One of the inevitable questions about Alonso' future many are asking is, how could he go to Mclaren and why would Ron Dennis ever want him back after the fallout of the "spy gate" scandal of 2007.
Mclaren were slapped with a $100 million fine for getting a hold of Ferrari inside information and though the team was later able to write off the the penalty as a loss, it was still a big enough blow that Ron Dennis stopped away from racing for a few years.
Now he's back and first thing is he hires Alonso? it turns out, Alonso is still the bane of his existence because, as you know, Mclaren will be the only team to get the new Honda power units in 2015 and guess what comes in a package with the Japanese engines?
You got it, Alonso will not sign with Mclaren because, it's been said, he signed with Honda for a hefty 35 million Euro a season ($44M). It also means that, theoretically, Alonso would be free to move to any other future Honda powered team should it prove more competitive. Alonso would return to Mclaren not as a Mclaren employee.
This must drive Dennis bonkers, he needs Honda money and motors and having to take his old nemesis back must be a bitter ofpill to swallow. Of course, in this devil's bargain, he's getting the best and possibly the hungriest driver in F1 at the moment so he'll be all right with the right antacid medication and some xanax.
For his part, Fernando is off somewhere enjoying some water sports and tweeting #TheBestIsYetToCome... hey, is that a Honda water bike?
Buen fin de semana a todos!!! #loMejorEstaPorLlegar 😜😜😜
Enjoy the weekend!!!
#theBestIsYetToCome 😜😜😜 pic.twitter.com/vOwYDXcUDD
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) October 18, 2014
If Fernando races for Honda in a McLaren, how could his team ever gel? Mechanics and engineers need good feedback from the driver. Relationships are critical and an aloof driver not even getting a paycheck from the same people as his crew will make for a difficult 'team' at best.
ReplyDeleteI see Alonso having it better at Lotus where Flavio ruled and open arms will make for a closer team, only he will need to bring big sponsorship to be competitive(Santanda).
I am still thinking the three car team scenario could throw a giant wild card into this scenario. Who wouldn't want to race against Hamilton and rosberg , or Riccardo in a red bull next year ....
ReplyDeleteWith caterham and maussia finally crumbling and sauber or lotus not far behind ... The driver market can't be settled until The 3 car topic is finalized