2017 Mclaren F1 Team - Honda

[max_speed]

"Dennis sabotaged Alonso"

Err, yes....that would be when Alonso tried to blackmail Dennis and magically came out of it scot free...
...not to mention having his teammates crash to give him the advantage at Renault, which cast a bit of doubt over previous wins too...

Alonso's not exactly the innocent party a lot of his fanbase seem to think. He's a decent driver, and where he shines is getting the car in the right place to take advantage through the race, but I don't think he's even in the top 3 of the fastest drivers on the grid. I certainly don't think he's worth the money Mclaren/Honda are paying him, bit funny really when they lost Hamilton over less money

did you own an F1 team in past ? or were you a race driver ( may be the fastest one ever) , so fast that we missed even following you up across seasons. you seems to have better understanding of alonso than most journalists , racing drivers and team principals

[diffuser]

Not sure why there is so much speculation about Alonso.

All this rehashing of old stuff... Just sounds like a bunch of mud slinging...It wasn't pleasant the first time.

[Vasconia]

I´ve read an article where they say Alonso is happy with 2017 cars, wich was a relief to me as an Alonso supporter, because with these winter tests I was afraid about his retirement. Remember he said himself his retirement was dependant on 2017 cars more than McHonda perfomance.

He said now they can drive, unlike previous seasons when they were forced to drive like a small child, nursing the tires to avoid overheating

The way you attack the corners, the way you feel the grip, has been a good surprise

To be able to drive the way you want and not like a small child, so the tyres don't overheat - that's the best way to feel a Formula 1 car.

It's been fun to drive freely again.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... l-children

But Hamilton is saying that you cant push all the laps because of the tyres. Quite contradictory, isn´t it? anyway I believe Alonso in this case, the downforce that those cars have plus the harder tyres must let the drivers push much more than in 2016,

[Vasconia]

Gonzalo Serrano, the only comentator I rate even lower than Lobato

His program, MQC (Más que coches, more than cars) is the only automotive/motorsport related program I never stop at when doing zapping. And I watch almost anything!

Yeah, he was pathetic but at least was funnier tan Lobato, he isn´t even funny.

[Schuttelberg]

Do you know what iv noticed massa has always been in an higher finishing team than Alonso ever since they parted ways at Ferrari. even though Alonso was always the higher level of driver whilst at Ferrari (and arguably after). Man he's unlucky

Unfortunately, it's not as straight forward as that. I'm not going to make comment on Felipe Massa, because I don't want to come across as a biased hater or someone who is basically made of a heart of stone or something on those lines.

Let's come to Alonso.

For years and years, fans I meet in person or on Formula 1 forums have been saying this and personally, I never got my head around it. I'll tell you why?

2005-2006 - Alonso was in the best car, he was the best driver and after 5/6 years of staying at Renault, his stint ended in two magnificent world championships with him beating the best driver of almost two/three generations (Michael Schumacher). In a lot of ways, he had replaced Schumacher as the numero uno of the sport and rightly so. However, after the Chinese Grand Prix that year, before the penultimate round in Japan, Alonso revealed a chink in his armour that's prevalent even today. He was in his mid 20's then, he's in his mid 30's now. He accused the team of sabotaging his chances of becoming WDC, a claim that was overlooked because of his unfair penalty in Italy and with him ultimately winning the title, all was well and almost forgotten.

2007 - Alonso stepped into a restructured and well organised McLaren which would prove to be a race winning and championship winning car. However, for reasons discussed to death he was unable to adjust and thought it better to go to a Renault that had past it's best.

2008-09- Alonso turns down opportunities to go to Honda/Brawn as well as RBR, teams that would win 4 championships each from 2009-2016.

2010-2017 - He leaves Ferrari after 5 years of trying to win the title and after the shock of Rosberg retiring, turns a Mercedes-Benz drive down.

In my honest opinion, it takes a very well rounded and complete driver to beat Michael Schumacher the way Alonso did, but F1 is a lot about team work and success takes a lot of time to come and sometimes doesn't come at all. Alonso's career is a blue print for young drivers how not to lose patience when you're not winning and try to stick it out and believe in your own team's abilities without dissing them in the media in front of the world. So, you can be the best driver in the world but without being an out and out selfless team man, you're nobody and this isn't a dig at Alonso because I do believe he's one of the best drivers F1 has ever had, but this has been a weakness of his since the early days and while he's adapted to numerous regulation changes and cars and driven the wheels off them, he's not conquered his greatest weakness yet.

