F1 Alonso feels unrewarded by McLaren

[Deleted member 25]

World champion Fernando Alonso believes McLaren are not paying him back for his help in moving the team forward this year.

The Spanish driver joined McLaren from Renault, with whom he won two consecutive titles, but the relationship with the British squad has been strained and doubts have been cast over the two-time champion's future in the team, despite his contract running for two more seasons.

The situation took a turn for the worse in Hungary, when Alonso was penalised for impeding teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying after the Briton disobeyed team orders.

Although Alonso and the team cleared the air ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix, the Spaniard has admitted he is still not entirely happy with how he is treated.

"That is always very clear in any team, you know, to have equal opportunities to everybody and to have an equal car to your teammate," Alonso said on BBC Radio. "What I think sometimes, and what I asked the team, is that I gave the team a lot.

"When I arrived in December, I remember the car I drove; I remember the results they had in 2006. And now, you know, I brought to the team half a second, six tenths, whatever, and I don't see anything giving me back.

"So that's the only thing."

In 2006, McLaren endured their first win-less season in a decade. This year, the team are leading both championships, with Alonso seven points behind Hamilton.

Alonso himself told reporters during a karting event in Turkey on Thursday that he didn't know if he would be at the team next season.

However, following his meetings with the McLaren bosses yesterday, Alonso today told reporters he will not be thinking about his future at the moment.

"I have a long-term contract with them and at the moment I am in no hurry to move or to do anything, especially now with the championship as it is, you know, seven points behind the leader. So to think about the future is not the right time now," he said.

 

[chonkoa]

I think he should stop kvetching and get on with the programme. Six races to win if he gets his act together.

 

[Remy Zero]

he should just shut up and drive.

 

[Osnabrueck]

Hey bitch - Stop being a bitching bitch and win some races.

It's like me blaming my designer jeans if I don't get laid or something. Just shut the hell up, cash your check and stop contributing to the swarmy runway show of primadonnas that is F1 racing.

 

[Monster]

Honestly Alonso should just shut the f*ck up and get on with it. Does anyone remember towards the end of the 2006 season Alonso was saying Flavio Briatore was favouring Fisichella or how Renault doesn't want him to win the drivers championship because he was leaving for Mclaren next year.

The same thing is happening again this year when he is in Mclaren, bitching about how Ron favour Lewis and how most of the people in Mclaren wants Lewis to win the drivers championship instead of him.

Somone should really fix Alonso up.

 

[PanterroR]

Hey bitch - Stop being a bitching bitch and win some races.

It's like me blaming my designer jeans if I don't get laid or something. Just shut the hell up, cash your check and stop contributing to the swarmy runway show of primadonnas that is F1 racing.

Muwahahahaha!!! Worrrrrd!!!

 

[Imhotep Evil]

What's that supose to mean.

Because his he's actually right (except that he forgot to add the the big/money he's brought thru the deals with Santander and MM, and probably Vodafone).

His team and some Alonso bashers/worshipers of the church Hamilton must have the crazy idea that McLaren wold have had this pace without Alonso.

Just look at McLaren's terrific season in 2006 when they lost their main tester/developer A. Wurz. In that situation the brilliance of Raikkonen and Montoya's (lack of) commitment/hard work in developing the car really came out ...

 

[Centurion]

What does he mean not getting rewarded. I thought Mclaren was rewarding him big time in Sterling Pound. Or maybe he just was encouragement, a hug and some more love.

 

[Deleted member 25]

What's that supose to mean.

Because his he's actually right (except that he forgot to add the the big/money he's brought thru the deals with Santander and MM, and probably Vodafone).

His team and some Alonso bashers/worshipers of the church Hamilton must have the crazy idea that McLaren wold have had this pace without Alonso.

Just look at McLaren's terrific season in 2006 when they lost their main tester/developer A. Wurz. In that situation the brilliance of Raikkonen and Montoya's (lack of) commitment/hard work in developing the car really came out ...

Sorry but this is a total no sense, The pace the macca gained is due to the huge effort of nearly 1000 ultra graduated men of the ron dennis Armada, to the ultra healthy financial situation of the team (McLaren didn't wait for alonso to be one of the richiest team of the paddock), to the of the work of the three pilots, and to the fact that Macca abobdonned the 2006 car very early to cocentrate on the 2007 car. Mr Alonso says that its his presence and work that made the global progress of the car, what an irrespectful statement for the guys who worked day & night in factories & paddock to brought him the car he has now.

