Fernando Alonso - Just how good is he...

[Nando]

As i´ve said for a couple of years now. Especially since he started dressing in red.

Alonso is the most complete driver on the F1 grid today. Since 2010 he´s been on a charge really,
I think he will fight like this every single year if Ferrari doesn´t win him a title soon.
(or is it the other way around? )

Quote from today,

In the wake of the reported Twitter affair, Alonso told his 1.2 million followers that his fighting spirit is intact for the remaining three races of 2012.

“If the sword breaks, fight with your hands,” he said, quoting a samurai. “If they cut your hands, push the enemy with your shoulders, even your teeth.”

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

He is not the fastest driver, he is not the best on quali lap, but like he said about himself, i will give him 8/10 in ALL area, it's why he is the best. With him, you know after the race that his car was not capable to do better, he is the only one who can extract 100% of his car during a weekend. Since the Silverstone 2010, he does that with not too many mistakes, it's just awesome.

Last year, with a really bad car for Ferrari standard, he had TEN podiums. TEN. His drives during the first half of this year was fantastic. IMHO, he is the only one who is the closest to the prime Schumacher in the current grid. And he is the only one that you can say he is at the same level of Schumacher.

I say this, but you have to know that before he came to Ferrari i have used to HATE this guy. I have never forget what he said at Brazil 2006 about Ferrari. When Raikkonen was " fired " for Alonso i was so sad, it's hurt me a lot to watch this driver at Ferrari. Even now, i'm not in love for him, but he is a real BEAST, and hopefully for F1 he didn't move to Red Bull after 2007.

[Gerhard Berger]

I think perhaps people see Alonso as a relatively weak qualifier because the Ferrari has been weak in qualifying for the last 2 years now. His record against Massa is excellent in qualifying.

[Gerhard Berger]

Depends, how good do you think his Ferrari is?
Do you believe it every time he puts his team down even when they've won a race?

He doesnt put the team down. He puts the car down. And it's not only him - even Fry and Tombazis (the guys who are ultimately responsible for the car) have admitted numerous times that they are not where they want to be.

Do you believe that Ferrari is midfield material when Massa seems to have a stronger second half of the season?

It was during the first 4 races.

Do you believe to finish first, first you need to finish, and a fast car that doesn't finish is useless?

Of course. Though in these modern times, an F1 car which is "unreliable" will usually DNF in only 1 or 2 races. Having a fast car is more important.

Fernando's been great this season, but for some reason he's so set in making us all believe that only Hamilton is on his level, Vettel can only win in the fastest car and he is fighting for the championship in a Minardi, while any level-headed Formula One-follower would realize the Ferrari is not as bad as he makes out to be, and has been faster than the Red Bull for several races this year.

Well i don't think he tries to claim his car is at the level of a Minardi. When the car was genuinly fast (e.g. at Monza) he was happy to say that he had the fastest car. People will interpret his words whichever way they want.

[iotar__]

Simply brilliant.

He's not head and shoulders in front of everyone else, that's not how F1 works but I can't see any other driver ATM putting such performances as Hockenheim or India. "Somehow" he ends up at maximum possible position. He's the best at what I would call applied aggression and measured risk. You just know he's always there to be in front even if it's not possible, like for example in Singapore vs Maldonado

BTW it's laughable to question Alonso's speed, this above "oh but he's not the fastest etc. " patronizing nonsense. He's got as much speed as any driver in F1 at the moment. You can't achieve what he does without very top speed, both qualy and races. On one hand it's repeated nonsense on the other it's the exercise for fans of certain drivers to feel better, "well he may be uhhh "the best" but it's only mathematical sum of mediocrity". No, wrong.

It would be very "unfair" if he doesn't win the title this season. Everyone knows who was the best driver this year. It's also worth noticing that one of his best seasons is his twelfth (or whatever) in F1.

[raymondu999]

BTW it's laughable to question Alonso's speed, this above "oh but he's not the fastest etc. " patronizing nonsense. He's got as much speed as any driver in F1 at the moment. You can't achieve what he does without very top speed, both qualy and races.

No one is doubting he has top speed. But remember this is all relative - being 0.002 slower than someone else also means "he's not the fastest"

It would be very "unfair" if he doesn't win the title this season.

I agree - despite not being an Alonso supporter. But since when has life always done what is fair?

[mzivtins]

Alonso has a driving style, prowess and aura that exerts itself through the car... you can just see his style when pushing hard in that ferrari. I believe it is very rare to be able to watch a car work and understand exactly what the driver is trying to achieve. Regardless of if he is great or not, for some reason he seems at one with the car no matter what weekend.

Watching Alonso pounce through the field last year and this year has been one of the few spectacles of F1. He has gained so many fans, and huge respect all over the racing world by doing nothing other than being bloody good and an incredible sportsman with mountains of racecraft.

