mehulved said:Agreed that he's a great driver.
But, his behaviour doesn't talk of a world champion. He never has been able to command that respect that people like MS, Hakkinen, Senna and the likes did. He keeps on whining like a 5th standard kid. If it weren't for his whining he'd have won a lot more fans.
Mika Hakkinen had also won championships from under MS's nose but he wasn't disrespected by people.
Damon Hill, Villenue have even fought MS and won a championship each, but they were never shown in bad light.
It's clear Alonso is a great driver but not a worth champion. F1 Champion is not only about being the best driver, but also about the overall behaviour and persona of the person.
*www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63815India's Karun Chandhok will have a two-day test with the Red Bull Formula One team in Barcelona next week, the driver said in a statement on Tuesday.
Chandhok, who scored his first victory at Formula One's GP2 support series at Spa in Belgium earlier this year, is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Narain Karthikeyan, who became the first Indian to drive in F1 in 2005 when he raced for Jordan.
Karthikeyan is currently a test driver with Williams.
"It really is a dream come true for me," Chennai-born Chandhok said.
Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner said in the statement that Chandhok had shown steady improvement.
"His progress in GP2 this year has been clearly evident, culminating in a win at Spa," said Horner.
"Barcelona presents a good opportunity to put Karun in one of the cars, as our regular test driver Sebastien Buemi will be competing in the Macau F3 race," he added.
There is surging interest in the sport in India after business tycoon Vijay Mallya's takeover of Spyker, which has been renamed Force India Formula One team.
India is also due to host a Grand Prix in 2010.
SourceSeven-times world champion Michael Schumacher will come out of retirement to test Ferrari's title-winning 2007 Formula One car in Barcelona next week, the team said on Tuesday.
"It's half for pleasure, half for technical reasons," said a spokesman.
Schumacher, 38, retired from Formula One at the end of the 2006 season after winning 91 grands prix in the most successful career of any driver.
The German has stayed out of the limelight since, although he attended several races this year as a Ferrari technical adviser. The team won both of this year's titles, taking the drivers' crown with Kimi Raikkonen.
Formula One's technical rules are changing next year, with traction control systems and other so-called 'driver aids' being removed.
"Michael has a big experience in driving cars with no traction control and no electronic aids, so it makes sense for him to give his input," said Schumacher's spokeswoman.
Although Schumacher said in May he had no desire to step back into a Formula One car, team boss Jean Todt has made clear that the offer was always there.
"Todt said that if Michael had the desire to drive the car, he would be happy to fulfil it," said the spokesman, adding that Schumacher would test on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Schumacher has not taken part in a test since he retired, although he did drive the F2007 for a few laps in the wet at Ferrari's Fiorano track at the end of last month to coincide with a visit of the board of parent company FIAT.
He also drove an older car at the circuit in June as part of Ferrari's 60th anniversary celebrations.
Schumacher was also in Spain on Monday to ride Australian Casey Stoner's title-winning Ducati after the end of the MotoGP season.
The German, who also tried out a Ducati MotoGP bike at Mugello in Italy two years ago, showed he could also be quick on two wheels as he completed 58 laps.
"I didn't come here to set a good time," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "I had already ridden a Ducati. The first time I was slower, now I am around 10 seconds off the professionals and that's not bad."
*www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63878At least 15 engineers at Renault knew about the McLaren technical information that is at the centre of the latest spy investigation, autosport.com has learned.
Renault are to face a hearing of the FIA World Motor Sport Council next month to answer charges that they had in their possession intellectual property belonging to McLaren.
This information was part of a number of floppy disks that engineer Phil Mackareth brought with him to the Enstone team from McLaren in September 2006.
Renault have admitted that Mackareth had the information transferred to his computer at Renault, and showed scale drawings to 'some engineers', but are adamant that the details were not used to influence their car design.
McLaren have also conducted their own investigation into the matter at Renault's Enstone headquarters, having used the independent Kroll company, and it is believed a dossier of evidence about the matter has been submitted to the FIA.
Autosport.com understands that Renault and McLaren's investigations have revealed that more than 15 engineers in total examined the information from McLaren, which included details on the 2007 car. It is believed each of these has confirmed the fact in writing.
Sources have suggested that the engineers are not just junior staff members, but also include head of vehicle performance and R&D, deputy technical director, deputy chief designer and chief designer Tim Densham.
