Valencia Testing (21-23 January 2008)

dkpioe Wrote:
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> so bmw on a hot lap is 8 tenths slower than
> ferrari and mclaren.


you can't necessarily make judgements like that at this stage. for example, if you are going to believe that, you would also believe that Kovalainen is 8 tenths faster than hamilton on a hot lap

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X (@ed24f1)

Ali Wrote:
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> Uf...this guy starts to be a little arrogant,
> honestly. Keep talking about Alonso again and
> again...
> [en.f1-live.com]
> 080124152155.shtml
>
> Alonso has been far more respectful once he is out
> of McLaren than Lewis.


I think what he's said is fair. Alonso came into the team expecting to be number one, it was soon obvious that Hamilton was a close match to Alonso. Most people expect Heikki to play second fiddle to Hamilton, I think Hamilton is just preparing himself to be pushed, and if the going gets tough that he won't start whining.

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I don't really care Hamilton's worries, just that he is still talking about Alonso and not in a very respectful manners. Alonso hasn't said anything about Hamilton for looong time (and never judging as Lewis is doing).

And anyway, Heikki will play a second driver role, I have little doubt (and McLaren, Mercedes... both parties already said Lewis is their bet for the championship).

Thats if he is talking about him. Its only on 1 site and its not the most reliable.

Ok its now on autosport as well.

But what he is saying is correct tbh.

Alonso should have led the team but due to errors he fell behind in the points and lewis drove better in a number of races.

Mika once said the same about mansell so i dont really see the problem.

The way alonso carried on last year out of the car was not that of a pro and 2 time world champ.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2008 11:10AM by marcl.

BBC has it too.

Hamilton is judging to much:

Alonso never talk (I think that's not bad, is the way he is)...Alonso's behave was bad...

...the things he is saying and how the events happened could be understood in an specific context. I don't see it as: Hamilton was better, he has the right to talk about how Alonso is...Alonso doesn't have problems with Trulli, Fisichella, Webber...so why with Hamilton?

Alonso was not the favorite inside McLaren, even from the very beginning, he never asked for a nº1 role (please, if you find some place where that was written I will accept my error), but he was unable to prepare races in the way he would have liked (Alonso's race pace was better than Hamilton's one but the team never took profit of that) and at the end Ron Dennis and McLaren made things quite complicated to Alonso and gave him little support to fight for the championship. I think in a way Alonso was right, but he is not a diplomatic guy and Hamilton is British...

Hamilton should shut up once for all about that story.

he hasnt got a 'cool' head. he's just reacting to the abusive language he received today by the alonso fans at testing when he caused a red flag.

all i can say is 'haha', wait until the spanish GP

Yeap.. I really wonder those pricks comes to track with same attitude when they go to watch some big headed people kicking only ball what they have around stadium.

Hamilton was totally right. Alonso did show more like behaviour of kid than adult Formula 1 driver. And no, Alonso doesnt have to say things like that anymore because his manager does all work for him since he got Alonso back into his team.

Kimi, so, Massa Fernando Sebastian is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?

fans@hamilton

f1 test action

The Honda looks quite retro at 2:35 in the second video :D

I didn't like the look of the BMW's winglets in photos, but on the video I think it looks great at 4:00. Could see myself getting sick of it though...

Also nice to see some sliding on the exits of corners, as well as nice sounding engines!

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2008 01:53PM by flat tyre.

No different to the Tifosi's attitude to any driver/team competiting against their beloved red cars.

I'm just pleased that Fernando is keeping his mouth shut, now he's at Renault he could bitch all he likes but he wisely chooses not to whereas Lewis seems to want to talk about it still for some reason.

"And no, Alonso doesnt have to say things like that anymore because his manager does all work for him since he got Alonso back into his team."

You've lost me there IWE.

Trulli is the first to say he suspects there could be some cheating with the new ECU and electronic aids...No reference to any team whatsoever

I just red it in thef1.com (Spanish website)

mikef1 Wrote:
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> No different to the Tifosi's attitude to any
> driver/team competiting against their beloved red
> cars.

