Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Wass85
Wass85
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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When did having 2 alphas cost a team either of the championships?

One could argue that had Alonso and Hamilton not driven for McLaren in 2007 the team wouldn't have even been in the title fight.

izzy
izzy
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Capharol wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 12:38
i am completly with @Just_a_fan on this part

even back in the days (before Senna/Prost) teams tried it with 2 alphas ..... result: mostly catastophic
yes and i'd include 2007 as the China nightmare only happened because Lewis was 'racing Fernando'

and even with a non-alpha situation, if Ferrari had moved Felipe out of the way in Oz 2010 that'd have been the WDC and what a difference that would've made!

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Lotus102
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Wass85 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 17:18
When did having 2 alphas cost a team either of the championships?
1986, Williams, Mansell and Piquet

1982, Ferrari, Pironi and Villeneuve

1981, Williams, Jones and Reutemann

1981, Renault, Prost and Arnoux

1973, Lotus, Fittipaldi and Peterson

I thought an obvious one would be 1958, where Vanwall had the fastest car and Moss and Brooks took multiple wins, with Moss losing the title by a point (after discards - Hawthorn actually scored 8 more over the season) but remarkably they didn't take a single point off each other. Moss had four wins and Brooks three, but each only finished when the other retired. I don't think anyone could honestly say Mike Hawthorn wasn't the rightful winner in '58 anyway, as he finished all but two rounds he started, and stood on the podium in all but one of the races he finished, not to mention scoring fastest lap in half of the races he entered.

There are a couple of instances in the early 50s where if one of the large manufacturer teams had thrown its entire weight behind one driver it might have won, but it was the norm for teams to have several superstar drivers back then.

Wass85
Wass85
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Lotus102 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 18:29
Wass85 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 17:18
When did having 2 alphas cost a team either of the championships?
1986, Williams, Mansell and Piquet

1982, Ferrari, Pironi and Villeneuve

1981, Williams, Jones and Reutemann

1981, Renault, Prost and Arnoux

1973, Lotus, Fittipaldi and Peterson

I thought an obvious one would be 1958, where Vanwall had the fastest car and Moss and Brooks took multiple wins, with Moss losing the title by a point (after discards - Hawthorn actually scored 8 more over the season) but remarkably they didn't take a single point off each other. Moss had four wins and Brooks three, but each only finished when the other retired. I don't think anyone could honestly say Mike Hawthorn wasn't the rightful winner in '58 anyway, as he finished all but two rounds he started, and stood on the podium in all but one of the races he finished, not to mention scoring fastest lap in half of the races he entered.

There are a couple of instances in the early 50s where if one of the large manufacturer teams had thrown its entire weight behind one driver it might have won, but it was the norm for teams to have several superstar drivers back then.
Not all that often then, shame on the teams for not giving us more fireworks.

Just_a_fan
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Wass85 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 19:09


Not all that often then, shame on the teams for not giving us more fireworks.
It's their money, not yours. When you pay $400 million a year to run an F1 team, you can put who you like in the cars. Until then? Not your call.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.

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Lotus102
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Just_a_fan wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 21:12
Wass85 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 19:09


Not all that often then, shame on the teams for not giving us more fireworks.
It's their money, not yours. When you pay $400 million a year to run an F1 team, you can put who you like in the cars. Until then? Not your call.
More often than not, putting two top-level drivers at the height of their careers in a single team causes more problems than it solves. For one thing, it's expensive. For another, it doesn't look to the future - the most successful lineups in F1 history have tended to be one driver at the height of their career and another, younger, preparing to take over the top spot when the superstar steps aside or begins to lose their edge. Think Fangio-Moss, Stewart-Cevert, Lauda-Prost... Arguably it should have worked like this in 2007, but here you had a situation where the youngster was more established in the team than the champion, and was so hungry he didn't want to sit around learning from Alonso, he wanted to beat him from the outset. See also Senna and Prost. Interestingly, for all they were tearing chunks out of each other and the team, Senna and Prost was actually a successful partnership in that they didn't deprive the team of any titles, but if McLaren hadn't been so far ahead in 1988-9, then it might have been a different story.

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FrukostScones
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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https://translate.google.com/translate? ... 4668430%2F

Merc continues after 2020.
with HAM.
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.

