Alonso may not win again – Villeneuve

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In the round-up: Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve says that is was a mistake for Fernando Alonso to leave Ferrari for McLaren last year.

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Villeneuve: Alonso 'may not win any more races in F1' (Motorsport.com)

"Leaving Ferrari was clearly a mistake. I think Alonso would have fought for the title with this Ferrari. With this move, Alonso may have ended his career – he may not win any more titles or even races."

Vettel: Ferrari needs 'a while' to catch Mercedes F1 team (Autosport)

"There is plenty of stuff that we need to do and need to improve, that is where my focus is. That is our best chance, to look at performing well this year and at having the strongest chance for the championship."

It's time for Renault action, Kvyat says (Racer)

"We plan some (upgrades), like many other teams. Hopefully it will work well, and I am confident that the team is going to move forwards from now on because we have been going backwards."

Lewis Hamilton stays top of 2015 Sunday Times Sport Rich List (BBC)

"Lewis Hamilton is still the richest sportsman in Britain with a fortune of £88m but Wayne Rooney has overtaken Jenson Button to sit second in the 2015 Sunday Times Sport Rich List. "

Sparks, smoke and champagne (ESPN)

"F1 photographer Mark Sutton talks ESPN through his six favourite shots from the Chinese and Bahrain Grands Prix. "

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Comment of the day

After yesterday’s comment of the day focussed on whether there’s too much management involved in racing in modern F1, @robbie adds further to the debate.

For me it is about the amount of management needed…as in…it overwhelms the race. The other side of the concept of the extreme management we have now does not have to mean ‘caffeine high’ sprints for every lap of every race. That’s just as extreme as the management. There is plenty of room in the middle for more actual racing for, let’s say, half the stints rather than just a few laps per set of tires, such that it isn’t ALL about management. These drivers aren’t able to push, and any pushing they are allowed to do is still within too many confines for my liking. There is no room for them to be gladiators out there on the track. They’re too busy monitoring things. Fighter pilots monitor things because if they don’t they’ll die. F1 racers are in a sport that is meant to entertain and enthrall, and less monitoring and more actual racing would only help. Would anybody actually vote for more monitoring and management than we have now?
@robbie

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103 comments on “Alonso may not win again – Villeneuve”

  1. For once, I’m inclined to agree with Villeneuve.

    1. The master of stating the bleeding obvious maybe.

    2. ColdFly F1 (@)
      26th April 2015, 0:43

      I wonder how he rates his own move to BAR ;-)

      Anybody who speaks Spanish (or use Google Translate) should read the original article in AS.

      1. @coldfly just ask Jenson Button how that went ;-)

    3. Villeneuve is thinking too simplistically. I’m not entirely sure that Ferrari would be in the same place today if they had retained the Alonso/Räikkönen pairing. Alonso from all appearances is very detrimental to the team culture. He is more interested in how much attention he receives even if that leaves the team better off.

      1. “better off” should read “worse off.”

        1. Putting its politely that is utter rubbish.

          As almost all that have worked with him will testify. Ferrari sudden car speed is not down to new manager or driver. As great job as both are doing.

      2. Yeah, Alonso designed horrible cars!

  2. That is why I hate McLaren. Forza Ferrari!

    1. I suppose you didn’t say that when Ferrari were down in the dumps.

  3. If anything, Villeneuve is extremely qualified to talk about never winning again after changing teams..

    1. good one

    2. Well…he didn’t just change teams…he formed one.

  4. Unfortunately for Alonso, Villeneuve may be right. But I think both Button and Alonso may win races again before retiring. I have never been a McLaren fan (as far as British teams go, I’d rather support Williams) but they do come up with highly competitive cars every few years, and I do believe it will be so again in 2016 (though I wouldn’t rule out a win in 2015 in a chaotic race with safety cars and rain and whatnot).

    What I cannot understand at all are the people who are HAPPY that McLaren is not competitive at the moment, as well as the many who are enjoying seeing Alonso in a miserable condition. That makes no sense – I’d think we’d all prefer to have 2 more fast cars in the fied, driven by Alonso’s highly technical aggression and Button’s control and finesse.

