Mclaren Mercedes 2014

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hollus
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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zeph wrote:I wanted to post this in the SillySeason thread, but that has been closed. So here, Ron Dennis revises his view on 2007:
Dennis added that he believes Hamilton was a key player in the problems at McLaren escalating in 2007, rather than Alonso being solely to blame.

"To go back to that period, you look at this young guy, understandably perceived by many people as the chosen one," he said.

"But [he was] also someone who had immaturity, and really, who struck the first blow?

"I would say Lewis had his role to play in starting this process which escalated."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117114

Back then, I believe he said "We were fighting Alonso." :lol:
Ron Dennis in 2007 wrote:‘We were racing Alonso’

Chinese Grand Prix 2007, Shanghai International Circuit: It all looked to be going the British driver’s way when he took pole position at Shanghai. Alonso was fourth, two-thirds of a second slower, and when he returned to the pits he threw his helmet across the room, almost broke a door off its hinges, and insinuated that the team had fiddled with his tyre pressures.

An incredible error by McLaren and Hamilton left him floundering on destroyed tyres in the Chinese race. He failed to finish, and went into the last race four points ahead of Alonso and seven ahead of Raikkonen.

Following the blunder Dennis made a remark that sent Alonso’s fans (and Alonso himself) to new heights of suspicion. Speaking of Hamilton’s race Dennis said:

The problem was rain and [Hamilton's] tyres were in the worst condition. But we weren’t at all fazed about Kimi. We weren’t racing Kimi, we were basically racing Fernando.

Kimi winning and Lewis coming second was adequate. It just didn’t quite work out that way.

Was this testimony to Alonso’s belief that the entire McLaren team was working for Hamilton? Or was this an ill-worded grammatical slip in the heat of the moment, when Dennis failed to realise that the watching world didn’t know he was talking about Hamilton’s half of the team, rather than the whole team?

Whatever it means, it certainly falls a long way short of conclusive, hard proof, whatever the conspiracy theorists may say. What Alonso made of it is unclear. Before the final race he seemed to clear up the matter, saying:

I was surprised, but I think it is difficult to see what is true, what is just normal words that you say after the race and if you take in a different way you can make some problems. I don’t see anything strange, I was surprised but not really worried.

But after the championship had been decided he took a different slant:

What my team boss stated in China, saying that they weren’t racing against Raikkonen but against me, was a declaration of intent.
From http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/10/30/f ... vs-alonso/
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astracrazy
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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Shrieker
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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Life's so strange...
zeph wrote: Similarly, a few years back Alonso opined he never had a problem with Hamilton, and his beef was with Dennis. As recently as last year, when asked about possibly returning to McLaren, he said "I only had a problem with one person (Dennis) and that person isn't there anymore, so why not?"
=D>
Honda wanted Alonso, no question in that. But i still didn't think Ron and him would be so... umm.. intimate. That reeks of hypocrisy on both of their parts. Wonders of the right amount of green.
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langwadt
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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WaikeCU wrote:I find it odd that we are all cheering that Jenson finally got the ride. I remember we were screaming it was so disrespectful towards the drivers that Mclaren haven't made their announcement and kept on delaying the news.

Now we're all happy that we get the Alonso-Button lineup, but what about KMag? Yes, he becomes the third driver, but anything but a race seat is a downgrade imo. If Mclaren hadn't delayed the news that much KMag might have sorted out his plans for next season with either a F1 seat somewhere else. I'm really clueless what he's going to do. We all know being the third driver doesn't mean a lot other than a few appearances on Fridays. Since Mclaren aren't partners anymore with Mercedes-Benz, that means that he won't get a seat either at a Mercedes-Benz DTM team.
yeh, third/test driver these days i little more than a title you can write on your business card

I heard talk of him driving a GT500 Honda in Japan, but his agent said they had no plans. KMag joked about MotoGP :)

langwadt
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Re: 2014/15 Silly Season (yes this includes Button & Alonso)

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PlatinumZealot wrote:
Aww... poor Kev-Kev. I feel sorry for him. He deserves to be a main driver but unfortunately for him Button deserves it more. A year of testing or loan over to Caterham should be good for him. Ron said he wanted to help out the back marker teams financially this should be a good way to do it. As touched on before the driving styles of Button and Alonso are more similar than Button to Hamilton so we should her less whinging from Button, and a happy Button is as fast as the best of them.