 

[chonkoa]

What's that supose to mean.

Because his he's actually right (except that he forgot to add the the big/money he's brought thru the deals with Santander and MM, and probably Vodafone).

His team and some Alonso bashers/worshipers of the church Hamilton must have the crazy idea that McLaren wold have had this pace without Alonso.

Just look at McLaren's terrific season in 2006 when they lost their main tester/developer A. Wurz. In that situation the brilliance of Raikkonen and Montoya's (lack of) commitment/hard work in developing the car really came out ...

I am not denying the important role he has played and will continue to play.
My gripes is the complaining part, keep it away from the press and for pete sake stop saying " the teams doesn't like me this, or favours this person that...."
You'll never hear some other drivers talking about the team. He did the same in Renault.

 

[450SEL6.9]

His team and some Alonso bashers/worshipers of the church Hamilton must have the crazy idea that McLaren wold have had this pace without Alonso.

I think they actually do. Even a knowledgeable guy like Windsor thinks Alonso moving back to Renault bodes well for Hamilton?

I think Alonso makes a good point that he brought several tenths to TOUI. If you look at the comments here, no one denies that. Fittipaldi, who seems to have kept his head along with Mansell, commented on Alonso's contribution to TOUI a few months ago.

What people attack is Alonso's personality and his whining. Unlike Hamilton, I don't think Alonso gets the benefit of the doubt much. Is his complaining totally his fault? Does Mr. Integrity get some of the blame for his alleged bias? If he already feels TOUI is favoring Hamy, what good is it for him to keep his criticism within the team? They'd probably be dismissed, in my opinion.

As I have said before, Alonso's biggest mistake was not demanding No. 1 status! He brought in the sponsorship, did the testing/development work superbly and he is not unjustified entirely in his views. We attack his abrasive, sand paper-like personality, but I don't really see anyone really disagreeing with the content of his rant. If I do the work and bring in the money (F1 teams don't run on shoestring budgets), then I would want maximum, contractually-guaranteed benefits too!

 

[chonkoa]

I think they actually do. Even a knowledgeable guy like Windsor thinks Alonso moving back to Renault bodes well for Hamilton?

I think Alonso makes a good point that he brought several tenths to TOUI. If you look at the comments here, no one denies that. Fittipaldi, who seems to have kept his head along with Mansell, commented on Alonso's contribution to TOUI a few months ago.

What people attack is Alonso's personality and his whining. Unlike Hamilton, I don't think Alonso gets the benefit of the doubt much. Is his complaining totally his fault? Does Mr. Integrity get some of the blame for his alleged bias? If he already feels TOUI is favoring Hamy, what good is it for him to keep his criticism within the team? They'd probably be dismissed, in my opinion.

As I have said before, Alonso's biggest mistake was not demanding No. 1 status! He brought in the sponsorship, did the testing/development work superbly and he is not unjustified entirely in his views. We attack his abrasive, sand paper-like personality, but I don't really see anyone really disagreeing with the content of his rant. If I do the work and bring in the money (F1 teams don't run on shoestring budgets), then I would want maximum, contractually-guaranteed benefits too!

That is exactly the point. He is a very talented and hard working driver- the endless kvetching is what turns me off with him.

 

[Remy Zero]

suddenly, Ferrari looked like a genius in the Schumacher era.

 

[chonkoa]

suddenly, Ferrari looked like a genius in the Schumacher era.

No matter how bad it was within Ferrari- you never heard Schumacher complaining.

 

[Monster]

Alonso is getting a bit angry because Lewis is taking all the credit and being over rated by the team and the media alike. I wonder if he still copies Alonso's car setup in races now.

I think he should stay for another year and beat Lewis, then he can leave. To be beaten by Lewis and then leave the team because of that is lame for a 2 time world champ.

 

[Poverty]

I think they actually do. Even a knowledgeable guy like Windsor thinks Alonso moving back to Renault bodes well for Hamilton?

I think Alonso makes a good point that he brought several tenths to TOUI. If you look at the comments here, no one denies that. Fittipaldi, who seems to have kept his head along with Mansell, commented on Alonso's contribution to TOUI a few months ago.

What people attack is Alonso's personality and his whining. Unlike Hamilton, I don't think Alonso gets the benefit of the doubt much. Is his complaining totally his fault? Does Mr. Integrity get some of the blame for his alleged bias? If he already feels TOUI is favoring Hamy, what good is it for him to keep his criticism within the team? They'd probably be dismissed, in my opinion.