The extent of knowledge within Renault about the McLaren information mirrors similar claims surrounding the McLaren/Ferrari case, where the depth of the knowledge about Ferrari secrets extended well beyond just chief designer Mike Coughlan.
*www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63892McLaren's Lewis Hamilton may have blown his best chance of winning the Formula One title by failing to secure this year's championship, according to fellow-Briton Jenson Button.
"He (Hamilton) is a great driver, but there are lots of great drivers in Formula One who did not have his package," the Honda driver told the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
"What would worry me is the lost opportunity. You can't say in my sport: 'Oh well, I only missed out by a point so next year I'll go one better.' It doesn't work out like that."
Hamilton had a 12-point lead going into the penultimate race of the season in China but ended up losing the title by a single point to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen after a nightmare season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix last month.
"He should be sick as a dog because another chance like that might not come round again," said Button.
22-year-old Hamilton, who won four races in his rookie season, will start next year as a title favourite.
Hackattack said:Sorry but i disagree, because ---- you and rest other anti-alonso don't want to see the Alonso as a person, you all want to see the Alonso what the media is showing. Media huh ? it can make what not !
Can you please quote all his whines that he made throughout his career, and specially this season.
Many of you hate him just because he beat MS . Thats true.
No one is saying anything about Hamilton, just like he cried like a baby he is all this season starting from Monaco.
So people just saying alonso is a crybaby, he whines, he has a bad behaviour, and all, it only proves your faint hatred towards him.
And how come many F1 drivers adore and support him. How come he has so many friends in F1, hell even guys in other motorsport say good about him.
Too much hatred is not good for health.
Controversies Talked on Micheal ??? who is Senna ?
Some one on this forums were talking abt schumi and KIMI.. lot of things were talked abt schumi and lots of greatness was bt senna over schumi... Listen to what I have to say... keeping calm doesnt keep peoples mouth shut.. everyone, who doesnt know anything abt F1 also talks.. crap.. know the sport, know the history and talk....
1. Micheal retired for good. other wise he would have been kicked out of ferrari.
This is absolutely nonsense..bcoz ferrari still pays $6m per annum to schumi for his untitled role at ferrari which media calls
it advisor and he is still an employee of ferrari. No one ever has been paid soo much by any company after annoucing their
retirement.. so you need to understand how important he is as a person (if you think not as driver) to a team like ferrari..
2. a 38 year old mentally retarted person with career ful of controversies would have never bared a driver who would have never
accepted no2 role like massa and barichello
here is something someone said today in the news abt hamilton:
"The missing element in the makeup of Lewis Hamilton could be aggression. That is the revelation of Gerhard Berger and Eddie
Jordan."I saw how Lewis had been spoiled, never had to fight for a drive, how everything was organised for him and I wondered how
he could have a killer-instinct," said Berger.
"A successful driver has to be selfish, like Senna and like Schumacher, and in the car I knew how to be nasty if I had to be.
With Lewis, let's wait and see, but he has shown all the right instincts."
Former team owner Jordan added: "We hope (Lewis) has something steely in there, otherwise he'll be swamped."
source: www.f1live.com
If you think those 2 experts who said this are also mentally retarded.. then we all - 84000 people in this schumi community can
declare you as mentally retarded.
every driver in formula1 was into controversies.. every single driver... if you wanna talk abt KIMI only.. I would say, for his
ethics, the way he behaves, he doesnot belong to F1 at all.. talking about he shitting in the press before the race ???? is that
some kind of professionalism... Not being with the team untill the race is over and gets out to watch the hockey game..
This is not the first time.. he did this a lot times in 2005 and 2006 too when he was with McLaren... is this you call professionalism??? Now I think people knows what is being mentally retarded ???
3. what abt monaco 2005 & 2006?
what about it ???? there is nothing to discuss abt 2005 and abt 2006 ??? people who do not understand F1 talks abt it.. but let
me explain you... Schumi started back of the grid and finished 5th place with the fastest lap of the race..which means he overtook atleast 15 cars on a track which is impossible to overtake.. Now you tell me, a driver with 15yrs experience in F1 would do something like parking and start frm that end of the grid or take a second position on the grid and win the race ???
Now for why FIA punished him.. it was clearly mentioned that FIA couldnt come to a decision by reading the telemetry data on
schumis ferrari.. the decision was taken by looking at the videos and not with the help of telemetry data..
Now now you talk abt videos.. I can say Seena died in an accident with his driving fault and not the fault of his car??? but can
you believe that ??? dont talk abt monaco 2006???? its CRAP.