    1. @flig, I’ll drink to that and hope that a more competitive field will ensure more gladtorial racing and less tactical time trialling as mentioned by @dennis in the COTD.

      1. @hohum, I suppose it would, by default, even if just a little bit… no matter how much you manage and control drivers, 8 fast cars (say Red Bulll and McLaren up their game for next year, not impossible) will never adopt the same strategy, so even if everyone is “managing” instead of racing, there will be battles to avoid losing time behind adversaries in a different strategy.

  5. I’m going to do something risky and voice my opinion. I do not think leaving Ferrari was a mistake for Fernando. For two reasons:
    1. His setup requirements and influence on development was detrimental for the nature of the Ferrari engineers’ style of design and team mate performance. In hindsight, it was a mistake for Ferrari to sign him, for me.
    2. Honda might be trying something radical. To beat Mercedes you need to play a different game.

    I reckon Romain’s birthday cake would just be a mushroom with a candle on the top haha

    1. Ferrari also sacked the engine designer and several other engineers who do not drive the car.

    2. His setup requirements and influence on development was detrimental for the nature of the Ferrari engineers’ style of design

      This I think is a great opinion. Many times drivers talk about whether a car suits their driving style or not, and also on many occasions drivers talk about the importance of having an experienced driver to provide feedback for development. This synergy between driver and team is often overlooked by commenters.

      1. @skipgamer, the thing is, a lot of Ferrari’s development issues during Alonso’s time at Ferrari were endemic to the team.

        Just as one example, it was not Alonso’s fault that the team were suffering from endemic aerodynamic correlation problems, which was the consequence of a botched move from a 50% to 60% scale wind tunnel. In the end, Ferrari had to subcontract most of their development work to Toyota’s facilities in Cologne, with Sauber also running wind tunnel tests on their own part.

        Equally, Ferrari had to turn to outside specialists in order to develop their current engine – most of the development work undertaken on their engine between 2014 and 2015 was subcontracted out to AVL, a specialist mechanical engineering firm based in Austria. The fact that a fair chunk of their work is now being sub-contracted outside of the team seems to suggest that Ferrari’s management is still not completely satisfied with their own in-house development teams.

        1. Great post. Good to see that someone actually backs up their claims with facts!

    3. I think the problem for Alonso is primarily the unexpectedly poor performance of the Honda engine. If the engine had performed as expected, or even if it was just a little below the performance of the Mercedes engine, then his decision would be seen as the correct one.

      1. This leads to the next question: was it reasonable to assume that Honda would instantaneously produce a world beating engine? While Honda does have a history of success in F1, it also has had numerous years of *not* being a world beater. (Example 1: the engine that powered Mclaren Honda had been in development for several years with Williams and Spirit before dominating at Mclaren. Example 2: the entire BAR Honda / Honda World Dreams debacle where they were either also rans or in one year a distant second place — that team did go on to win a championship for Button, but only *after* switching to Mercedes engines.)

        1. Really, did anyone expect much else of the Honda/McLaren pairing this year? It was always going to the a ‘sighter lap’. I wouldn’t be writing off either Alonso or McLaren just yet. Having said that though, it is just a travesty that Alonso only has two WDC’s to his name. A driver of his calibre, and arguably the driver of his generation, he should have had far more success than he has.

          1. It was entirely foreseeable, and predicted by many, that Honda/McLaren would not be competitive this year.

            What was unexpected was the Ferrari resurgence which puts a new perspective on things. I suppose they had to get it right sooner or later.

    4. Maybe the word should be “luck”. It’s known that drivers input in important but the car is built by engineers and designers and for the changes at that front at Ferrari, we should praise Mr. Marchione who orchestrated an extreme management overhaul. Props to James Allison too who managed to fix many shortcomings of their last year chassis and create a good base for the forthcoming times

  6. Big news.. Ferdinand Piech has resigned as VW Chairman.

    Bring on the Audi F1 Team.. Or was that Audi Red Bull Racing.

