Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jnr, Circuit de Catalunya, 2018

Sainz will ask Alonso for McLaren advice

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Carlos Sainz Jnr says he’ll ask Fernando Alonso for advice on life at McLaren before he replaces him at the team next year.

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What they say

Sainz was asked if he has spoken to Alonso about McLaren yet:

Not yet. Not much. It’s something that probably will happen later in the year.

For sure, I will ask a few things.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

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Comment of the day

Do Renault deserve the criticism they have received from Red Bull?

I can’t understand those who continue to pillory the Red Bull hierarchy given how poor Renault’s development has been, especially since the commencement of they Hybrid era.

Cyril continues to suggest that there’s no hurry to develop and that “they have a plan” while they seem to be making no gain nor bringing any meaningful development to their power unit.

Frankly if I was a paying customer I’d be seriously questioning their commitment to F1. What makes it worse is they actually have their own team and seem to have only moderate aspiration no for that.

Hopefully 2019/20 might see some evidence of a “plan” – they surely couldn’t have conned Daniel Ricciardo on false promises could they?
DB-C90 (@dbradock)

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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54 comments on “Sainz will ask Alonso for McLaren advice”

  1. Alonso, how should I handle my first season at McLaren?

    Well, get a hold of some Ferrari data…

    1. Sometimes I am conflicted about whether Alonso had a shorter/less successful carrer than his talent deserved or a longer career than expected to someone involved in so much strange cases.

  2. King Salman:” I had nothing to do with it, all I said was- who will rid me of this troublesome journalist.” So no reason not to love Saudi.

    1. Weird world we live in.
      It’s more dangerous to pick up your visa at the consulate than entering the race itself.

    2. Yeah, next they will probalby “discover” that the 15 who flew on two officially chartered planes were all Iranian agents who took over a planned action to politely ask some questions. Or maybe they will turn out to be tourists who wanted to see the Aya Sophia in Istanbul @hohum, @coldfly.

      With all the big companies (and government representatives) pulling out of that october conference it really doesn’t seem to be a good idea to go to Saudi Arabia to promote it right now. Then again, it seems that the Saudis are currently the biggest investor in tech stocks etc, (with China also big in that aspect) so I guess it is not a surprise that this series makes the same mistake F1 made with going for the big paychecks of despotic (and often worse, like South Africa etc.) regimes.

      1. money talks,

        KSA organised 9/11, supported and funded the destruction of Syria, supported the terrorists planning attacks all over the world, executes opponents, executed or punished woman and LBGTs, their country is build with south East Asian slave labour, has killed 100.000s of people in Yemen. And almost nobody cared.

        For motorsports, this kind of dirty money from reprhensible backward states is the new tobacco.
        How much of f1s funding is from Bahrein, UAE, KSA, Qatar? Hell Mclaren is owned by by Bahrein.

        South Africa was a disgrace and everyone own the wrong side of that back then should be ashamed, but I feel like KSA is even worse. And its weird people did not care until a Washington post journalist got hit.

        1. Glad to see there are other people who actually have a more objective worldview.
          As for the state of the affairs at the moment, we live in a peculiar time, and it probably can’t last much longer.
          America as the strongest power at the moment is dictating who’s good and who isn’t. The problem is that we have this unholy frankenstein that is USA-Israel-KSA, with their interests so intertwined that it’s almost impossible to expect they will really take any measures to distance themselves from one another. Money talks. And F1 itself is completely owned by western and middle-eastern big businesses.

        2. I guess Liberty Media is just a name, a catchy phrase, not an actual stance on how their affairs are governed.
          It’s the same old Bernie-style business, with money being a more important bottom line than human morality.

  3. Hopefully 2019/20 might see some evidence of a “plan” – they surely couldn’t have conned Daniel Ricciardo on false promises could they?

    I really think Ricciardo’s just in it for the pay day, $60 million is a lot of money

    1. If one puts its cynical reading glasses, that is exactly what he did and he seems to be right.
      RB doesnt seems to be a title contender in the next two years. If it is, VER would be a fierce competition.
      Apparently he would not find a seat on Ferrari or Mercedes.
      So, no title perspective.
      Verstappen, for now, is under the graces of RB and the chronometer.
      So, remaining in RB would mean less financial reward and a tough benchmark.
      Then, going to Renault is a bet that already pays this $60 millions, plus some surprise result he could get and nobody would expect he could win as they would in RB.
      Finally and funnily, Ricciardo is almost an old driver by today’s standarts.

      1. He’s much closer in age to Lewis and Seb than to Max.

    2. I really hope that wasn’t his motivation @skipgamer, otherwise my admiration for our local lad will go down a bit.

      I’m hoping that Renault might actually have a plan that might possibly involve some change to its management. There are some good candidates that I suspect might actually help lift Renault and their current Team Principal has never given me any indication that he’s the right person.