As I have said before, Alonso's biggest mistake was not demanding No. 1 status! He brought in the sponsorship, did the testing/development work superbly and he is not unjustified entirely in his views. We attack his abrasive, sand paper-like personality, but I don't really see anyone really disagreeing with the content of his rant. If I do the work and bring in the money (F1 teams don't run on shoestring budgets), then I would want maximum, contractually-guaranteed benefits too!

I disagree with what you have said on some points but i wont get into that now. However to put it in short alonso needs to do the talking on the race track by winning. right now hes looking like a sore looser.

 

[450SEL6.9]

Alonso is getting a bit angry because Lewis is taking all the credit and being over rated by the team and the media alike. I wonder if he still copies Alonso's car setup in races now.

I think Alonso stopped allowing Hamy to use his setups, but who knows if he is still getting that data.

 

[Imhotep Evil]

I disagree with what you have said on some points but i wont get into that now. However to put it in short Alonso needs to do the talking on the race track by winning. right now hes looking like a sore looser.

As long as the team don't see him and treat him like Hamilton, he's alone.
Hamilton has the support (at least moral, to say the least) of the team.
Alonso really complained about the treatment he gets from the team, not about Hamilton himself, but how he's treated as opposed to him by the team. He's not even close in the team's mind/affection/treatment.

And you saw/can see that on TV. The moment Alonso does something good the team applauds (coldly), while in Hamilton's case they jump and start hugging each other.

 

[chonkoa]

I think they actually do. Even a knowledgeable guy like Windsor thinks Alonso moving back to Renault bodes well for Hamilton?

I think Alonso makes a good point that he brought several tenths to TOUI. If you look at the comments here, no one denies that. Fittipaldi, who seems to have kept his head along with Mansell, commented on Alonso's contribution to TOUI a few months ago.

What people attack is Alonso's personality and his whining. Unlike Hamilton, I don't think Alonso gets the benefit of the doubt much. Is his complaining totally his fault? Does Mr. Integrity get some of the blame for his alleged bias? If he already feels TOUI is favoring Hamy, what good is it for him to keep his criticism within the team? They'd probably be dismissed, in my opinion.

As I have said before, Alonso's biggest mistake was not demanding No. 1 status! He brought in the sponsorship, did the testing/development work superbly and he is not unjustified entirely in his views. We attack his abrasive, sand paper-like personality, but I don't really see anyone really disagreeing with the content of his rant. If I do the work and bring in the money (F1 teams don't run on shoestring budgets), then I would want maximum, contractually-guaranteed benefits too!

Something else that might not be helping with Alonso is the language.
I am sure some of what is reported may not necessarily represent Freds' true intention but rather got lost in the translation. Speaking and thinking in a second language and having your thoughts translated back to English incur some translation penalty in some cases.
Without asking corollary questions or further prodding, one could easily be misinterpreted.

 

[450SEL6.9]

Something else that might not be helping with Alonso is the language.

Excellent point, chonkoa! At the press conference today, Alonso said something about how he needed to get past the BMWs and wait for a miracle to get on the podium. Well, he said he got that miracle, i.e. Hamilton's problem. An interesting thing to say, I thought.

After reading Peter Windsor talking about how Hamilton is better than both Senna and Prost, I can't sit through one of his post-race press conferences the same way as I used to because I don't know how objective he is. If his boy was on the podium, I'd expect Windsor to bow down and pledge allegiance to the Church of Hamy Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

And you saw/can see that on TV. The moment Alonso does something good the team applauds (coldly), while in Hamilton's case they jump and start hugging each other.

Here the reception to Hamy and Alonso is night and day. Whenever Hamy does something disrespectful or does something silly, he naturally and instantly gets the benefit of the doubt. The slightest criticism of Hamy seems to hit a sensitive nerve on this forum, to the point where all sorts of stupid accusations are trotted out to slam his critics. Alonso is lambasted for his personality, his driving and just about everything else. Some people absolutely slander him for giving his opinion to the press, but he has a right to do that. The team has a right to favor any driver and favoritism is human nature, but the driver in turn also has a right to complain. I get the impression that some people want Alonso to be speech-impaired.

No one really takes issue with validity of Alonso's points (about him improving the car, sponsorship, setup work), but pretty much everyone slams him for making his points.