Otromundo wrote: ↑30 Jan 2025, 20:56
I continue to be surprised by the lack of development and mistakes from last season. I wasn't expecting it, especially the erratic way it all unfolded.
When the season started, the first goal for me was to ride comfortably alongside the other Mercedes engines except the Williams. I still think the same. Although now I think Williams has gone up a level and can be another danger alongside MB and McL.
If in the first 3 races the car travels alongside its brand mates "comfortably"... without looking like a truck on steroids in the corners... and not being a snail on the straights... I will feel much calmer and confident.
I understand the enormous difficulties involved in creating a very competitive F1 team, which requires not only a lot of money but also putting together a high-quality human team in adequate facilities. But I didn't like the second half of last season and I'm still not over it.
Regarding the future with Honda, I prefer not to comment. There are much more important and urgent things ahead.
In my opinion, there is no difference between fighting for the rear and 5th/6th place. Would Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Redbull fans be happy to fight for the top 5? No.In 2023 I remember well how McLaren, despite starting from behind, had the presumption of believing they could fight with those in front and they succeeded. This is the step to take but I think they understood it, the mentality is everything. In Alpine they took the car out of the showroom and put the winning one full of titles, ask yourself a few questions. These things they count more than anything.
And that's why I have little faith in Honda's words, when I already read "everything is difficult", etc. I would prefer instead to read sentences like: "everything is under control and we are doing well". Etc.It's a clear alarm bell. I'm not an expert in the technique even if I understood something in my ignorance (I still think the front suspension was Aston Martin's problem this year), but I can read from the words spoken, body movements and facial expressions, when a situation is good or not. As an Alonso fan I followed Alpine for example and I remember well who said they were making good progress, that they needed this five-year plan to win and from there I understood that they were going nowhere. Long-term plans are useless, no you don't know what can happen tomorrow, you wake up, you lose engineers, the opponents make more progress than you, they change the rules and they destroy everything you've done, so you have to act quickly and immediately. That said, this new structure inspires me a lot and I have a lot of confidence, I think the approach will be similar to the one I described : winning is the most important thing right away.