      In time I’m guessing we might hear more from Dan about the matter. In the meantime I can only hope that he does a Hamilton and ends up being in the right car with the right team. Not feeling confident though and even less so every time Cyril opens his mouth.

      1. Aussie Aussie Aussie !!!

        @dbradock

      2. @dbradock
        I see your point about Cyril but he isn’t open like, say, Toto is, so you hope there is more of a plan than is currently suggested, which isn’t too much.
        Also dont forget Alain Prost has increased his role in the team, a great like he is can only help.

    3. @skipgamer
      re Danny Ric, please let it not be the case, surely/Shirley his red bull contract offer would have let him buy premium petrol and have a decent flat with parking to live in
      To continue to be an absolute legend at late braking one must have a car at least capable of catching the car in front,
      I do hope your wrong, and that he saw something we don’t know about.

      1. @greg-c
        I dont think money is primary reason, but it cant hurt. He gets out of Red Bull for a change in environment, can see if Renault get it together in two years or if a seat opens up at the top two. Do doubt Lewis or Seb may be done by then, may be both.

        Or he had said if F1 doesn’t go in the right direction with reg changes he may go race somewhere else. There is no doubt Ricky Bobby will race in the USA after he finishes F1.

        Have faith fellow Aussie, it’s all good 😎

  4. Such Honda hype and Renault bashing. In 2019 only RBR and TR will get on the podium…

    1. But will they get onto the podium more frequently than Renault? Next year could be the best year for getting podiums for the likes of Force India, Williams, Sauber, and Haas.

      1. @drycrust Very unlikely that the likes of FI, Williams, Sauber, or Haas could realistically be fighting for podium-positions next season despite RBR’s switch to Honda power. Even with the Honda PU, RBR is still likely going to remain significantly ahead of all the teams mentioned above pace-wise.

      2. @drycrust I bet the current pecking order will remain the same next year, with maybe McLaren improving a little bit.

    2. Not only a strong engine brings podium there are more things like Aero, tactics and good pitcrew/wall otherwise Force India and Willems would be team 3 and 4 if only engine counts…

  5. Alonso’s advice: ‘Get out!’

    1. but in all seriousness, I believe the opportunity to succeed was one of the reasons that made Sainz sign with McLaren: Sainz has never hidden the fact he’s a huge Alonso fan…

      1. @arrows98 I have a different theory as to why he left Renault to join McLaren, and it is the one that is believed to be the case. Sainz simply wasn’t wanted by Renault, because he isn’t good enough compared to their other candidates. Renault were willing to take a Mercedes junior over him. And Sainz didn’t have any choics but to join McLaren, who were desperate themselves are Ocon turned them down for Renault.

        1. *after Ocon

        2. oh, I also don’t believe for a second Renault was head over heels to re-sign Sainz (that’s why I said ‘one of the reasons’) but I feel he could’ve probably negotiated for an extension if he gave in to some of their demands

  6. Balme the engine, never the chassis, English people are never wrong even when they are

    GP2 engine !!!

    1. or blame

      1. or embalm

  7. MB (@muralibhats)
    17th October 2018, 5:04

    Sainz is the most overrated driver on the grid now IMO. All the attention he got was due to be paired with VER. You hardly notice or see his drive from the time he moved to a more competitive Renault from Toro Rosso. Also I dont like the way he potrays Alonso as his hero and by that getting all the attention. When you overdo it on multiple occasions, it feels silly. Feels like a promotional stunt.

    His career will mot likely end with McLaren. Perez was lucky enough to continue.

    1. Most overrated? You’re forgetting Ericsson.

    2. Sainz is the most overrated driver on the grid now IMO.

      I doubt that Sainz is the most overrated driver in F1, I think he’s quite good actually. He drives, he doesn’t attract attention, and often finishes in the points. It is hard to stand out on TV when you’re not competing for a podium place.
      Good driving isn’t dramatic driving, so immediately one has to accept that good drivers won’t be the ones that stand out unless they’re at the front. Sainz has scored points at 11/17 races, with a total of 39 points, or an average of 2.3 points per race.

      1. Well reasoned @drycrust. I’d go further than that and suggest that had there not been so much animosity from the current RBR driver, he’d have been a shoo in to get the seat vacated by Dan Ric.

        That may well backfire on RBR as I doubt Gasly will be any less likely to cause friction than Sainz would have been, and is probably far more likely to bin it early in the season which will cost them valuable points.

    3. @muralibhats most overrated? I’d put Hartley, Ericssson, Raikkonen, Perez, Magnussen, Grosjean and Vandoorne (despite being fan) before Sainz.

