Spanish website claims Alonso to McLaren in 2015
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Spanish website F1 Al Dia claims to have exclusives not just on the future movement of Fernando Alonso, but also Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa. Namely, that Alonso will go to McLaren in 2015 and Hulkenberg will take his place at Ferrari while Massa goes to Sauber:
http://www.f1aldia.com/20843/exclusiva-fernando-alonso-regresa-mclaren-2015/
If it turns out to be accurate it’s a major scoop. I don’t know anything about the site or the article’s author Pablo Grau, I came across the link when Finnish F1 commentator Oskari Saari Tweeted it:
https://twitter.com/OskariSaari/status/388274791032954880
Has anyone else heard of this site? Can’t help but wonder if it’s a genuine story or whether it’s a speculative stunt to get some traffic…
Pablo Grau asked JB a question at Spa in the pre race press conference according to Autosport.
________________________Q: (Pablo Grau – F1Aldia.com) Jenson, you did a good job in Spa, what do you expect in Monza, a very fast track?
JB: Yeah, Spa was alright. It’s quite difficult to get excited about sixth place but in terms of the pace of the car it was pretty good. Fourth after turn one and finishing sixth isn’t so bad. So yeah, we’re hoping for a bit more of an improvement. I think we’ve unlocked a little bit of performance with the car and we’re pretty close to challenging the cars in front. Whether we can do that here or not I don’t know. It’s a very low downforce circuit here and I think we have a pretty good low downforce package, so we will see. I think after three or four laps tomorrow we’ll know where we stand in terms of how the downforce is working and the efficiency of it.
I hope it happens but it really would surprise me if Alonso returned to McLaren, particularly given his sour exit in 2007.
Hulkenberg to Ferrari in 2015 would make sense but would Lotus really take him on for 2014 knowing that they’d be losing him in a year’s time?
Perhaps a realistic move would be to “sit on the bench” at Ferrari next year ready to race in 2015.
I don’t know about Pablo Grau, but Oskari Saari isn’t a very reliable news source, so his retweet doesn’t give any more credibility to this story. He often repeats all kinds of rumours he’s heard.
Given some of the recent comments that Alonso has made, this move would make sense, but this still belongs to Silly Season topic in my opinion.
Anything can happen in F1, who would have thought that Raikonnen would go to Ferrari again, who would have thought that Damon Hill would go from Williams to Arrows. F1 drivers don’t tend to look back, 2007 is over. I know (most of us do) that Alonso wanted to win a WDC with Ferrari, but the team has let him down badly, last year and this year are far away from the early 2000’s glory days. If Alonso see’s that McLaren-Honda would be better than he would go for it. McLaren need a top driver to spearhead their new campaign. So it could work, that’s my 2 cents ;-)
I don’t speak Spanish, but MTV3 is refering F1 Al Dia and according to them F1 Al Dia also claims that Massa is most likely going to Sauber, because Ferrari supplies them engines. Does this make any sense? Why would Ferrari care where Massa is going? If Ferrari could decide one of Sauber’s drivers, wouldn’t they promote Bianchi, who can drive for them in the future?
http://www.mtv3.fi/urheilu/f1/uutiset.shtml/2013/10/1817633/lehti-alonso-siirtyy-mclarenille—ehka-jo-ensi-kaudeksiI very much doubt it’s a done deal for 2015 yet, I imagine there’s some kind of agreement in place but ultimately it’s going to depend on whether Ferrari can get their act together for next season and give him a car worthy of his talent. If they do I’m sure Alonso will stay, but given their track record over the past few years it’s no surprise Alonso is giving himself other options.
I’m inclined to pay a little more attention to this, if only because it gives 2015 as the start date. When Alonso first moved to Ferrari, the Spanish papers were full of attention-grabbing rubbish as they tried to get exclusives. But this shows an unusual amount of restraint, so I’m willing to consider it for longer than I normally would.
I’m not sure if I believe it, though
who would have thought that Damon Hill would go from Williams to Arrows
Frank Williams probably entertained that thought for a while. Big difference being; the move away from Williams wasn’t a very voluntary move by Damon. He asked Frank for a raise, you see.
Eddie Jordan reckoned Alonso will be at Mclaren Honda a couple weeks ago…and he’s been pretty accurate with his hunches so far.
Its not a stretch of the imagination, but I doubt its a done deal. Fernando appears to have built a little empire at Ferrari, which is reflected through the various changes in their tech hierarchy. There has been a lot of talk about a performance related clause in his contract, which could have come into play because Ferrari have not produced a particularly good car over the years. Alonso’s team could have done a framework agreement of sorts with Mclaren, whereby if Ferrari dont perform in 2014, then he’s outskis and off to Woking. Ferrari have not transitioned well into the era of simulators. Perhaps with in season testing returning next year, their fortunes might turn. Couple this with a new wind tunnel, they could be on form.
Lets be honest, Mclaren need Alonso more than Alonso needs Mclaren. The team looks very limp, there is a major lack of drive in the team, and what they need is somebody uncompromising, ruthless and competitive like Alonso.
I have the same gut feeling about this as I had about Kimi moving to Ferrari, or even Hamilton to Mercedes. That there is NO way that is going to happen. So on that basis. It probably is.
Oskari Saari nailed the Kimi-to-Ferrari move months before anyone did, so he has some credibility to me.
That said, here’s the thing: if I were Ferrari, why settle for Hulkenberg as Alonso’s replacement if I can get Vettel? He should be a free agent by then, right?
I don’t want to speculate as well, it’s a bit daft as silly season does whatever it wants regardless of logic or what the press wants to happen. If Alonso does move back then I fear for him. Arguably Mclaren have been even worse than Ferrari the last few years (and that’s saying something after 2011) and just because “Honda Mclaren Senna” were once great names doesn’t mean anything to today’s racing world. Alonso’s built Ferrari around him, if he’s smart he won’t sign anything yet and will wait to see where the cars are next year and then make his move. He’s also reiterated many times (even recently) that he wants to see out his career with Ferrari so I feel it’s pointless wondering about it now- next season should be when he makes his mind up.
Oskari Saari nailed the Kimi-to-Ferrari move months before anyone did, so he has some credibility to me.
Eh, do you have any source for that? I don’t recall anything like that happening. But I do remember Saari nailing Kovalainen-back-to-Caterham-this-season already in May and Red-Bull-wants-Kimi months ago.
I don’t think it’s impossible as things do change in F1. Ferrari threw Raikkonen out only to take him back four years later. Teams want to win races and championships and drivers want the same thing, everything else is secondary.
However, the conflict between Alonso and McLaren was a huge one and had very significant consequences. Even a year after that, Alonso claimed that McLaren “don’t deserve” to win titles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGAnLfGCDhU
Dennis is not in charge anymore and some other people might have left McLaren in the meantime as well, both sides might have calmed down and realised their own past mistakes but I still doubt if most team members would greet Alonso with open arms. If the Spaniard has lost his belief in Ferrari’s ability to build a title-winning car and McLaren don’t believe that Button is capable of winning another title, then they might get back together but rather out of desperation than mutual sympathy.
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