F1 off-season news

[zan]

if i am alonso, i wud do same - to join mclaren. when else? but it wud be very difficult to determine who will leave mclaren, unless JPM proves to mclaren he's worth to keep but that wud be very hard to do as kimi is always dast and improving.

i am thinking kimi may go to ferrari, but ferrari also has a lot of work to do. most important of all, construct a car which can catch up with mclaren and renault.

it looks kelam kabut, but this is the world of racing. unpredictable.

 

[kimi85]

why kimi want to join ferrari? He rather with be at dominant team..like he said..I want to be in with best team n fastest car..that pointed, his not leaving from mclaren as mclaren's car is a fastest currently but we would'nt know in the future..I would like kimi n alonso paired up at mclaren!

nobert houg said..kimi still can sign contract with mclaren beyond 2007..

 

[zephyr3d]

i just hope kimi will win the championship.... itz damn ironic for him to win more races than alonso, and yet still lost it to alonso..

haiii... bitter pill to swallow.

 

[prodigy]

Both Kimi and Alonso won 7 races this season.

The news of Alonso joining Mclaren is the most shocking news i've heard this whole year. Didn't see it coming and it just popped out of the blue. Mclaren looked to be most exciting team by year 2007.

However, i personally don't think Kimi will stay beyong 2007. Very likely he'll join Ferrari as early this year, there was already rumours going around he's leave Mclaren and i'm not surprise at all that he'll sign for Ferrari. Its a massive lost for Mclaren though as Kimi is a super quick driver. With Ferrari's reliability and Kimi's speed, the battle is on for 2007's title.

 

[BlackSamurai]

many may think that this is a wise choice from Alonso coz McLren have the fastest car on the grid (at 2005), but F1 is full of uncertainties. From my point of view, there are few uncertain factors at McLaren, especially for 2007 season.

01. Departure of Technical Director Aldrian Newey (top aerodynamicist who design the winning car for Jack V, Hakkinen and Kimi's 2005's silver bullet) is a big hit for McLaren. A screw up aero dynamic design will spoiled the entire season for the team.

02. Single tyres supplier rules for 2007, McLaren decide to stick with French Tyres at 2006 is definately a very big disadvantages for the team. At 2007, McLaren will have need to start a new season with fresh, zero Bridgestone data in hand. Unless FIA force Bridgestone to share the data with all Michelin team at the end of the season (which unlikely to happen), but still, McLaren will need to build their 2007 silver bullet in the middle of the season of 2006 with a lot of blind guess on the new rubber.

03. There is no secret that Kimi (or Fin driver?) is Dennis' favourite driver, Alonso is not going to step in to McLaren and get all the best mech in McLaren for sure. He may just "inherit" from what left over by Montoya.

but out of McLaren, Alonso don't really have much choice, Alonso rather sign the new contract while he is still WDC so that he can ask for better pay. Alonso do understand that with the small budget that Renault have in hand, the WCC and WDC may not stick with Renault very long. (Alonso can definately feel it, especially at the end of 2005 season)

Ferrari? John T. only have interested in Kimi.

 

[zephyr3d]

interesting indeed... going to be an interesting season ahead... oh no... does tat automatically made me a ferrari fan? coz i'm a fan of kimi. Argh! oh nooooo............

 

[si|verfish]

When Schumacher left a dominant Benetton to join an ailing Ferrari, people were saying he made the wrong choice. What happened then? Although Alonso is driving into a fog of uncertainty, I'm sure he knows what challenges lie ahead. With the sort of self confidence he displays, he knows he'll make a difference at McLaren. Anyway, apart from going to Ferrari, McLaren is the only way to go. For Kimi? If they can't promise him the things he wants, like full backing to win the Driver's Championship when Alonso joins as well...I can be 90% sure he will split and go to Ferrari. Montoya's future will be determined by how things work out with Kimi.

BTW, is it just me or does anybody else think that Vodafone had something to do with the Alonso deal?

 

[zephyr3d]

yea... tatz what i tot too... vodafone jumped boat fr ferrari to mclaren...

