Alonso signs with McLaren

[thisnameistaken]

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=34734

How bizarre...

[Mazz4200]

Very F1

As far as i know, Flavio Briatore is still his manager !

must have made the negotiations interesting.

Makes you wonder if Renault are having problems with the new regulations, and the end of Michelin in the sport ?

[durbster]

It suggests Renault will leave F1 at the end of 2006. Flav knows and since he's Alonso's manager, he's secured a decent drive for him in 2007. I hope that's not true but it does make some sense.

[Neokiller]

huuuuu.. very strange

What next?... me in renault :thumb:

[thisnameistaken]

It suggests Renault will leave F1 at the end of 2006.

Yeah it does. I suppose they've just won both championships so the future F1 budget will be more difficult to justify to the board. Like Mosley's always said, you can't rely on the manufacturers to keep the sport alive.

[speedfreak227]

i think it's a good move for him and the fans. i hate to see drivers stagnate at a team. how many centuries did david coulthard drive for McLaren?

STIR UP THE POT!

the headline i'm waiting for is "SCHUI CALLS IT QUITS" so a new era of F1 can begin. maybe an era where drivers are respectful of each other on track even!

Edit: and i'm waiting for Ralf to get the boot too. he's never done anything noteworthy in my books. he's good enough to be there, he's just not "special" enough to stay i think.

speedfreak227

[Stellios]

Not surprised ot be honest, McLaren were so much faster in the last season, they just didnt have the reliability. Could be interesting if Kimi stays there, Kimi and Fernando should be a pretty dominant team.

[tristancliffe]

Yeah, and then you could have Fisi and Juan in Renaults (or whoever), and they could be the team of super drivers who'll never achieve anything in F1.

I say good for Alonso - Renault have won, and soon they'll be bored of F1. It's what manufacturers do. McLaren and Williams are in it for the love of the sport, and will be there as long as finances allow.

[thisnameistaken]

It seems pretty likely that Kimi's already signed for Ferrari for 2007. It was rumoured at the end of last season and the F1 grapevine is often surprisingly trustworthy.

[mr grady]

the headline i'm waiting for is "SCHUI CALLS IT QUITS" so a new era of F1 can begin. maybe an era where drivers are respectful of each other on track even!


Here here!

[Qurpiz]

It seems pretty likely that Kimi's already signed for Ferrari for 2007. It was rumoured at the end of last season and the F1 grapevine is often surprisingly trustworthy.

I don't think Kimi has signed anything yet. He've said numerous times to Finnish papers that he won't even think of signing with any team until next spring. But I think he'll move to Toyota, or to Ferrari IF Schumi retires. Alonso and Räikkönen in same team just seems impossible to me. Would be great, yes, but I just don't believe it will happen.

[Madman_CZ]

ohh schumacher and kimi at ferrari :nod: now that would be a team!! tho kimi will most probably replace grandfather schumacher after he decideds to hang up his steering wheel ohh and boots :razz:


just hope 2006 will prove to be a good season.. past few years ive prefered to watch other sports.....

mad

[Eldanor]

AFAIK, Toyota is very interested in Kimi and could have made some big offers to him.

[ajp71]

First thing to remember is Alonso has nothing to do with this move, it will have been made by Flavio (just like the Button fiasco) shows to me that either:

1. Renault is pulling out of F1
2. Flavio is having problems with people at Renault, he's hardly a likeable chap
3. Flavio wants to get rid of Alonso because his contract to manage Alonso will run out
4. Renault have been cheating this season and Flavio wants to get away before something gets found
5. Some other reason to do with getting Flavio/Bernie a load of money

[ajp71]

Flavio will have decided to have done whatever he's done. It's just total bollocks that Alonso ran off as he can't seeing the contract he's in, as these things are secretive you may find he's bought his way out, I very much doubt that though, Flavio will not just let Alonso get away with signing out of his contract.

[ajp71]

You may not understand that a large number of F1 drivers are under a contract with Flavio, including Button and Alonso. Flavio made them sign up to a deal in which he bought them drives in F1 teams (other than Renault) under the condition that they could not race anything but what Flavio found them for the next 10 years or so. Thats a very basic way of explaining it, we don't know the precise details of the contracts he has with the drivers as they're secretive. Flavio is the second most powerful man in F1 and controls about half the drivers in it, he finds the drives and tells people what they'll be driving. He effectively owns half the grid and if Alonso did genuinely try and get a deal outside Flavio it would cause chaos. The Button contract bullshit was nothing to do about Button wanting to drive for Williams even if he actually did want the drive it was Flavio making the decisions.

[tristancliffe]

They've never been wrong to my knowledge, so I trust it to be true.

Did they report on the whole De Beers diamond company sponsering Ferrari thing, which has been denied today? Most, if not all, F1 sites reported that they were getting the sponsership, only to be told not.

If they did, then now your source (why can't/don't you tell us, if it's a public site) has been wrong at least once (unless De Beers are lying and actually HAVE signed with the Red cars.

[ajp71]

Your source is simply wrong if it thinks that Alonso would be able to do this he is not, he has a contract with Renault and a seperate long term contract with Flavio, only one of them has expired.