On the future of McLaren. I have to say it is looking very bright. Two world Champions in the seat like at Ferrari. the 2015 season is gonna be a thrilling one of Renault and Honda are close to Merc.
let's see how well the Honda works first, we saw how many problems Renault and Ferrari haD and it's not like they are strangers to making F1 engines.

As for Kmag in a Caterham I doubt it, I think his dad call can tell him a few stories of what happens if you get a drive in a crappy car and why would Caterham want him? It not like they are going to win anything, so why not pick who ever brings the biggest check

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nace84
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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In my opinion Kevin became the next Pedro de la rosa...it's hard to recover once you lose an F1 seat (especially with Vandoorne and the "local" George Russell knocking on the door)

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SilverArrow10
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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Don't be surprised to see them blame Hamilton for 2007. Alonso is a McLaren driver again, they will close ranks and Hamilton is an easy scapegoat for awkward questions.
"Leave it to Lewis Hamilton to ruin Redbull's day" - Martin Brundle

"Ok Lewis, Its Hammertime!!" - Peter Bonnington

"Fresh tires, 15 laps. What do you think Lewis Hamilton is going to do?" - Martin Brundle

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MercedesAMGSpy
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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Very very disappointed to see Ron Dennis comments about Lewis Hamilton. The announcements today had nothing to do with Lewis Hamilton, he isn't a topic. Still Dennis felt the need to blame him, what a brave man. With Alonso sitting next to him it's easy to criticise the other guy not being there. On the other side Lewis always was positive about his time at McLaren in the media, even when they tried to let him say something negative.

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Mesteño
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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11:23

-Was the Prodromou transfer one of the top things made you move to McLaren?

-Yes, absolutely, it is the truth. It is not just a person who makes you move, but the intention. When you see such a competitive car as the Red Bull, you pick Newey or you pick Prodromou. If you want to win. If you don't take any of them, it is very difficult to inspire hopes
.



Wow.

zeph
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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MercedesAMGSpy wrote:Very very disappointed to see Ron Dennis comments about Lewis Hamilton. The announcements today had nothing to do with Lewis Hamilton, he isn't a topic. Still Dennis felt the need to blame him, what a brave man. With Alonso sitting next to him it's easy to criticise the other guy not being there. On the other side Lewis always was positive about his time at McLaren in the media, even when they tried to let him say something negative.
What sort of negative things could Hamilton even say about McLaren and/or Ron Dennis?!? Nothing, I reckon.

And RD didn't blame him, he merely confirmed that it was Hamilton who took the first shot, something that has been commonly reported in reconstructions of the 2007 disaster.

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Felipe 92
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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MercedesAMGSpy wrote:Very very disappointed to see Ron Dennis comments about Lewis Hamilton. The announcements today had nothing to do with Lewis Hamilton, he isn't a topic. Still Dennis felt the need to blame him, what a brave man. With Alonso sitting next to him it's easy to criticise the other guy not being there. On the other side Lewis always was positive about his time at McLaren in the media, even when they tried to let him say something negative.
Hamilton openly criticised McLaren for taking original trophies and giving him replicas, during his appearance in Top Gear he mentioned that he left McLaren because of all the PR stuff he had to do (although Clarkson played his part, as always). Also at the end of this season he said something like : it's nice when more people make decisions (Niki and Totto) and you can talk about that, not like in McLaren when everyone had to do what Ron said. I think that Hamilton is the fastest driver on the grid, but not the smartest (probably if he sees this his answer will be: ---, is it coz I is black?). I don't think Ron Dennis is flawless, but he is one of the best team principals in history, everybody praise Senna/Prost era but without Ron that era wouldn't exist, probably the modern McLaren wouldn't exist.

