Fernando Alonso announces his retirement.

[Andres125sx]

Agree, but to be fair Hamilton is best qualifier in the grid, so not matching Lewis can´t be considered poor perfomance. He also beated Alonso consistenly on saturdays when they drove same McLaren in 2007.

Anycase it´s also true Ricciardo beated Vettel fair and square with same car so yes, the more seasons I see Vettel the more I´m conviced he´s not at same level to Lewis and Alonso, not same speed to Hamilton, and far from Alonso consistency

[diffuser]

Yes, too late.

He Sucks for leaving F1. I'm sure he would jump at the opportunity but they are still pissed at him for leaving for McLaren.

The key principals at Ferrari during Alonso's stay have nothing to do with the company now.

Totally different group there now. The "bad blood" thing is overplayed and not actually a problem IMO.

It's the only thing that makes sense to me. Clearly Alonso is a better driver than Vettel.

[diffuser]

He Sucks for leaving F1. I'm sure he would jump at the opportunity but they are still pissed at him for leaving for McLaren.

why would they be pissed? Wasn't it the case they practically canned him?

The story goes he was running out of patience and tried to muscle the management into a restructure. The final breakup was kinda mutual. The moment Vettel came available, loosing Alonso wasn't so bad anymore (remember, half way trough 2014 there were even less options then now. The breakup was at least less messy then with Mercedes in 2007. 2014 was born out of frustration.

On the other hand, if they would ask Vettel to go, it would be their third lead driver that left before the end of their contract, four if you count Schumacher being forced out.

Yeah, that isn't true either. They had just hired James Allison at the end of 2013. He was just coming on line in 2014. 2015 would be the first Allison car. The restructure was on going. Marco Mattiacci was fired for not being able to retain Alonso. They even asked James Allison to try and convince Alonso to stay.

The breakup wasn't messy at all. Alonso wanted out, he was wrong, triggered the Ferrari performance clause and he opted out. Finished. Ferrari moved on to Vettel.

[diffuser]

Agree, but to be fair Hamilton is best qualifier in the grid, so not matching Lewis can´t be considered poor perfomance. He also beated Alonso consistenly on saturdays when they drove same McLaren in 2007.

Anycase it´s also true Ricciardo beated Vettel fair and square with same car so yes, the more seasons I see Vettel the more I´m conviced he´s not at same level to Lewis and Alonso, not same speed to Hamilton, and far from Alonso consistency

I agree.

[Just_a_fan]

Alonso is having a bit of a last minute bromance for Hamilton:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/45905592

Alonso said: "He showed the talent from day one and fighting for the championship in his rookie year, winning in 2008.
"I am happy for him because he showed the talent from day one, he was able to win races when the car was able to win it, but also able to win when the car was not on top of the form, he still won some races, it is impressive."

(my bold)

Or he's having a dig at Vettel...

[Andres125sx]

Well, except Button thanks to the disastrous Honda PU, Lewis is the only team mate to beat Alonso in 15 seasons, and that was without scoring one single point more despite the obvious support from the team to Lewis, so Alonso perfectly know how how fast he is.

Vettel OTOH, he almost beat him twice with a 5 tenths slower car, first ruined by fool Ferrari strategists, and second by Grosjean clash at Spa. Without these two incidents wich were out of his control, he´d be a four times Champion and Vettel only two, despite driving less dominant cars than Seb.

[TEHNOS]

What about puncturing himself on Kimis wing in Suzuka 12

[Gaz.]

Well, except Button thanks to the disastrous Honda PU, Lewis is the only team mate to beat Alonso in 15 seasons, and that was without scoring one single point more despite the obvious support from the team to Lewis, so Alonso perfectly know how how fast he is.

Vettel OTOH, he almost beat him twice with a 5 tenths slower car, first ruined by fool Ferrari strategists, and second by Grosjean clash at Spa. Without these two incidents wich were out of his control, he´d be a four times Champion and Vettel only two, despite driving less dominant cars than Seb.

What about jumping the start in China, not giving Kubica back the place in Silverstone, having a dire Belgium GP and then crashing out in 2010?

[NathanOlder]

But If Lewis had a team mates help in 2010 and 2012 like Alonso did in those years, Lewis would have beat the pair of them

[LeClerc]

https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news ... e/3198026/

Sigh of relief at maison LeClerc.

[Andres125sx]

Well, except Button thanks to the disastrous Honda PU, Lewis is the only team mate to beat Alonso in 15 seasons, and that was without scoring one single point more despite the obvious support from the team to Lewis, so Alonso perfectly know how how fast he is.

Vettel OTOH, he almost beat him twice with a 5 tenths slower car, first ruined by fool Ferrari strategists, and second by Grosjean clash at Spa. Without these two incidents wich were out of his control, he´d be a four times Champion and Vettel only two, despite driving less dominant cars than Seb.

What about jumping the start in China, not giving Kubica back the place in Silverstone, having a dire Belgium GP and then crashing out in 2010?

All drivers make mistakes, specially when their car is half a second slower and his average grid position is around 5th but even so he´s fighting for the title... btw, can you point me to some other WDC contender who had to start that back so frequently because of the lack of car potential on saturdays?

Remember Alonso is a very good qualifier, even Massa was, and his average grid position was always several positions behind Alonso.

What Alonso did in 2010 and 2012 was astonishing, and without those problems wich were out of his control he´d have beaten Vettel, even with the mistakes you mention

[Gaz.]

Well, except Button thanks to the disastrous Honda PU, Lewis is the only team mate to beat Alonso in 15 seasons, and that was without scoring one single point more despite the obvious support from the team to Lewis, so Alonso perfectly know how how fast he is.

Vettel OTOH, he almost beat him twice with a 5 tenths slower car, first ruined by fool Ferrari strategists, and second by Grosjean clash at Spa. Without these two incidents wich were out of his control, he´d be a four times Champion and Vettel only two, despite driving less dominant cars than Seb.

What about jumping the start in China, not giving Kubica back the place in Silverstone, having a dire Belgium GP and then crashing out in 2010?

All drivers make mistakes, specially when their car is half a second slower and his average grid position is around 5th but even so he´s fighting for the title... btw, can you point me to some other WDC contender who had to start that back so frequently because of the lack of car potential on saturdays?

Remember Alonso is a very good qualifier, even Massa was, and his average grid position was always several positions behind Alonso.

What Alonso did in 2010 and 2012 was astonishing, and without those problems wich were out of his control he´d have beaten Vettel, even with the mistakes you mention

In China and Silverstone he was 3rd on the grid, so it was still in his hands. The Ferrari had 2 poles to Mclaren's one. Alonso's average qualifying position was 4.7, Hamilton's was 4.9 and Button's was 6.9.

The championship is 19 rounds, you can't drink 18 beers then say it was the 19th that made you vomit.

[Manoah2u]

So....Alonso back in F1 in 2020 in a Mercedes replacing Bottas or Hamilton,
or in a Ferrari replacing Vettel?

[santos]

So....Alonso back in F1 in 2020 in a Mercedes replacing Bottas or Hamilton,
or in a Ferrari replacing Vettel?

I don't belive in that... For Ferrari, i guess he burned some bridges. And for Mercedes, it would be a bit strange. Toto was claiming a place for Ocon, so i think the next time there is a free seat at Mercedes, it will be for a junior driver.

[Just_a_fan]

So....Alonso back in F1 in 2020 in a Mercedes replacing Bottas or Hamilton,
or in a Ferrari replacing Vettel?

Why? He'll be 39 years old. He's the past, he won't be coming back when there are so many young guns looking for seats. Young guns with no past history and who are much more likely to do what they're told.