    1. Pity it wasn’t Bernie resigning, but whether it’s Audi, Porsche, VW, Seat or Skoda, bring it on.

      1. @hohum – One step at a time… :-)

      2. Bring Back Bugatti!

        1. Or Bentley, but they would want to ensure success before risking one of their “halo” brands.

          1. ColdFly F1 (@)
            26th April 2015, 3:01

            maybe start with Skoda, move to VW when hitting Q3, Audi when on the podium, Porsche when winning races, Bentley for WCC, and Bugatti … as safety car! @hohum, @scalextric

            PS SEAT can do the medical car then

          2. @coldfly that would not be a great marketing move.

            They must start with a brand and commit to it.

            Looking at the new hybrid formula and once Porsche is already a member of the hybrid supercar club and is part of WEC joining F1 with Porsche could be a sensible decision.

    2. so, back to the early 00’s, with a few manufacturers running their teams? Audi (if they buy RedBull, Renault (if they buy Toro Rosso), Ferrari and Mercedes… and let’s wait for the same that happen that time again: raising the cost with their big budgets, getting beated up and then a couple of them pulling the plug on last minute, leaving the sport in a really bad shape…

      1. @matiascasali, But I’m afraid the technology is so expensive and the rules so prescriptive that only motorcar manufacturers can afford to compete in Bernies circus, the days of having a brilliant idea, making a car and turning up to qualify are long gone.

        1. the technology may be expensive, i won’t argue. But it’s expensive because of the ever changing formula! let these engines be basically the same for 6 or 7 seasons, and the cost will drop! and allow more freedom in the aero (as much as i dislike the aero war) ant they will be being more creative, not like now that spend millions and millions on some little winglet to get 0.01″ in performance…

    3. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
      26th April 2015, 9:51

      Ooh good news, have been waiting for this since 2002. So if Audi start in f1 they’ll have presence in the two best sports going. MotoGP is the other.

  7. JV, the evermore effervescent purveyor of good cheer. A regular F1 good humor man.

    Seriously, what he says could very well be true. Of course, it could also be applied to many of the other drivers currently in F1. It’s easy to repeat what many have said about Alonso’s timing of leaving Ferrari and rejoining McLaren. Doesn’t take an expert to see the obvious.

    On the other hand, McLaren/Honda are still an unknown quantity as far as their true potential for the rest of this season and the next. Alonso may win again someday. The world champion status is a more difficult proposition, but not just for Alonso.

  8. It’s easy to say such thing in hindsight, Jacques. No one, ever, thought about Ferrari making such a huge step forwards 3 months ago. No one.

    If Alonso fails to win a race again, that means that McLaren and Honda won’t be winners in the near future and I don’t think that’s going to be the case. If Ferrari made such a step forward, why can’t McLaren? In 4 flyaway races, they’ve made huge progress.

    And anyway, with this era of Mercedes domination, no one can assure you that we’ll see new winners anytime soon.

    1. @fer-no65 Yes, as Alonso said, no matter how many Ferrari win, as far as Mercedes wins WDC, it does mean nothing for him.

      1. I’m not entirely sure that’s the case. He of all people must know that if one of the Ferrari drivers ends the season some 20-30 points behind the WDC, Alonso would’ve won it.

    2. Not sure if anyone else read Scarb’s article on autosport about the Honda PU, but it’s a pretty radical design and very future orientated it seems. This means that there’s a lot more to come from the power unit once reliability is sorted. I think Honda have done a pretty good job, I don’t know much about engines but I’d assume due to F1 regs (tokens) it’s better to make a radical engine and make it reliable later than a reliable engine that lacks power. I think by the end of the year the engine should only be a bit behind Mercedes and Ferrari, probably close to Renault.

      1. @williamstuart That article is indeed encouraging, thanks for the tip.
        I’d like to see Hill being wrong about mcLaren.

        1. Should read Villeneuve, of course.

    3. Era of domination? So a year is an era? News to me…

      1. @clive-allen when 1 team dominates so much over the others, yeah, I think you can call it an era.

        1. The Oxford Dictionary definition of era is “A long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic.” I don’t think you can regard a year as an era, particularly after four years of RBR ascendancy. It’s a matter of language, not quality of domination.