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MercedesAMGSpy
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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Felipe 92 wrote:
MercedesAMGSpy wrote:Very very disappointed to see Ron Dennis comments about Lewis Hamilton. The announcements today had nothing to do with Lewis Hamilton, he isn't a topic. Still Dennis felt the need to blame him, what a brave man. With Alonso sitting next to him it's easy to criticise the other guy not being there. On the other side Lewis always was positive about his time at McLaren in the media, even when they tried to let him say something negative.
Hamilton openly criticised McLaren for taking original trophies and giving him replicas, during his appearance in Top Gear he mentioned that he left McLaren because of all the PR stuff he had to do (although Clarkson played his part, as always). Also at the end of this season he said something like : it's nice when more people make decisions (Niki and Totto) and you can talk about that, not like in McLaren when everyone had to do what Ron said. I think that Hamilton is the fastest driver on the grid, but not the smartest (probably if he sees this his answer will be: ---, is it coz I is black?). I don't think Ron Dennis is flawless, but he is one of the best team principals in history, everybody praise Senna/Prost era but without Ron that era wouldn't exist, probably the modern McLaren wouldn't exist.
Ah the not smart bias as usual, he only had better fuel and tire management than university kid Rosberg during the whole season. Ron Dennis is a complex character, who can't handle good drivers. He had problems with Senna, Alonso and now Hamilton.

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Felipe 92
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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MercedesAMGSpy wrote:
Felipe 92 wrote:
MercedesAMGSpy wrote:Very very disappointed to see Ron Dennis comments about Lewis Hamilton. The announcements today had nothing to do with Lewis Hamilton, he isn't a topic. Still Dennis felt the need to blame him, what a brave man. With Alonso sitting next to him it's easy to criticise the other guy not being there. On the other side Lewis always was positive about his time at McLaren in the media, even when they tried to let him say something negative.
Hamilton openly criticised McLaren for taking original trophies and giving him replicas, during his appearance in Top Gear he mentioned that he left McLaren because of all the PR stuff he had to do (although Clarkson played his part, as always). Also at the end of this season he said something like : it's nice when more people make decisions (Niki and Totto) and you can talk about that, not like in McLaren when everyone had to do what Ron said. I think that Hamilton is the fastest driver on the grid, but not the smartest (probably if he sees this his answer will be: ---, is it coz I is black?). I don't think Ron Dennis is flawless, but he is one of the best team principals in history, everybody praise Senna/Prost era but without Ron that era wouldn't exist, probably the modern McLaren wouldn't exist.
Ah the not smart bias as usual, he only had better fuel and tire management than university kid Rosberg during the whole season. Ron Dennis is a complex character, who can't handle good drivers. He had problems with Senna, Alonso and now Hamilton.
Did you even read my post? I replied to your statement that Lewis was always positive about McLaren and now you started about his tyre and fuel management.

lebesset
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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Kingshark wrote:McLaren are now the factory/works team of a huge manufacturer and have a real world class driver behind the wheel. There's no excuses to why they should fail in 2015.
and they have alonso !
to the optimist a glass is half full ; to the pessimist a glass is half empty ; to the F1 engineer the glass is twice as big as it needs to be

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MercedesAMGSpy
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Re: Mclaren-Mercedes F1 Team 2014

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Felipe 92 wrote:
MercedesAMGSpy wrote:
Felipe 92 wrote:
Ah the not smart bias as usual, he only had better fuel and tire management than university kid Rosberg during the whole season. Ron Dennis is a complex character, who can't handle good drivers. He had problems with Senna, Alonso and now Hamilton.
Did you even read my post? I replied to your statement that Lewis was always positive about McLaren and now you started about his tyre and fuel management.
And I replied to your not smart statement with undeniable facts.