Wass85
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Just_a_fan wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 21:12
Wass85 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 19:09


Not all that often then, shame on the teams for not giving us more fireworks.
It's their money, not yours. When you pay $400 million a year to run an F1 team, you can put who you like in the cars. Until then? Not your call.
Yes and that's why the sport is dying a slow death, let them crack on and keep a stagnent partnership. We want fireworks not a sparkler that won't ignite.

Just_a_fan
Just_a_fan
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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In 2007, the line up caused McLaren to not only lose the driver's title, it lost them an entire pot of money from losing all of the team's points. It was the fallout within the team caused by Alonso not being the top dog he expected to be that led to the whole Ferrari-gate affair. Mosley was then able to take full enjoyment from giving vent to his hatred of Dennis and punishing the team to the maximum.

Had McLaren had someone other than Hamilton in 2007, Alonso would have been a three times champion and the secrets of McLaren's engineers having Ferrari material would likely never have come out. But Hamilton was just too quick for Alonso and the intrateam friction tore the team apart. Ergo, two top dogs cost McLaren big time.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.

Just_a_fan
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Wass85 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 22:07
Just_a_fan wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 21:12
Wass85 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 19:09


Not all that often then, shame on the teams for not giving us more fireworks.
It's their money, not yours. When you pay $400 million a year to run an F1 team, you can put who you like in the cars. Until then? Not your call.
Yes and that's why the sport is dying a slow death, let them crack on and keep a stagnent partnership. We want fireworks not a sparkler that won't ignite.
Ask Ferrari what they think of that...I bet they won't think Brazil was good for the sport.

As I said - it's not your money, it's theirs and they get to decide how they play with it.

I know what you want me to say but I'm not feeding the troll. :roll:
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.

Just_a_fan
Just_a_fan
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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FrukostScones wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 22:04
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... 4668430%2F

Merc continues after 2020.
with HAM.
This is an unfortunate translation (my highlight):
At the same time, the world champion team is starting to start a very demanding season in an unusual situation, that is, with the team principal and the two drivers who are about to expire.
I know what it means but it reads entirely differently. :lol:
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.

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Lotus102
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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In fairness, I'm not sure anyone really thought Hamilton would be so on it so quickly (e.g. Jacques Villeneuve in 1996 still taking a bit of time to get on terms with Damon Hill even though he had great experience in a top level series) - though perhaps Alonso having to adapt to the Bridgestone tyres cost him a bit of speed and confidence. On paper it should have been a classic master-apprentice relationship rather than a Mansell-Piquet, Prost-Senna ding-dong.

Wass85
Wass85
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Just_a_fan wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 22:15
Wass85 wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 22:07
Just_a_fan wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 21:12


It's their money, not yours. When you pay $400 million a year to run an F1 team, you can put who you like in the cars. Until then? Not your call.
Yes and that's why the sport is dying a slow death, let them crack on and keep a stagnent partnership. We want fireworks not a sparkler that won't ignite.
Ask Ferrari what they think of that...I bet they won't think Brazil was good for the sport.

As I said - it's not your money, it's theirs and they get to decide how they play with it.

I know what you want me to say but I'm not feeding the troll. :roll:
Ask the fans, they would say different. If there's no fans there's no sport.

As I said, the top teams can do as they please but it's the safety first attitude that turns viewers away.

Oh we have another do we, I don't want you to say anything at all.

Wass85
Wass85
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Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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Just_a_fan wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 22:13
In 2007, the line up caused McLaren to not only lose the driver's title, it lost them an entire pot of money from losing all of the team's points. It was the fallout within the team caused by Alonso not being the top dog he expected to be that led to the whole Ferrari-gate affair. Mosley was then able to take full enjoyment from giving vent to his hatred of Dennis and punishing the team to the maximum.

Had McLaren had someone other than Hamilton in 2007, Alonso would have been a three times champion and the secrets of McLaren's engineers having Ferrari material would likely never have come out. But Hamilton was just too quick for Alonso and the intrateam friction tore the team apart. Ergo, two top dogs cost McLaren big time.
How far do you want to go with it though, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Had McLaren not signed Alonso and kept Kimi then they likely would have been champions in 2007.

izzy
izzy
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Joined: 26 May 2019, 22:28

Re: Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

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FrukostScones wrote:
21 Jan 2020, 22:04
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... 4668430%2F

Merc continues after 2020.
with HAM.
just 'sources' isn't it but so likely. So that's it for the silly season. It was a bit of a feeble fizzle in the end, no Lewis at Ferrari or anything else especially interesting, but it does set us up for potentially an incredible season