I'm from Barcelona and any time that FC Barcelona plays against a GBR team the "city" is destroyed, they piss everywhere and keep drunk for some days behaving like vandals...

And Hamilton would be more respected by the fans if he simply shut up, because at the end, Alonso is two times world champion by his own merits and Lewis is also quite a moaner...

Anyway, Peter Whitmarsh and Mercedes have pointed that Lewis is their bet for the 2008 championship so I guess this "equal treatment" guaranties Lewis some margin and confidence in the team.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2008 12:29AM by Ali.

Ali Wrote:
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> And Hamilton would be more respected by the fans
> if he simply shut up, because at the end, Alonso
> is two times world champion by his own merits and
> Lewis is also quite a moaner...
>
> Anyway, Peter Whitmarsh and Mercedes have pointed
> that Lewis is their bet for the 2008 championship
> so I guess this "equal treatment" guaranties Lewis
> some margin and confidence in the team.

I think the first bit could also be said about Alonso for last season when he was with Mclaren. Granted, alot of people saw it as funny and thought it was good for someone to speak their mind. But I lost some respect towards him when he mouthed off to the press. I don't agree that Hamilton should have said all of that about Alonso, but as I've always said with the press, you don't know what sort of questions they ask. Its all paraphrased and quoted.

I think it'd make sense for the team to back Hamilton slightly more than Heikki from the start. The guy is in his second season and almost won the title last year. Heikki is new and will probably need time to bed in at Mclaren. Whether or not there will be outright number one status to Hamilton, we won't know really.

On a side note, were those "GBR" fans in Barca Chelsea fans per chance...?

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MrMan Wrote:
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> On a side note, were those "GBR" fans in Barca
> Chelsea fans per chance...?

The "fans"/ I was thinking were the Glasgow Rangers ones this year, but maybe the last time Chelsea was here also happened (although I don't remember Chelsea fans as the worse ones). But yes, every time a team from the Island comes to Barcelona there are that kind of problems. Celtic, Liverpool, Chelsea ... they have come in recent years to Barcelona and police always have to prepare special plans to "save" the city.

And after that I have to hear in the forum complains about Spanish fans.

Dennis: Hamilton, Kovalainen to compete and collaborate :[www.formula1.com]

“We've always treated our drivers equally, and we intend to continue to do so,” said Dennis. “This year, both Lewis and Heikki are entirely happy with that policy, and I anticipate no problems from either of them in that regard. I expect them to be competitive and collaborative in equal measure.”

Asked whether he expects Hamilton to have the edge on Kovalainen this season thanks to his greater experience with the team, Dennis stressed that it wasn't just a question of competition, but also one of integration.

“As regards pushing Lewis, that isn't the way we look at it,” he said. “No, Heikki is already integrating himself into our team and our company, and we fully expect him to perform well for us this season.

“Watching him from the sidelines, and then studying our findings, we at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes thought Heikki looked impressive in 2007 - and he's impressing us already in 2008.”

I did check meaning of first sentence from Dennis-Reality-Dennis dictionary:

“We haven't treated our drivers equally for over ten years, and we dont even plan to do so,”



Kimi, so, Massa Fernando Sebastian is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?

I don't understand what it means "equality" for McLaren. Their drivers race with "hands" tight by this "stupid equality rule" self imposed.

Ferrari treated their drivers with equality until the end and there was no need for strange qualifying rules (same fuel !!! extra lap issue !!!) which was almost inevitable to lead to confrontation (as happened) and to lose the champ.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2008 05:42AM by Ali.

I was just watching the testing video again, that DJSKYLINE showed us. Bourdais lost the back end of the car quite a lot. I wonder if he will be similar to Montoya to watch? Lets hope so!

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

well we are on the equal driver chat - anyone seen the pole on itvf1.

Do you agree with McLaren's equal driver policy?
Yes, it's admirable 65.93 % (1291)
No, Lewis should be No 1 9.19 % (180)
No, Heikki should be No 1 24.87 % (487)

LOL