 

[BlackSamurai]

When Schumacher left a dominant Benetton to join an ailing Ferrari, people were saying he made the wrong choice. What happened then?

Schumacher did that for money :D
he join Ferrari with all his top class comrade such as Ross Brown and other mech. But for Alonso's case, I'm not sure whether he did the same

BTW, is it just me or does anybody else think that Vodafone had something to do with the Alonso deal?

silverfish, just wanna confirm with you, is Vodafone Schumacher's personal sponsor and Ferrari team sponsor?

 

[BlackSamurai]

more analysis and news for Alonso's new contract

Kimi is F1's most wanted
http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=105898

The fallout of Fernando Alonso's shock 2007 switch to McLaren continues, with new reports that Kimi Raikkonen is now F1's most wanted. Even in the short hours since Woking based McLaren announced that Renault's world champion was en route, Raikkonen - the highly talented silver incumbent - has amassed at least four offers from carmaker-backed teams.

First, McLaren. Ron Dennis makes no secret of his desire for Prost-Senna-like superteams, and Alonso-Raikkonen would certainly look pretty super.

Second, Ferrari. Kimi, the 26-year-old Finn, is alleged to have signed some sort of Ferrari document this year, but his Maranello arrival really depends on what Michael Schumacher decides to do beyond his 2006 deal.

Third and fourth, Renault and BMW. Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote on Tuesday that both teams have made Kimi an offer.

Renault, however, is the less obvious destination. If the French carmaker could not match McLaren's asking price to retain its own world champion, then there is even less reason to believe that Renault can meet Kimi's demands.

 

[BlackSamurai]

Ecclestone: Kimi will probably join Ferrari
http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=105938

On Monday McLaren announced it has signed Fernando Alonso for 2007. It means that either Kimi Räikkönen or Juan Pablo Montoya has to go. Ecclestone expects Räikkönen to join Ferrari when Schumacher calls it a day.

"Yes, I think Räikkönen will join Ferrari," Ecclestone told Gazzetta dello Sport. "It's in the interests of both parties. But it's not certain it will end up this way, because if Schumacher will continue racing after the upcoming season, Räikkönen will have to find another place. At that point he might end up at Renault!"

Ecclestone doesn't expect Schumacher to retire as the German is too motivated to quit the sport he loves. "Schumacher is always a winner and he will be the favourite in the next championship. I don't see him tired enough to think about retiring. He races because he enjoys it and has gone beyond the money barrier. With Ferrari and their men he's built a strong, loving relationship. He will never race with another team."

 

[BlackSamurai]

Comment from Nigel Mansell
http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=105996

1992 world champion Nigel Mansell has added another dissenting voice to the controversy surrounding Fernando Alonso's '07 switch from Renault to McLaren. After Niki Lauda and Bernie Ecclestone chimed in with their qualms, the 53-year-old ex driver - who raced his last grand prix in a McLaren and soared to the title in a Renault-powered Williams - reckons the deal is bad news in the short term for Renault, McLaren, Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

He thinks 24-year-old Spaniard Alonso did the deed for 'financial' ends. But Mansell warned: "To do a deal a whole year in advance could be very counter-productive, especially when he is defending ... a world championship. It is also a brave decision because I'm a big Adrian Newey fan and obviously he has just left McLaren," Nigel told nobok.com.

And the move will destabilise not only McLaren's main rival, Renault, but also the silver clad team itself, Mansell reckons.

Referring to McLaren, the '92 title winner wondered: "Is whoever will make way for Alonso going to be happy? I can tell you, no."

Perhaps the only short term winner in the deal is Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault's keen incumbent and no doubt desperate to keep up with Alonso next year.

If 'Fisi' and the reigning champion are neck and neck next season, 'don't be surprised if Fisichella gets the better engine and the better support,' Nigel thinks. "That's just common sense."

 

[BlackSamurai]

Comment from Niki Lauda - Alonso coup is McLaren 'disaster'
http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=105896

Former driver and team boss Niki Lauda has shaken his head at Fernando Alonso's switch from Renault to McLaren. The outspoken 56-year-old Austrian criticised Ron Dennis, his former employer and team principals' colleague, for announcing the coup a week before Christmas '05.

