Nando runs true to form.

[Conceptual]

From the F1tecnical news:

Although team boss Flavio Briatore is convinced that Fernando Alonso will be fighting for the podium at his home race, the Spaniard is less optimistic. According to the Asturian, fighting for the podium is just a dream at the moment.

During the Barcelona test session, which is scheduled for next week, Renault will introduce improvements that relate to bodywork and front suspension. According to Briatore, Alonso will be able to fight for the podium at the Spanish Grand prix due to these new parts. This weekend, the flamboyant Italian said: "At the Barcelona test we will make a giant leap forwards. I am sure that we will be fighting to be on the podium in Barcelona."

Alonso is less optimistic after the Bahrain GP where he only finished in 10th position. "We are no longer only behind Ferrari, McLaren and BMW. Ahead of us as well are Toyota, Williams, Red Bull and Honda," the Spaniard said to news agency EFE. About the upcoming updates, Alonso said: "Right now it is our only hope. We really need it to work for us, otherwise you could say that Fisichella made the better move."

Fernando also disagrees with what his team boss. According to the Asturian he will not be able to fight for the podium during the Spanish Grand Prix at 27 April. "That's impossible," Alonso responded on the comments of Briatore. "we need to find one second per lap. That has never been done in the history of any team. This is not what we are hoping for, anyway. For now, the podium is a fantasy, a dream."

Nice way to call your team boss a dreamer, and make everyone at Enstone feel like they have your confidence Fernando. And saying that Fisi going to FIF1 as being a great move over staying at Renault is just master-class.

I hope that he goes to Toyota next year. Maybe the Japanese press can translate his comments into something better than he speaks.

Chris

[bazanaius]

The more I hear and see of Alonso the more I dislike him.
And it can hardly be media twisting what he says - those are verbatim quotes!
He may be a good driver, but he is an awful sportsman.

B

[Jersey Tom]

Renault is way off pace.

Alonso actually drives the car. He knows much more accurately than FB on where they really stand in drive-ability. Alonso was absolutely driving the hell out of the car for a couple races and just couldn't get it done.

Shaving a second off per lap in a giant leap would be... unfathomable.

So I'd say FA's view is at least realistic, though he probably could have stated it better.

[donskar]

As a rabid tifosi, I hope to never see Alonso in a red car.

Compare his comments to M Schumacher: MS was constantly upbeat (or taking the blame on himself), always positive, rarely (never?) negative.

MS had myriad flaws, but he was a great motivational teammate / team leader / team builder.

[chapmanlung]

Seems ALonso is great at lifting team spirit

[RedMaple]

Alonso has always prefered to tell it like it is as opposed to buttering up the team or fans. It may seem insensitive towards his team but thats his style. I think they know that at Renault and probably accept it. They have responded in the past when he has said unflattering comments about the car or team. His candid comments may seem that he is not a team player but I think he just wants to be honest. Everything he said was true after all. Flavio is the opposite. He will say whatever it takes to motivate his team. Flavio will say whatever it takes to motivate Alonso as well. Different styles from different men but I think they have the same goal in mind.

[Roland Ehnström]

Yes, to me it seems that Fernando himself does not feel obliged to speak well about his own team, while he wants his team to always speak well of himself. He needs to hear praise from his team, while he rarely gives any praise in return. Indeed he probably wants us to think that the R28 is crap, because it makes him look like a better driver. Flavio actually likes this "egocentric" approach, because (opposite to what RedMaple just wrote) I think Flavio is the same kind of person as Fernando. Ron Dennis on the other hand is a different kind of character, and this contributed to the situation we saw last year at McLaren. For Ron Dennis the TEAM is more important that the individual drivers, while Fernando clearly sees himself as "above" the team - the STAR of the team.

Of course, I have never met any of these people in person, so all of this must be taken with a big grain of salt.

[RH1300S]

Although FA really let the cracks show last year; what I like about him is that EVERY time he gets in the car he drives the wheels off it and he says it like it is.

It's quite an accurate statement - 1 sec is a BIG ask. He's just being realistic. I don't think Pat Symonds and team will have any problem with that - a down to earth bunch of racers who can see through B.S.

Also - let's be honest he is giving his ego some space too (as Roland says) - because each time that Renault out-performs it's "natural" (1 sec slow ) level, the credit sits with Fernando. That's the way he seems to be; as we saw last year - his self belief is, in a sense, fragile; but he seems to be able to build himself up to a point where he refuses to accept that anyone is faster than him (and if they are the problem lies somewhere else) - it's a part of him that makes him such a great racer.

