Alonso back in F1 for 2021

[C8RKH]

Looks like Alonso will be back in F1 with Renault for 2021. I for one am not a huge fan of this development and can't see it really benefiting Renault overall as Alonso has form in negatively impacting upon his "teams" internal performance.

I think he should just retire gracefully as he will be in a mid field car at best, certainly not a WDC winning car or possibly even a GP winning car.

[Chillidoggy]

Yeah, but the burning question is, will he take a knee?

[C8RKH]

At 39 (or will he be forty by 2021) the real question will be if he does take a knee, how will he get back up again?

[Francisco Franco]

F1 better without him imo, one of the very few Spanish sportsman who is disliked by many of his countryman.

also, rude as you like, I remember him being nasty to Johnny Herbert on live TV,  no one needs to be nasty to Johnny!

[electro_boy]

I'm torn between the two sides; on one hand he clearly has some amazing talent so would be great to see someone of his skill on the track again.  But on the other no one really has anything else good to say about him so think he should make way for some younger driver.

I would be less torn if he was given a half decent car someone from top 3 so we can at least see him dicing about with people.   But I don't think the Renault is very good and he'll just be struggling out on his own so we wont get to see any of his great driving.

[C8RKH]

This is what is so bad about Alonso being back in F1 - what complete and utter bullshit - Alonso has no interest in 2021 as he is a strategist and it is all about 2022.

Fcuk me, how naive are people!  Alonso "KNOWS" he is at best getting in a mid pack "Renault" so he is getting in his excuses early for what he know will be a mediocre "mid pack" set of results results in 2021. End of. In my very humble opinion.

Oh and for balance, Hamilton, a driver I admire, needs to stay out of politics and just drive his car. It's not the message that I have an issue with, it's how he is delivering it....

https://www.gpfans.com/en/articles/54897/alonso-has-almost-no-interest-in-2021-renault-boss-abiteboul/

[Techyd]

On 29/07/2020 at 07:44, C8RKH said:

Oh and for balance, Hamilton, a driver I admire, needs to stay out of politics and just drive his car. It's not the message that I have an issue with, it's how he is delivering it....

I agree - Hamilton is a racer, and a truly epic one at that.  He is not a diplomat, he is not a leader and he is not cohesive or eloquent enough with his words to change the world.  All he needs to do is set a great example, by being a nice guy, by being hardworking and humanitarian and lastly showing a bit more personality / sense of humour; he clearly worries too much about saying the wrong thing (I don't envy the pressure he must feel under to say the right thing - and on a tangent, it's exactly why I think Twitter is a complete total waste of humanities time!)

 

 

[Toeside]

Agreed.

There is no escaping his ability. He would be a much more plausible role model if he was more personable and able to discuss more mundane topics with a degree of humour.

The points he is vocal on are quite polarised and because of his lifestyle/sponsorship leaves him open to easy challenge which he doesn't appear to recognise.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

It’ll be interesting to see what Lewis does after he has hung up his driving gloves. He’s clearly earned more money than he can possibly spend, but I can’t see him just putting his slippers on, or even being a Sky F1 pundit. I think his faux showbiz lifestyle with his new “friends” is now so far removed from normality, that he will just end up doing the rounds in Hollywood telling everyone who will listen how he grew up in a divided family on the mean streets of Stevenage. Eventually they will run out of interest in him and he’ll move on. I wonder if he is still in regular contact with any of his old friends back home? Unlikely I reckon.

[C8RKH]

3 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

I wonder if he is still in regular contact with any of his old friends back home?

He dresses like he goes back to Stevenage on a regular basis.Think this was last weekend around the back of the shopping centre..

[mg4lotus]

Can we change the thread name from Alonso to Hamilton? I think he is a brilliant driver too, as long as he doesn't let his alternate life impinge on the driving, I hope he goes on for years to come.

[Francisco Franco]

Bollocks to the pair of them imo, I’m cheering Norris on!

[scotty435]

Wow some negativity on the forum for both Alonso  and especially Lewis, yes both have there faults, but don’t we all and yes I don’t agree everything they put into the public spot light, but as drivers will they ever be bettered? In Lewis’s case I think not, appreciate his achievements if you don’t agree with his politics no problem there are many that do. 

[Francisco Franco]

You are entitled to an opinion just as much as I am,.

imo Hamilton doesn’t come close to Fangio, Clark or Senna

[scotty435]

Like you said we are all entitled to our opinions will leave you to dwell on yours. Different eras and yes all three fantastic drives. Obviously there is a reason you don’t rate Lewis and one can only wonder why?

[Neal H]

Lewis Hamilton the racing driver absolutely deserves to be right up there with Fangio, Clark, Senna and Schumacher. Each would be recognised by their peers as the best of the best.

well, that’s my opinion 😊

[Francisco Franco]

Actually that’s not the reason, but hey, you mentioned it. I don’t rate Vettel either, I think manufacturer dominance has played a big part in both of their careers. No one could touch the Redbull when Vettel got three of his four championships, and Ferrari still couldn’t live with Mercedes even when they were allegedly outside the rules on the  fuelling.

I can’t see Vettel or Hamilton doing what Senna did in the Toleman (84 Monaco) or Clark, having to turn the ignition off on the straights due to oil pressure problems and still winning.... I just don’t see them being on the same level.

Fair point on Schumacher.... but he was a bad sportsman on many occasions.

After watching this years F1 so far, I notice that Racing Point (Basically the 2019 works Mercedes) is the second fastest team.

.

[Neal H]

I agree it’s all about the car (80% car 20% driver?), but it’s always been that way. I also agree that I wouldn’t put Vettel in the same bracket, but anyone who can win a world championship deserves respect (let alone four) plus he’s won 53 Grand Prix so clearly knows what he’s doing.

Hamilton beating him to the title in 2017 and 2018 when the Ferrari was the faster car shows that the very best driver can still make the difference though and I don’t think that anyone other than Hamilton could have done that.

2019, Bottas would probably have been world champion if Hamilton hadn’t been there, but it would have been close between him, Verstappen and Vettel. The fact Hamilton ran away with it shows what happens when the best driver is in the best car - Just like Schumacher in his Ferrari days.

Back to Alonso, I think if he had still been at Ferrari in 2017 & 2018, he would have been world champion in at least one of those years. All conjecture of course.

[Chapman1]

I for one think that Alonso, Vettel or even Hamilton couldn’t replicate the stunts pulled off by drivers of the 50s, 60s, 70s etc. Those drivers had much more talent than the drivers of today. You have to remember as well that for many of the drivers that won the championship pre 1968. Would of had next to none downforce. They would take a corner so quickly without any downforce at all. Overall, for drivers of today with modern cars and modern technology, I think they would struggle In the likes of a lotus type 25 or a Brabham BT3.

[pete]

I would have thought that and then i went to Goodwood and saw the modern drivers in the older cars in race conditions and most if them adapted brilliantly.