have lost some of that raw ability but he is still the coolest guy on the grid. "Did you see Michael's award ceremony?", "Eh no, I was taking a dump".

Yea but Michael was always lots more proficient (miles quicker ) than him.. that was a typically disrespectful comment from a lesser combatant!

Dave
 

TridentTested

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I've been listening to Beyond the Grid podcasts today. Very interesting, I always admired Gerhard Berger as a driver but, in those pre-internet days, I never knew anything much about him beyond that. It's great to hear what a character he was - he never did any fitness training whatsoever. His original sponsorship deal with Red Bull was a handshake over a beer. Simple times.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/f1-beyond-the-grid/id1405972616?mt=2