[Conceptual]

Is there any reason that Renault couldn't bring the R26 out of retirement and do some updates from there?

I know it is a 2 year old car, but it WAS a championship winner, even after the Mass Damper nerf.

Obviously the R27/28 are not competitive this year. If I were Flavio, I would at least do some side-by-side testing to compare lap times and see what the difference is. Obviously the R26 would need to be re-optimised for the Bridgestones, but that would mostly be setup changes, right?

Chris

[SMP]

I am not so sure, but if it were that simple, wouldn't Honda have switched back to their 2006 car last year? And this year, Super Aguri could have stuck to their 2007 car.

But it is a good point - if a constructor is not able to produce a car faster than last year's, then why should they race the new slower car?

[hatchet man]

Part of the Renault problem in 2007 was the switch to Bridgestone tires. I doubt that the R26 would outperform either the R27 or R28 with the current tires.

[Principessa]

Nice way to call your team boss a dreamer, and make everyone at Enstone feel like they have your confidence Fernando.

Let's not forget that Pat Symonds reacted to Flavio Briatore's comments as "That's very optimistic" (-> referring that Alonso would be able to fight for the podium at Spain).

Alonso is being realistic and he's not putting a knife into the Renault people's back. It's true that Renault needs to improve 1 sec per lap and it's true that they haven't found back their 2006 form, but I don't think it's wrong for him to say so! I'm convinced that people in the factory want to work harder now to make it happen...to make Renault fight for podium at Spain.

[Conceptual]

I am not so sure, but if it were that simple, wouldn't Honda have switched back to their 2006 car last year? And this year, Super Aguri could have stuck to their 2007 car.

But it is a good point - if a constructor is not able to produce a car faster than last year's, then why should they race the new slower car?

I think Honda may have ben short sticked by selling to Super Aguri, and with the customer chassis issue under a microscope last year, they were probably less interested due to the politics involved.

The R26 was obviously Renault's last excellent effort. I would return to it, and see if any more time can be squeezed out of it while working 100% on the R29 instead of investing the manpower into making the R28 a second a lap quicker.

But then again, I'm not a team boss, so what do I know?

chris

[Conceptual]

Nice way to call your team boss a dreamer, and make everyone at Enstone feel like they have your confidence Fernando.

Let's not forget that Pat Symonds reacted to Flavio Briatore's comments as "That's very optimistic" (-> referring that Alonso would be able to fight for the podium at Spain).

Alonso is being realistic and he's not putting a knife into the Renault people's back. It's true that Renault needs to improve 1 sec per lap and it's true that they haven't found back their 2006 form, but I don't think it's wrong for him to say so! I'm convinced that people in the factory want to work harder now to make it happen...to make Renault fight for podium at Spain.

Why not say "I am very optimistic that the new update that the people at Enstone have been working 24/7 on will greatly improve our qualifying and finishing position in Barcelona."

The movie "Cars" makes the point that a driver is nothing without a team. I'm surprised Fernando missed that lesson. Although Schumacher DOES make a cameo appearance...lol

Chris

[teecof1fan]

regarding conceptual's last post,
it's becase saying that and then not fulfilling it would be a great disappointment to the team and the fans and the sponsors. imagine you tell everyone you are going to improve half a second a lap and when it's all said and done you don't improve at all: what does that say? like her highness Principessa said, alonso is being realistic. personally, i listen to alonso's comments while i ignore briatore's; i think briatore is a PR person while alonso is an honest spokesperson. i would much rather alonso (as much a team leader as briatore) say that the team needs to improve dramatically instead of him saying that lingering around in 6th or 7th place is acceptable (despite the oncoming development); the team does not want to be in 6th or 7th place. in other words, alonso's comments are much more motivational than they are negative.


to roland,
you use ron dennis and mclaren as a perfect example of 'the team is more important than the driver,' and that philosophy cost dear ron the world championship in 2005 and 2007; if he chose a number 1 driver in those years he would have won those championships instead of losing them...

lastly, i think alonso does speak well about his team. obviously, his team isn't performing as well as they should, so he has simply been saying that they need to improve. but over the entire offseason, and when asked about his feelings toward the team, there is always a positive comment.

anyway, just my opinion

three weeks between GP's is way too long!!