"Everything he could do wrong, he has done wrong," Lauda told Germany's Bild newspaper. "Ron has forgotten that humans aren't machines -- they have emotion."

Niki called the timing of the Spaniard's signing - about a year before Alonso's first McLaren test - a 'disaster'. He reckons Alonso, plus current McLaren duo Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya, all have their noses out of joint.

First, Niki Lauda suggests, 'iceman' Kimi is no longer the golden boy at the silver clad team. "In this deal, there are only losers," the ex-triple world champion said. "Alonso will have trouble with his Renault team in 2006. And Montoya now has to perform in the knowledge that he is only McLaren's third choice."

To the 'Sport1' publication, meanwhile, former German GP driver Hans-Joachim Stuck reckons the Alonso move was pretty predictable. "It looks like Renault will stop the F1 programme in a year or two."

 

[BlackSamurai]

Alonso deal worth $96m
http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=105806

World champion Fernando Alonso's newly unveiled McLaren deal is for three years, not counting an optional fourth formula one season, to include 2010. The F1 grapevine is also whispering that the 24-year-old's switch from Renault next year will almost certainly double his annual retainer, bringing his haul from $12m (US) to about $24m.

But some estimates, for example of London's authoritative 'Times' newspaper, put Alonso's yearly bill at up to $37m. But as well as indicate that Kimi Raikkonen might vacate his silver seat, Monday's bombshell ends speculation that Michael Schumacher counted McLaren as an option for beyond next year.

Former German grand prix driver Hans-Joachim Stuck told Bild: "If Schumacher has another flop year with Ferrari, he will retire."

 

[si|verfish]

silverfish, just wanna confirm with you, is Vodafone Schumacher's personal sponsor and Ferrari team sponsor?

Dunno mate. BTW, appreciate your updates. Keep it up.

 

[Mic]

This coming F1 season will be very interesting with the Mid race tyre change and V8 engine,But I thing this year Renault will not win again bcos renault preparing to exit from F1.So guess WHO WILL WIN THIS YEAR 2006?
My guess is Michael Schumacher will win his 8th F1 titles and go for retirement unless Ferrari really want him to stay until as long as he like to.

 

[zan]

the championship is wide open and undecided until at least reaching 2/3 of the season.

but yeah, i like to see schuey winning again. but not everytime laa... myself also bored!

 

[BlackSamurai]

2006 F1 Car lauching Date

14 January - Toyota
16 January - BMW
23 January - Ferrari
25 January - Honda
27 January - Williams
31 January - Renault
3 February - Midland

 

[zephyr3d]

Comment from Niki Lauda - Alonso coup is McLaren 'disaster'
http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=105896

Former driver and team boss Niki Lauda has shaken his head at Fernando Alonso's switch from Renault to McLaren. The outspoken 56-year-old Austrian criticised Ron Dennis, his former employer and team principals' colleague, for announcing the coup a week before Christmas '05.

"Everything he could do wrong, he has done wrong," Lauda told Germany's Bild newspaper. "Ron has forgotten that humans aren't machines -- they have emotion."

Niki called the timing of the Spaniard's signing - about a year before Alonso's first McLaren test - a 'disaster'. He reckons Alonso, plus current McLaren duo Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya, all have their noses out of joint.

First, Niki Lauda suggests, 'iceman' Kimi is no longer the golden boy at the silver clad team. "In this deal, there are only losers," the ex-triple world champion said. "Alonso will have trouble with his Renault team in 2006. And Montoya now has to perform in the knowledge that he is only McLaren's third choice."

To the 'Sport1' publication, meanwhile, former German GP driver Hans-Joachim Stuck reckons the Alonso move was pretty predictable. "It looks like Renault will stop the F1 programme in a year or two."

i definitely agree wit that.... too much of a competition internally spells disaster...

 

[Mic]

Alonso go for high pay bcos his Renault boss can't pay him even with world champion under his belt.