      1. The drivers you mentioned are rated as much as they have potential. Being on the race grid doesn’t mean being overrated.

        I will be happy if he performs well. Lets see.

    4. Sainz is the most overrated driver on the grid now IMO

      much less so than LH and SV IMO

  8. Alonso’s advice:

    Drive a different car.

  9. Ask Alonso anything on driving, but please limit yourself to that. All other things failed so why ask him?

  10. Wasn’t that reported like two months ago already, though? #RehashingOldNews
    – The confirmation/announcement of Wehrlein’s FE move means that he’s now officially out of the contention for the remaining STR-drive if he ever were a serious contender in the first place.
    – I agree with the COTD.
    – Regarding the Motorsport.com-article: Journalism at its best. #CheckTheFactsBeforeClaimingSomething
    – Alonso’s tweet, though.

  11. He’ll ask advice to a guy that has been 4 years in the team with 0 progress in developing the car. If u get his opinions and advice and u do the opposite he recommends you, most sure will be the better chances of success you will have!

  12. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
    17th October 2018, 10:39

    Overheard that Albon may not be in the NISMO press roundtable. He’s here but Seb has been driving his car today – a very bizarre situation. I do really hope he didn’t take the Toro Rosso deal. 😔

    @hazelsouthwell why? If he’s been offered the drive of course he will take it, the TR is a reasonably competitive car this year and should be even better in 2019 with Red Bull joining the big H.

    1. @ftruth @hazelsouthwell I wanted to ask the same thing. Albon has been superb this year and is every bit as deserving to make the F1 grid as LN and GR (more so in my opinion). The TR is actually a more appealing seat to me than what his rivals are getting, no?

      1. @ftruth @GongTong

        A few reasons; firstly, that he’d signed to Nissan and was at final testing. They’ve now lost two and potentially three days of running one of their cars due to the complications of this, which sucks. Especially for a team that paid for his year in F2 this season, so had put a lot of faith in him.

        I understand the allure of the STR seat but as a Formula E journalist I see them dead-eyed and broken out the other side. With Ticktum in the wings as the golden child, Albon is throwing away a factory seat with a superb team (Nissan’s Formula E entry is run by e.Dams, Jean-Paul Driot’s multi-title winners) for a very risky situation in a series there’s no guarantee will suit his driving style.

        1. But Hazel… STR is F1… and who wouldn’t choose to drive for F1 rather than FE.
          Only a slightly biased FE journalist, it seems… ;)

          1. +1 Blackjackfan – I like Formula E and expect it to become a massive series ( potentially merge with or overtake F1 in many years time ) but right now surely a driver who believes in their skills has to take an F1 drive over Formula E ? I mean they get to drive against the best drivers on world famous tracks with much faster cars. To be honest I do wonder if Formula E seems like a step down from F2 due to the tracks they race on and speed differences.

            It’s a shame if the funding and contract from Nissan ends up meaning nothing but sadly I don’t believe for one second if Alonso, Hamilton or Vettel came knocking that Nissan wouldn’t drop a driver in seconds. Unfortunately loyalty rarely gets you anywhere.

          2. Fudge Kobayashi (@)
            18th October 2018, 10:55

            But Hazel… STR is F1… and who wouldn’t choose to drive for F1 rather than FE.

            Have to agree with this tbh, no brainer.

        2. Hazel, you may find that DAMS only pay for a portion of his F2 budget which he was having to pay all of it back with his FE earnings anyway (according to Joe Saward’s blog). I’m sure he will have to pay DAMS back in full if he ends up at STR anyway.
          It is so cruel and wrong to even think of stopping a 22 years old driver from fulfilling his dream when it’’s been offered to him – especially as Albon doesn’t have money to bring to F1 and has to rely solely on his talent alone.

          1. I agree with the sentiment that you take an F1 seat when it comes up. I too love FE and it’s sad that F1 churns broken drivers out to them… however, the option to go from F1 to FE is there. We can’t say the same in the other direction. Yet.

  13. Sainz: Hi Alonso, how do I break a team.

    Alonso: Get comfortable…

  14. – Hey Fernando, after I retire, I want to become a horrible, unfunny, bitter, internet troll. How do I become one?
    – Just go to the comments section on racefans.net. You’ll have a plenty of an example there.

    1. A tad harsh, especially considering what the comments sections on many other F1 sites are like. I’ve found the F1fanatic/Racefans comments to be rather informed and light-hearted by comparison, although I may be preaching to the choir here.

      1. Hi Biggsy – I presume you’re offering yourself as mentor… ;)

  15. Sainz: Hey Nando how can I crush my new teammate?
    Nando: Hey Carlos just make sure Mclaren gives the newest parts and updates to you only.

Comments are closed.