    4. I don’t understand how no one could see that Ferrari were going to make a big step forward this year. To me it was obvious that when James Allison’s car hit the track it would be very fast, driveable and extremely easy on the tires. That’s why they were very eager to sign him. That’s why Kimi was very eager to go back to Ferrari. He lived driving James’s Lotus. Granted, I didn’t expect their power unit to improve as much as it did. Nonetheless, I think it was obvious the chassis was going to be hugely improved.

  9. Paul (@frankjaeger)
    26th April 2015, 1:28

    I think Villeneuve is being shortsighted and riding on the hype bus a bit too much. Alonso has, let’s say 3 years in F1 left (Including this year), considering the turnaround Mercedes had between 2013-2014 seasons, it is quite fathomable for McLaren to make leaps to that extent. I think Alonso’s objective, as he had stated in numerous press conferences, is to win the WDC, something I doubt Ferrari will do this year, even with more tokens and planned updates. 2016 is McLaren’s target year, I think Alonso’s talent has been somewhat unequaled with his car in previous years but if it’s a choice between a win and consistent 2nd places, McLaren is the team to be with.

    1. You fathom a scenario that should gruntle Alonso.

    2. Well said.

      However, when Fernando left ferrari I said that Alonso won’t win another title, and Im going to stand by this but hoping to be proven wrong. He will win races and possibly challenge but for some reason after this many close calls and heartbreak… I don’t if he will get lucky enough to win

    3. ColdFly F1 (@)
      26th April 2015, 3:15

      @frankjaeger, you could very well be right.

      And I’m a bit over people sitting on the side advising if Alonso (or Hamilton 3 years ago) made the right decision.
      I would like to see articles linked in the round-up, and comments by the F1Fans, talking about the qualities of the various drivers and cars, rather than all the popular and negative chit-chat.
      Keith and @willwood are doing an excellent job with this site/blog, but it feels sometimes that quotes are chosen to stir the pot rather than based on newsworthiness.

      1. @coldfly I agree completely and I do try to stick with the strictly F1 related articles I found, which is mainly why I didn’t include the story about Michael Schumacher’s son making his F4 debut as, at the moment, Mick Schumacher isn’t a Formula 1 prospect.

        However, yesterday was a particularly slow news day for F1 and I can only include in the round up what’s been published the day before… ;)

  10. I think it’s highly unlikely McLaren won’t win a race again. They are now on their third year of decline and have no where lower to sink to.

    Every step they’ve taken up to this season screams potential. Ron Dennis taking back over, Éric Boullier put in charge of race operations, Peter Prodromou heading aero, Honda’s return and signing Alonso. You can’t expect immediate results, it’s like when Manchester City started buying everyone and throwing money at the premier league, it took a while before all that talent began clicking as a team.

    Ferraris return to form will fire up a guy like Alonso. A guy like that just cannot allow his choice to be a mistake, over the next few years you will see the best form of his career of that I’m sure. Honda will get things right. They didn’t want to do what Renault did last year and show up with a weak engine that doesn’t seem to respond to development. They’ve taken the chance on potential over reliability because reliability can be fixed under the rules. And I think it’s fair to say the chassis is better than last year’s and has concepts they can refine and build on.

    McLaren will have the highest development curve of any team this season, and that will motivate the team to try and maintain it.

    1. Whilst I agree that its highly unlikely McLaren won’t win again:

      They are now on their third year of decline and have no where lower to sink to.

      They said that about Tyrrell and the original Team Lotus before both teams’ eventual downfall. I’d like to think McLaren couldn’t go that way, but the continual lack of a lead sponsor makes me think its never possible to rule out such a possibility.

      1. Teams like Williams and McLaren have had the good sense to build profitable operations around their race team. They aren’t at the mercy of having a title sponsor, Williams have been through so many fallow years but the whole time other sides of the business kept them in profit. McLaren have resisted a title sponsor because they aren’t currently worth what they one were and hope to be again and don’t want to devalue their long term brand by selling at it’s current value for short term gains.

        They don’t have the bottomless pit of money that Mercedes and Red Bull have so can’t just buy their way to a title. But then neither are they so fickle as to talk about pulling out when results don’t go their way.

        1. @philipgb, Bottomless pits and RBR, may I point out that according to RBRs accounting, every year they have been winning championships they have broken even or made a profit, and that is before they factor in the publicity value, without a better PU they may find the bottom of that pit very soon.