In 2005 Renault was more reaible but slower car than the Mclaren(lots of times by about 0.7 secs)
In 2006 Renault was more reaible but slower car than Ferrari(even a super slow driver like Massa that lost BIIIIIIIG time when ALO teammate, menaged to win a few times that year)
So renault was NOT best car in those years and Fernando Alonso still stands as the last World champion in a inferior car!
Twice

In 2007 Dennis sabotaged Alonso.

He did not turned Mercedes down, why you making stuff up?

Mostly everything in your post is truth twisting and lies, whit only 1 goal, to prove to yourself that Sebastian is Better than Alonso.

He is not despite title count, and in the same car Alonso would blown Seb away just like other mediocore drivers he did.

I will not respond or debate with you mate because I sense a very condescending tone about your reply. Sorry.

One thing I will tell you is that in my opinion, Alonso is a better driver than 'my' Vettel. Sometimes in sport, you're a fan of somebody not because they're the best but simply because they're good enough and you relate to their personality or aspire to be like them. That's all. In no way was I trying to prove one is better than the other.

[Schuttelberg]

Time will tell, but if after winter tests he´s happy with the cars (2017 cars, not McHonda car) that´s a huge step forward for those of us who enjoy watching Alonso on track

This is just my gut feeling- That third world title, is his destiny! It will happen!

I think he's rejuvenated with the cars this year and one can understand his frustrations. People are saying he's running out of time but I don't understand how? He looks fit, is driving as well as ever. It's just a challenge of patience and perseverance is something Alonso has more of in his little toe than most drivers in the world. It's all about patience!

I feel Honda can recover from this shambles beginning, specially with the regulations not limiting development. Lastly, I know not of anyone who doesn't enjoy Alonso on track, specially at the sharp end. F1 is devoid of that thrill and drama without him mixing it at the front while he's on the grid. Microphone in hand is another matter though.

[Andres125sx]

I´ve read an article where they say Alonso is happy with 2017 cars, wich was a relief to me as an Alonso supporter, because with these winter tests I was afraid about his retirement. Remember he said himself his retirement was dependant on 2017 cars more than McHonda perfomance.

He said now they can drive, unlike previous seasons when they were forced to drive like a small child, nursing the tires to avoid overheating

The way you attack the corners, the way you feel the grip, has been a good surprise

To be able to drive the way you want and not like a small child, so the tyres don't overheat - that's the best way to feel a Formula 1 car.

It's been fun to drive freely again.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... l-children

But Hamilton is saying that you cant push all the laps because of the tyres. Quite contradictory, isn´t it?

Not if you read the whole quote from Hamilton, he said this tires are much better than past season tires, but you still need some nursing, but even Lewis stated they can push much harder to previous season

[BrunoH]

i think they will have engine updates every 2 races... and bite the bullet with penalty its the only way forward i can see...

[PhillipM]

did you own an F1 team in past ? or were you a race driver ( may be the fastest one ever) , so fast that we missed even following you up across seasons. you seems to have better understanding of alonso than most journalists , racing drivers and team principals

And where is your F1 team?
Exactly, seems to be a lot of "I'm allowed opinion but nobody else is" on this thread...

[radosav]

Honda is 100 horse power down.
http://motor.as.com/motor/2017/03/14/fo ... 91943.html

[GoranF1]

Honda is 100 horse power down.
http://motor.as.com/motor/2017/03/14/fo ... 91943.html

yes, here is in short what Jo Ramirez(ex Mclaren) said....



-Engine is missing 100hp, 30km/h on the straights
-Desperate faces at Barna test, pretty much like 2015
-Chassis best of the last 3 years.
-Car behaving very well on the corners, Fernando enjoying a lot
-No way McLaren will get podiums this year
-Maybe by mid season Mclaren will start looking for another engine supplier.

[JonoNic]

That article is not in English, but I guess that Honda is 100 hp down when detuned.

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[Vasconia]

Honda is 100 horse power down.
http://motor.as.com/motor/2017/03/14/fo ... 91943.html

Just terrible, but I hope its not true.

[GoranF1]

Honda and Mclaren should do what ever they can to put 2016 unit in the car until race 4 or 5 and try to fix 2017 unit in the meantime.

[Vasconia]

That article is not in English, but I guess that Honda is 100 hp down when detuned.

Sent from my SM-A700F using Tapatalk

I read somewhere that the gap was around 30-40HP, not being detuned.