Raikkonen vs Alonso

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by F1Pete

http://www.f1reader.com/#/news/hakki...t-alonso-91926

Much as I respect Mika's opinion on many things I tend to dismiss this as one Fin's wishful thinking about another, largely for the consumption of his national media.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by fourWheelDrift

Much as I respect Mika's opinion on many things I tend to dismiss this as one Fin's wishful thinking about another, largely for the consumption of his national media.

Time will tell.
I wondered how they would get on and there may be some internal politics within the team so it will be interesting to see how Alonso gets on with Kimi alongside him.
The record with strong team mates doesn't look that great and he has often had much weaker team mates so we'll know how this works about six or seven months from now...

[chunterer]

But we do have one pretty accurate barometer. Felipe Massa. In his prime the little Brazilian was more than a match for Kimi (against most people's perceived wisdom)

However, the Massa that faced Alonso did so under quite different circumstances imo.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by chunterer

But we do have one pretty accurate barometer. Felipe Massa. In his prime the little Brazilian was more than a match for Kimi (against most people's perceived wisdom)

However, the Massa that faced Alonso did so under quite different circumstances imo.

So it will give us a read on Massa pre and post head injury.

I think that Kimi will run Alonso really hard, the concern is what his role at Ferrari is, is he going to race Alonso or just act as test and development driver, the role that I believe Massa had for much of his partnership with Alonso?

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by wnut

So it will give us a read on Massa pre and post head injury.

I think that Kimi will run Alonso really hard, the concern is what his role at Ferrari is, is he going to race Alonso or just act as test and development driver, the role that I believe Massa had for much of his partnership with Alonso?

I'm fairly certain it will be the latter as they know full well what calibre they've got in Alonso should they produce the car this year.

[Adam43]

You don't hire Kimi as a test and development driver!
Or, less so and for a different reason, Massa.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Adam43

You don't hire Kimi as a test and development driver!
Or, less so and for a different reason, Massa.

You can, even if you don't tell him that's what he is and pay him handsomely for the privilege!

[Adam43]

And you don't want any testing or development.

[chunterer]

Kimi's pretty good at that though, I suspect he knows the score and honestly believes it to have been preferable to anything else that might have been available outside Enstone.

[Adam43]

I don't doubt he could contribute, rather if he isn't fully involved he won't give his full commitment to it. Or any commitment. They can not be signing him primarily for that.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I'm fairly certain it will be the latter as they know full well what calibre they've got in Alonso should they produce the car this year.

If Kimi is to be Alonso's test and development driver, it makes complete sense that they ditched Massa, I know Kimi is very highly rated as a test driver by the McLaren engineers who believed he was better than anyone else in the business at showing exactly what a change did. Totally indifferent to a change, and with a smooth and precise style that provides the engineers with near perfect baseline data to assess a change!

It will be a pity if Kimi is not allowed to compete with Alonso, I am still less than convinced by Alonso as a driver (good yes, the best?? - not really), and hate his constant whining and politics!

[Knowlesy]

Kimi will obviously be allowed to compete. Why sign him? Why, indeed, would Kimi sign?

He will push Alonso, but I don't think he has quite the relentless commitment of his teammate. Time will tell of course.

Oh, and I think they will get along OK.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Kimi will obviously be allowed to compete. Why sign him? Why, indeed, would Kimi sign?

He will push Alonso, but I don't think he has quite the relentless commitment of his teammate. Time will tell of course.

Oh, and I think they will get along OK.

Yep Knowlesy; "but I don't think he has quite the relentless commitment of his teammate."; this is the bit about Kimi that concerns me as well.

With this in mind, and Kimi faster than Alonso, what would you do if you were Ferrari?

[Tucky]

Originally Posted by wnut

With this in mind, and Kimi faster than Alonso, what would you do if you were Ferrari?

Depends how far into the season it is and how the driver's react. If the season is nearing the end and Kimi's ahead by a bit, I'd tell Alonso to help Kimi. At thr end of the day, the drivers work for the team, not the other way round.

If Alonso starts throwing a hissy fit and won't stop, then I reckon they'll do to him what they did to Prost. With relations already strained, Ferrari won't have too much trouble with their conscious.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

I'm cheering for both Raikkonen and Rosberg this year, anything to break into the sheer hero worship of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton by the two most outspoken and largest groups of both F1 Media and fans (GB and the Mediterranean) would be quite fun to watch.

[321Go]

Kimi will finish ahead of Fernando on points, Fernando becomes unhappy, Kimi laughs it off, Fernando signs with McLaren for 2015.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by 321Go

Kimi will finish ahead of Fernando on points, Fernando becomes unhappy, Kimi laughs it off, Fernando signs with McLaren for 2015.

If Magnussen is as good as McLaren believe, there will be no place for Alonso at McLaren for two reasons!

[321Go]

2015 McLaren driver line up:

Fernando Alonso (Multi-year contract)
Kevin Magnussen (Second year, option held by McLaren)
Jenson Button (Test and reserve driver. McLaren/Honda PR Spokesperson)






Raikkonen vs Alonso, the end.


( )

[TheNo1F1Fan]

Originally Posted by 321Go

2015 McLaren driver line up:

Fernando Alonso (Multi-year contract)
Kevin Magnussen (Second year, option held by McLaren)
Jenson Button (Test and reserve driver. McLaren/Honda PR Spokesperson)






Raikkonen vs Alonso, the end.


( )

Sounds cool.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

Kimi will obviously be allowed to compete. Why sign him? Why, indeed, would Kimi sign?

He will push Alonso, but I don't think he has quite the relentless commitment of his teammate. Time will tell of course.

Oh, and I think they will get along OK.

I think they will get along ok all the time Kimi doesn't have the upperhand

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Tucky

If Alonso starts throwing a hissy fit and won't stop, then I reckon they'll do to him what they did to Prost. With relations already strained, Ferrari won't have too much trouble with their conscious.

And neither would Alonso, as far as he's concerned, all he needs is the car to be upto scratch, consistently. We could argue that he's had that near enough in 2010 and 12 but it wasn't really was it?

Ferrari can make their lead driver uncomfortable all they like, but I'm not sure it's all that wise when there aren't all that many decent replacements around, including a driver like Kimi who in part thanks to his management has in effect become a mercenary.

[Tucky]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Ferrari can make their lead driver uncomfortable all they like, but I'm not sure it's all that wise when there aren't all that many decent replacements around, including a driver like Kimi who in part thanks to his management has in effect become a mercenary.

You're right, Alonso is probably Ferrari's best chance (I say that hesitantly with Kimi right there!) but there has to come a point where it becomes counter-productive, especially if it demoralises the staff back at Maranello.

[Mr V]

I still cant help but feel that Kimi will take more points off Fernando than Felipe did and that will make the job of winning the WDC all the harder.

[Bononi]

I would like to think it will be exciting, but I'm not holding my breath for that.

[MarkG]

To me, having 2 top drivers is a great idea. If the car is not quite a top car, then the drivers will maximise the points available and possibly win the MWC for Ferrari, even if the WDC can't be won by any of them because of a top driver in a different team but in a really top car.

If the Ferrari is a top car and either has a great chance of being champion, then that's a good problem to have, and more fun for the spectators.

I like both of them on track, so don't really mind who comes out on top, whatever happens.