And now the other incidents that people talk abt... Barichello gave away his victory to schumi ???? first of all I ask - is that something that shouldnt be done according to rules in F1 ??? is that a team sport or an individual sport... why doesnt everyone talk when in cricket, sachin goes for hitting and the other batsmen just supports him??? now there you call it a team game ???? why in soccer, the ball is always passed to the main player and he makes records of maximum goals...
then also you call it a team game ???? and now if you say.. schumi took away barichellos victory for his championship, then schumi also gave up his victory to his teammate barichello in 2002 United states grandprix and also to eddie Irvin, for the championship in 1999. where did the team orders go then ???? why did people talk of team orders only when schumi was winning ????
and some people talk Senna is greater than schumi ????? Hmmmm I wont accept that.. I would accept that only if it was proved...
my thinking goes this way... Senna has 10yrs of F1 active season and he was 34 years old when he died... I ask a question.. Schumi retired being 38yrs old.. the oldest driver in F1, now I ask - even if senna was given another 4 yrs, would he have won 4 championships to equal 7 ???? would it be something acheivable for a person who won his last championship in 1991 and didnt win any in the next 3 yrs and died in an accident ???
In 162 races, senna won 41 of them... so to win another 41 it would take him another 162 races on a average which equals 324 races, and 82 victories, still very less than schumis record of 250 races, 91 victories... what do people have to say now ????
he said himself many many times "I realised that I was no longer driving the car consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a different dimension".. Now he is a driver capable of winning soo many races and break schumis record without concentration ????
now controversies -- look back into the past... A first corner clash with Berger in 1989 Brazil put them both out of the running, something generally regarded as Sennas fault.
and how abt the next race at Imola which saw Senna apparently welsh on a secret agreement that he had made with Prost about finishing order. Prost was so incensed that he refused to attend the press conference and got fined $5000 for failing to do so. An effort at reconciliation by Dennis was futile as Senna would not apologise and the miffed Prost declared that any future cooperation between them would be minimal.
Look back guys... lookk back into the history... People never talk bad about dead people and soo the controversies of Senna are not into the world...
During the Portuguese GP Mansell was given the black flag (for a pit violation) while attempting to regain second place from Senna. Neither driver saw the flag and Senna defended his spot by shutting the door on Mansell. They collided and were both out of the race. A bit sad for Senna in some ways as Mansell was already history. But the Japanese GP topped them all: Senna was disqualified. He had clashed with Prosts McLaren and put it out of its leading position. Senna got back to the pits, had the cars nosecone replaced, and went on to win the race. He was immediately disqualified for bypassing the chicane in returning to the track. Appeals followed, of course, but the ruling stood and to add insult to injury Senna was fined $100,000 for dangerous driving. Appeals and counter-appeals continued!
But once again his season was not without major controversy. Early in the year his motivation was weakened by all the nonsense following the Japanese GP debacle. However, a lively duel with Alesis Tyrrell in the USA race followed by great crowd support in his home Brazilian GP restored his spirits and made him hungry for success again. He would have won the latter race if he had been a bit more careful in passing a backmarker near the end.
Later in the season he again attracted criticism with an ill judged pass of Nanninis Benetton in the Hungarian GP, which could well have deprived Nannini of the win.
But the best (or should that be worst?) was yet to come. Ayrton had hoped to have the championship locked up before the teams left Europe for the final two races in Japan and Australia. But Prosts win in Spain had left him with a chance of taking the title and the two headed for Japan 11 points apart.
During the pre-race Ayrton, who qualified on pole, had asked the organisers to change pole position from the dirty side of the track. The request was declined and at a subsequent drivers' briefing he again became angry and stormed out of the meeting.
Tension was high on the start line and Sennas fears were realised when Prost beat him off the mark. In one of the most talked-about incidents ever in GP racing Senna managed to plough into Prosts Ferrari on the first corner and put both of them out of the race. Many considered the act to have been deliberate as it handed the championship to Senna. After the collision both cars were well off the track so there was no reason to stop the race and restart.
Some people also held the belief that Senna was seeking revenge for a similar clash at the same circuit in 1989. However, opinions from observers and non observers flew in all directions. Nelson Piquet, who started on the third row, was probably the most reliable. He merely said, Senna just drove straight into the back of Prost, and thats all there is to it.
The final GP of the year at Adelaide saw Senna leading for 62 laps before ploughing into a wall while 30 seconds ahead. Ayrton tended to blame his brakes and gearbox, but many felt that it was a repeat of his 1988 Monaco slip in concentration.