          1. I did say buy their way to the title. The years leading up to winning they will have been operating at a significant loss and I’d be surprised if during their entire time in F1 including to costs of Toro Rosso they weren’t at a net loss.

            @hohum

      2. McLaren may have lost a title sponsor, but they’ve gained a privileged relationship with an engine manufacturer. In both the short and long term, this may actually be worth more. A lot more.

        McLaren’s current decline started in 2013, precisely the year their previous deal with Mercedes ended and they needed to start paying Mercedes for engines. I don’t believe that was a coincidence: a good chunk of money was now needed to buy engines, and McLaren couldn’t simply adjust on the fly to their suddenly reduced development budget. Williams previous decline started in exactly the same way when BMW went its own way. It took Williams years to adapt and start producing cars that were worth more than the midfield.

  11. I cannot agree to the prediction of Villeneuve . Alonso will definitely win races in the future but yeah winning another WDC, his chances of winning is kind of unpredictable but not impossible or totally rule out.

  12. The problem with asking for drivers to be able to push more, means EVERYONE will be able to push more. That won’t help the racing because giving everyone more hardy tires means everyone will simply take them to the limit yet again. You give the entirety of the field the same rubber and they’ll all be working to figure out how far they can take it. Remember the Bridgestones that lasted basically the whole race ala Vettel at Monza? I wouldn’t say the racing was a whole lot better.

    1. Sometimes the ‘racing’ should take a backseat to watching live onboard and seeing a driver really on the limit, like in the refuelling days.

      I’m not advocating a return to refueling, but we seem to be obsessed with the racing. If that was the only criteria, F1 should be a karting series.

      1. I don’t see allowing, not asking, the drivers to push more as a negative. Yes of course allowing them to push more means they all will. That’s the point. They’re not racing right now. They’re doddling. How do you elevate these drivers as heroes or gladiators, let alone categorize them amongst the Greats, when they barely need be taxed during a race other than for a few hot laps per stint, combined with a mix of DRS passes, and passes due strictly to vast differences in what one blokes tires are allowing him to do vs. another’s. Throw stricter than ever fuel saving requirements as well as numbers of PUs etc etc into the mix and F1 is closer to WEC than ever and than what it should be.

  13. Thank you for COTD, for it was my comment.

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      26th April 2015, 6:04

      credit where credit is due! @robbie @willwood

      1. @robbie @coldfly Sorry. I may have been a bit zombiefied when I did that… Have changed it.

        1. Lol…zombiefied…no problem…been there.

  14. Jacques may be right, he may as be wrong in his prediction. Winning another championship might be a longshot for Alonso, but another race win is far more likely.

    Of course this is assuming Alonso stays in F1 and doesn’t retire this year.

  15. How did moving to BAR work out for you, Jacques?

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      26th April 2015, 6:08

      If he’d stayed 10yrs at BAR/Honda/Brawn he might have made 2nd in 2009 ;-) @stigsemperfi

    2. Before or after he was relaced by Takuma Sato? :D

      1. JV didn’t move to BAR…he formed it. A vastly higher mountain to climb than what FA has with McHonda.

  16. If McLaren fail big time this year Alonso could be on his way to Mercedes in Rosber place if Rosber fail like right now.

    1. Mercedes wouldn’t go for such a move, we’ve seen how critical they are about team mates thrashing each other, ruining each other’s race,… Given Alonso and Hamilton’s history as team-mates, I don’t think Mercedes wants to put the pair together.

      And Hamilton, their number one driver (let’s be honest, it’s the truth), wouldn’t like having Alonso as a team-mate as well.

      So in short : no

      1. never say never…it would bring been lot of media attention for mercedes to have these two in one team again…

        it would be like the sequel to biggest drama in recent f1 history

  17. Personally, I see such fast improvement from Mclaren – and the team has the know how to get it right – that I’d place a small bet on Alonso winning again before Ricciardo.

    The Honda looks basically good with some issues to sort, the Renault looks like a complete mess.

