Three Top Teams, Six Seats, Only One Contract for ‘07?
Written by George Katinger · May 15, 2006
You would think there is something wrong with Ferrari, Renault and McLaren, with no one besides Fernando Alonso willing to admit having a contract.
Well actually there IS something wrong with McLaren, they happen to suck big time this year. Exactly what’s wrong has yet to be determined. But It has to be a rarity when all three teams have only one firm driver contract for 2007. Michael Schumacher is suddenly coy about announcing his intentions; Renault will not extend Fisichella’s contract and Alonso is committed to McLaren, and Raikkonen and Ferrari will not publicly admit they have eloped and are in bed together for the next two years. Poor Montoya, Massa and Fisichella are all apparetly out in the cold depending on who goes where.
Yes the silly season is in full swing. It is even seeping down the grid to the lesser teams, with Christian Klien claiming he is much faster than “Uncle” David!
And as far as Alonso’s commitment to drive for McLaren next year, do you suppose he can do a Button, and buy his way out of the contract? Wouldn’t that take the shine off dear old Ron’s Pate? Speaking of the ever optimistic Ron Dennis, have you read any of his responses to next years driver’s questions? Check out these quotes:
“We have a very firm plan in place now and we know exactly what we’re doing,” he announced in standard McLaren-speak.
“We’ll start to implement a plan which has provided for all contingencies. We think we’re now at a stage as a team where we’re going to start making decisions and they will unfold over the next two or three weeks.”
Nice job Ron, only you could devise a plan that could cover ALL contingencies, which will allow you to START making decisions in around three weeks. Am I the only one to see the absurdity of that statement?
Meanwhile over at Ferrari, Jean Todt thinks “Mikey The Schu” is just a spoiled brat:
“Michael said, if I want I can
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Good thoughts on all points, George. I’d love to see a resurgence of McLaren, but it doesn’t look promising. If only they had a fast driver. Wink, wink.
It’s a pretty good bet that Heiki will be driving for Renault next year if not sooner. Even with a podium it seems to be going pear shaped for Fisi. Did he really say he went off because the pit said something to him over the radio?
I’d love to see Michael wave his outrageous fee for something more modest in the way of a two year contract, put that money into whatever else the team needs, and see him race for the joy of racing with Kimi as an equal team mate. Wow! Did I really just type that? Must be something in the water here making me delirious.
And in the back ground sits Dave Richards, with how knows who (VW/Audi?) backing him. Ready and eger to plan with the big boys. After his success with ProDrive and what he did at BAR (compared to what they have done since D.R. i.e. sucking)
who would beat against his team making a real push for someone that has nothing left to prove and yet still wants to prove everything.
That wold throw a monkey wrench in the works.
Need more of that water. Cheers
Is Flavio SO dense or so taken up with his own ego as to not recognize the marketing potential of a Sebastien Bourdais driving for a Renault team? At the least give him a proper test and see what he has to offer!
One can’t help think that Alonso just might be thinking, “what the hell is going on at McLaren.” We all expected McLaren to be challenging wins. I’m sure Alonso expected it too. Perhaps McLaren were at their height last year. i agree with poster about richards, he seems to be in good spot, a true dark horse.
Is Flavio SO dense or so taken up with his own ego as to not recognize the marketing potential of a Sebastien Bourdais driving for a Renault team?
The answer is yes, somehow SB fell foul of Renault- & he did test for them on more than one occasion- the fact that he was not part of their junior development programme egg Hieki Hohalvien (correct spelling?) is apparent. I don’t know, maybe his management shot themselves in the foot, he was in F3000 right under F1’s nose for several seasons before he won the title.
McLaren once again is suffering from engine problems. THis time it is not reliabilty but just being underpowered. Maybe it is a direct result of trying to build a solid two race engine. F1 magazine estimates they are down 30 to 50HP off of Renault and Ferrari. They have an amazing chasis that apparently prefers to have a full tank of gas for speed which would have been great if they had the power. Imagine having a car that is faster on full tanks. Qualify on the pole with a full tank go further than the guys behind you for pits and never give up the lead. It would have worked out great if they had the engine to deliver the performance the car was designed for. Oh well. There is always next year. The same can’t be said for Ferrari or Renault. Both of those teams have big financial questions about how long Fiat and Renault are will to cover the bills. With all the contracts ending at Ferrari for the major players, we could see a significant drop in F1 support when the Michael show is over. The French company will probably bow out in 09.
P.S. Sebastien would end up like all the other Cart go F1 guys. He would be an Andretti or Zanardi. Considering how bad the cart cars have gotten with their low budget teams, he would be overwhelmed by the testing demands and the feedback required of him for the constant changes to the car. JV and Montoya were guys sitting in Cart waiting for the right opportunity in F1. They raced when cart was competitive. Cart is done. Tracy is his only competition and the guy is like 45.
No doubt car quality is down in Champ Cars vs. F1, but they still pack 750 hp, and have NO driver aids like traction control. I would argue it takes MORE skill to pilot a Champ Car at speed than an F1 car. Do we think that F3000 or GP2 cars are faster or more comptetitive than CC cars? I don’t know for sure but I would guess not. So if you bring up GP2 drivers to F1 I would say a top Champ Car shoe like Seabass or Junqy should have the skill sets for F1.
Anyone, please chime in on this, I’d really like some other opinions.
Ummmmm. Just a thought here. It’s mid May. We’ve had what? Six Races? There is the guts of a long season still to go even if the Drivers title looks a done deal. I wish we could (well you could anyway, ‘cos I’ve no coverage) enjoy the races and keep the scheming to within the teams. Yeah, new wings all round at the worst race of the year to take advantage of them.
I’m getting old.
Brian
Brian, good to hear your voice again. I’ve thought of your predicament at every race with sadness. Do you at the least get re-broadcasts or thorough news coverage with lots of highlights?
Patience my friend, with time all things change.
Speaking of Ron, I am starting to agree more and more with George. As much as I would hate to see the McLaren name disappear it looks like it will either be Ron leaving or Mercedes taking over and branding the team Mercedes. His comments this week on Renault and not giving much credit to Ferrari just smell like jealousy. It is a shame because I really like McLaren. How bout JV topping the Paul Ricard testing timesheets, seems he is getting his speed back.
I would have to agree about Bourdais, he deserves a go. I think that Renault need to sack Fisichucka he just doesn’t have the speed and consistency, if F1 is serious about cost cutting they should go back to steel disc brakes with some fat callipers on each side. The punters would love the extended braking distances. It’s ridiculous spending weeks baking a bloody pad and disk in an oven when you have to stretch a motor for two races, and stick Webber in the Renault.