Once again he was involved in a rather unsavoury episode or two during the 1993 season. The worst, in my opinion, related to a young Eddie Irvine having his first race at that level. Jordan had started the season with Barrichello and Capelli and when the latter withdrew after two races the veteran Boutsen was signed.
Boutsen in turn threw it in after the Belgian GP when he decide that he and the car did not complement each other. Several other drivers were given a race without much success until Eddie Jordan signed Irvine for the Japanese GP. Irvine delighted all by qualifying seventh and racing strongly. However, at one point he was lapped by winner Senna. The youngster immediately saw a chance to repass the multiple world champion and did so, much to the enjoyment of TV viewers the world over. All good stuff, and although Senna soon repassed him, he did very well by taking sixth place. But the champion was not amused and instead of congratulating him on a good show after the race he strode down to the Jordan pit and clouted the young driver. Once again, action from the FIA was muted, to say the least.
The 1994 season saw Senna get pole in Brazil but spin out of the race while chasing a leading Schumacher. In the Pacific GP at Aida in Japan he again took pole but was involved in a collision on the first lap. The third race of the season was the infamous GP at Imola where he was again on pole but crashed with fatal results. Was it debris on the track, a faulty steering column or an over-enthusiastic Senna? The Italian courts are still trying to find out.
Ayrton Senna: a genius behind the wheel, without a doubt, but was he a flawed genius?
Dipen01 said:Feels Good to be back on the forum after long time
Honda have appointed former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn as their new team principal, it was announced on Monday. Brawn, who left Ferrari in October 2006 to take a years’ sabbatical, will begin work for his new employers later this month. Predecessor Nick Fry will continue as the Japanese squad’s chief executive.
Honda, who took a breakthrough race win at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, scored just six points during a bitterly disappointing 2007 season and the highly-rated Brawn will be tasked with improving the Japanese squad’s fortunes, with full responsibility for designing, manufacturing, engineering and racing their Formula One car.
"I am very excited to be joining the Honda Racing F1 Team,” said the 52-year-old. “Honda has a proud heritage in Formula One and the opportunity to help the team to realise its potential represents a fantastic new challenge for me in the sport. The team has already done a great job of giving due consideration to its future and has spent a good deal of time putting in place both people and first class engineering resources to achieve its ambitions. I look forward to working alongside what I know to be some very talented people and helping Honda to rediscover its winning ways."
Commenting on the appointment of Brawn, Fry said: “Today's announcement that Ross Brawn is to join our team is a very satisfying conclusion to the process of refreshing and revitalising a strong and determined team. Ross obviously needs no introduction. His experience of winning world championships in Formula One will be crucial as we seek to put Honda back into championship contention and I am delighted that we will be working together to achieve that."
Having worked his way up through the ranks of the Williams team during the 1980s, Brawn headed to Benetton as technical director in 1991. During his six seasons with the team he joined forces with driver Michael Schumacher and chief designer Rory Byrne and together the trio won back-to-back drivers’ championships in 1994 and 1995, and the all-important constructors’ title in 1995.
When Schumacher left to go to Ferrari in 1996, Brawn - and Byrne - followed. The Italian team hadn’t won a title since 1979, and it was a brave move for all three. Despite some difficulties the triumvirate gradually returned the Italian squad to its winning ways and between 1999 and 2004 Ferrari won successive constructors’ titles, while Schumacher commenced a run of five consecutive drivers’ crowns from 2000. When Schumacher retired at the end of the 2006 season, Brawn decided to take a break too, but was widely expected to return to his former employer.
Honda have already boosted their technical department this year with several additions including former BMW Sauber chief designer Jorg Zander and Williams’ chief aerodynamicist Loic Bigois. Both will now report to Brawn, as will former technical director Shuhei Nakamoto, who will now take up the role of Deputy MD (Technical). The reorganisation is also designed to allow Fry to concentrate fully on running the commercial and business aspects of the team.
*www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63901The Ferrari team have announced Stefano Domenicali will take on the role of Director of the Gestione Sportiva, a position held by Jean Todt.
Domenicali was the team's sporting director.
Ferrari also said technical director Mario Almondo will now be the team's operations director, while Aldo Costa will take on the role of technical director.
Gilles Simon will be Ferrari's engine director.
The announcement comes after Honda confirmed Ferrari's former technical director Ross Brawn will join the Japanese squad as their team principal.