    1. Not so sure. Ricciardo’s Renault in Bahrain displayed near perfect timing to match the trackside fireworks. That sort of coordination requires advanced engine combustion/destruction functionality. It’s the stupid 4 engine per season rule that will spoil the show and Renault/RBR’s season. Bring back pitstop engine swaps. Lobby Bernie now!
      ;-)

    2. People are making fun of Formula-E’s mid-race car swapping, but I bet Red Bull wouldn’t mind such a rule this season :-).

  18. It makes me nervous that Eric Boullier is talking about ‘the culture’ at Honda. Isn’t this a euphemism for them not doing what McLaren expect? Isn’t that what sank the Honda F1 team?

    The radial impeller in the vee sounds brilliant, makes me think Honda have the talent, but modern F1 only works with the Ross Brawn culture, as not only Merc but also Ferrari under Brawn’s pupil Allison is showing us. Newey was pretty much the same too – one single locus of control that is very very clever, benign, encouraging and all-seeing.

  19. And yet, Jacques, the weight of paddock opinion still ranks him as the best driver, so your point is?

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      26th April 2015, 11:51

      To be fair to JV, @countrygent, in his full interview in AS het also names Alonso as the best driver.
      Just that was probably not as interesting for motorsport.com to repeat in their article!

      1. Yeah I think JV’s point is not to point out the obvious. He’s not stupid. He says ‘clearly’ because now we see not only are McHonda struggling, but Ferrari has suddenly come good. JV knows FA doesn’t have a crystal ball, but now that this is where he is, JV’s opinion is that may be it for him for wins and WDC’s. If asked ‘don’t we have to see FA’s career out to know whether or not he’ll have more wins or a WDC?’ I’m sure JV would say ‘of course, but the odds are…’

  20. Button Watch:
    Tracking & Results 2015 – Virgin Money London Marathon
    Coming up to half way and JB’s averaging just under 15kph. Insert your own Honda joke here.
    Impressive running skillz though. That’s about as fast as I can run 5k, but he’ll be doing ten of them back to back!

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      26th April 2015, 11:44

      same thoughts and admiration here. @bullfrog
      And on top of that his split times are impressively consistent.

      1. When does he stop for new shoes ?@bullfrog, @coldfly .

  21. Will FA leave Mclaren if Merc offer him a seat?

  22. “Leaving Ferrari was clearly a mistake. I think Alonso would have fought for the title with this Ferrari. With this move, Alonso may have ended his career – he may not win any more titles or even races.”

    Wow! Look who is talking! The man who moved from Williams to BAR and never came close to winning a race after that.

    1. And your point is?

    2. That’s a plus, he’s an expert in faling career moves.

      But I think that he’s wrong, McLaren will come back soon.

    3. He didn’t move from Williams to BAR per se…he formed BAR. As in, started a brand new team. That is always risky and always going to take time to come to fruition, if at all. But he didn’t have many other avenues at the time and ingredients that JV had at his disposal at the time added up to forming his own team, and in no time drawing Honda back into F1 too. Yes he never won another race in F1, which is why he knows of what he speaks.

      Of course he doesn’t have a crystal ball, and it will depend on how long FA stays in F1. But he is also intimate with how Honda and F1 operates, so it will be interesting to see how they do this time around. I’m hoping for the best for them.

  23. A grand total of 4 races run and already pundits are saying Alonso was crazy for leaving Ferrari. I think part of the backlash Alonso is getting is due to the fact he passed up a multi-year contract and left the “great” Ferrari which is a no-no since they are bigger than F1 and it’s every drivers dream to drive the prancing horse….blah, blah blah. The rest from Alonso bashers.
    The fact is, they couldn’t engineer a good enough car (yes, engineers design the car – not the driver) for the 5 years Alonso was there so he bolted. Ferrari admits they were incompetent. Why else would so many heads roll? It’s so obvious. The biggest mistake he made was staying with them as long as he did.
    Honda/McLaren are quite capable of producing a contender thank you. McLaren brought in a new manager and a highly respected aerodynamicist. Having the best driver in F1 paired with a underrated former world champion will only expedite the process.
    It’s just a matter of time, and I believe that time will be this year. Then the pundits will be nowhere to be heard much as Vettel critics have done due to his podiums this year. Will Alonso he win another WDC or race for that matter? Who knows – but one thing is for sure – he will make F1 more exciting, at least for those who are unbiased enough to appreciate the talent he is.