There are a few threads kicking around about how modern day f1 drivers dont respect each other on the track, well i think that is boll#x.
Whoever you support, this is pure racing, pure F1 :
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvby72SaTqw[/youtube]

I'm a pure McLaren fan, but i cannot shut myself up with things to say about Alonso, i could watch his onboards ALL raceand be hooked!

[Gerhard Berger]

I agree - despite not being an Alonso supporter. But since when has life always done what is fair?

F1 is typically not a "fair" sport, especially if you look at it from a drivers perspective, which alot of fans tend to do. As an Alonso/Ferrari fan, i certainly won't think any less of Alonso if he doesn't win this championship. It was similar with Schumacher before his first Ferrari championship.

[timbo]

In my opinion Alonso is not quite shabby in qualifying as many seem to think. From Q1 to Q3 usually he finds some time every lap, on this he is easily on par with Hamilton/Vettel. Other drivers like Button, Webber or Massa often would post a lap and cannot improve on it. With Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel it is almost always a push some more with each new lap.

[raymondu999]

I agree - despite not being an Alonso supporter. But since when has life always done what is fair?

F1 is typically not a "fair" sport, especially if you look at it from a drivers perspective, which alot of fans tend to do. As an Alonso/Ferrari fan, i certainly won't think any less of Alonso if he doesn't win this championship. It was similar with Schumacher before his first Ferrari championship.

Agreed. F1 (and to be fair, most other sports) not about fairness - it's about results. If someone got them with an unfair advantage (not in the cheating sense, but in the sense that one has a better racket/car/whatever than the other guy) and they win it - then they've still won it.

From Q1 to Q3 usually he finds some time every lap, on this he is easily on par with Hamilton/Vettel.

Why does a laptime increase indicate a good qualifier? I think most F1 drivers gain time from Q1 through Q3 anyways, in general conditions.

Other drivers like Button, Webber or Massa often would post a lap and cannot improve on it. With Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel it is almost always a push some more with each new lap.

I disagree. Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel have at times not been able to improve on Q2 times in Q3, or Q2 in Q1, etc. Circuit evolution plays a massive role in this too, let's not forget.

[timbo]

From Q1 to Q3 usually he finds some time every lap, on this he is easily on par with Hamilton/Vettel.

Why does a laptime increase indicate a good qualifier? I think most F1 drivers gain time from Q1 through Q3 anyways, in general conditions.

Other drivers like Button, Webber or Massa often would post a lap and cannot improve on it. With Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel it is almost always a push some more with each new lap.

I disagree. Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel have at times not been able to improve on Q2 times in Q3, or Q2 in Q1, etc. Circuit evolution plays a massive role in this too, let's not forget.

Well, I stopped collecting .pdf's but this could be a good exercise at data analysis. Surely, circuit evolution does play a lot in this but I would propose this as a theory -- you can access what driver is capable in qualifying by watching a progress in the lap times and comparing with overall grid progress.

[raymondu999]

you can access what driver is capable in qualifying by watching a progress in the lap times and comparing with overall grid progress.

Reason being? I don't follow your reasoning

[timbo]

you can access what driver is capable in qualifying by watching a progress in the lap times and comparing with overall grid progress.

Reason being? I don't follow your reasoning

Well, a driver being closer to 100% of what is car is capable of must also be consistent. If driver is always improving at faster rate than the grid overall it means he is closer to the maximum of the car/track.
It may appear in many aspects, e.g. how Schumy could post fastest laps before the pit-stop.

[Kiril Varbanov]

Indeed, consistency is what qualifies Alonso, just as well as adaptability. This is one of the prime differences between him and Massa, for example.
In regards to pole positions - it's the car that allows you to do it. For the record - Alonso has 22 poles, Hamilton 24.

Worth mentioning his physical condition - wasn't he really fast with the BATAK machine and riding kilometers with the bicycle, scoring some ridiculously high average speeds?

He gained my personal respect for being the driver who stopped the domination of MSC - the years when F1 was extremely boring sometimes. The next who will stop Vettel & Newey will go up in my rank, too.

Someone posted this video on the first page - http://youtu.be/yvby72SaTqw - who are these guys, is that La Sexta or other Spanish Channel? Why on earth they talk over the team radio? I can understand them for being ecstatic about Alonso's battle with both Mclarens, but this is TV commentary we are talking about?

[raymondu999]

Well, a driver being closer to 100% of what is car is capable of must also be consistent. If driver is always improving at faster rate than the grid overall it means he is closer to the maximum of the car/track.

But the reverse must also be true though - if they improved more than the field improved, that means relatively, they were slower in Q1 and Q2. If you get what I'm saying.

But how the track evolution actually affects the laptimes is another black art - we've seen sometimes that conditions change rather than improve, and some guys fall into a temperature sweet spot and others fall out.