    McLaren will be back and Alonso will win again.

    1. I don’t think anyone is really saying FA was crazy for leaving. Made a mistake might be the harshest thing said, but personally I too think it was just not working from many angles, and at some point you just have to commit to something else while the opportunity is there. I don’t blame FA, and as he has said, it was only a mistake if Ferrari end up winning the WDC this year, and that is no given. Also, there was an article a few weeks back about the concept of SV (and Ferrari) lucking into that which they have now, which can happen, and doesn’t mean they haven’t also done a great job. This kind of turnaround in performance one season to the next is not the norm, as we all know.

      1. @robbie If it is not too much of an ask, can you share that article related to Vettel/Ferrari lucking into this situation?

        1. @evered7 see my comment below addressed to you. Something seems amiss with the site and it didn’t attach here like it should have.

  24. I don’t like this guy’s statements… He says foolish things.

  25. If u read the full article, like i read 1 week ago. All makes sense he comments about Bar, and how honda works, and he doesnt believe in mclaren-honda project, thats why he says that, and he is absolutely right, last time honda abandoned f1. So… if u want to insult him, or get angry with him is your problem, he was honest in a relaxed way in a restaurant, and he answer the questions they asked him about Alonso, spanish press pay him to interview him. So its not his fault if he speaks about Alonso, and people doesnt like it. Actually Alonso is more liked in the foreign countries, than in his home country. And the reason is all the stupid things he says everyday, and that u dont read from the distance, if not few of u will like him.

  26. Did Villeneuve say the same thing about Hamilton when he moved to Mercedes? Even if he didn’t, still a lot of people did.

  27. @evered7 Hmmm…I believe I commented at the time so I was hoping to go to ‘members’ to go back 2 or 3 weeks to try to nail down a date or the round-up that had the comment, but I don’t see that option right now. Maybe somebody can help but I can pursue it when I have a bit more time too. I believe it started with a quote from Jenson Button saying SV lucked into the current competitive Ferrari. He wasn’t deriding SV over it, and of course the obvious comparison posters made was to JB ‘lucking’ into the magic diffuser that won him a WDC. I suggested he wasn’t saying he didn’t also luck into a great car…that this just happens at times but it is rare.

    1. @robbie I think I know what article you were mentioning. The Button Interview. I was thinking if you had bumped into some technical thread about Ferrari finally getting something right but by luck.
      https://www.racefans.net/2015/04/01/f1-fanatic-round-up-0104/

      I believe he was mentioning that Alonso also had the same data as Vettel but chose to leave the team and it was not as if he was blindsided by the revival of Ferrari.

      1. @evered7 That’s interesting about him having the same data as Vettel. But I have thought since the rumour mill started on FA moving, that it was about more than just ‘that data.’ I think he just needed to move on. Just as I thought LH moving to Merc was the right decision and that he too had to move on. It was about more than just what the next season’s car would be like if they were to stay put. It’s about personalities and relationships and jumping on opportunities while they’re there too.

        1. @robbie I think he would asked Ferrari if they could beat Mercedes with their current package. They would have replied in negative at least for the start of the season.

          Considering how their ‘development’ has gone for the past few years, he would have decided to jump ship to McLaren who have a chance at getting the top spot since they have a completely new engine unlike others who can just change parts of it.

          Plus the sea change in the head personnels at Ferrari with Luca moving as well would have made his position weak perhaps and like you said he probably needed a ‘move on’ after 5 difficult years.

          I still think Honda have the engine with them to take the fight to Mercedes. But the hope diminishes when I read that they made the same mistakes as Ferrari last season with their installation of the PU. At least Ferrari had 32 tokens to take care of them, but Honda have I think 9 to work with.

          Let’s see how it goes.

  28. I think that people didn’t notice Adrian Newey saying:” We’d rather Vettel didn’t bring his knowledge from Red Bull to Ferrari but, well that’s life…..”
    I think that he had a word in this years Ferrari and that it was the reason why he was brought…. not saying that he is a excellent engineer but just had the luck of being at the right place at the right time.
    Which I’m absolutely sure you can’t say about Alonso….

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