Alonso's Ferrari Blog: On Losing Monaco To Vettel & Silverstone Cut-Off for WDC

Fernando Alonso's Ferrari Blog - May 30, 2011 :

http://www.ferrari.com/English/Scuderia/Blogs/Alonso/archive/2011/05/30/i-tried-to-the-very-end.aspx

Alonso says "Vettel ends up winning a race in which we felt there was a chance of victory".

Alonso also implies that Silverstone will be the race at which they'll decide whether or not to not necessessarily "throw in the towel" per se', but to judge whether or not continue fighting for the 2011 WDC.

Montreal, in my view, will be RBR's Achilles Heel because it lacks really fast, sweeping bends and is mostly fast straights and hard-breaking, slow hairpins and corners. Also, the compounds being taken by Pirelli won't disadvantage the likes of Ferrari as was the case in Spain.

If, however, Vettel out-scores Alonso in Canada, then do you think Ferrari should throw in the towel on the 2011 WDC and focus on 2012?

Indeed, Alonso needs 25 points in Canada...and right now i'm placing my money on Hamilton who has a tendency to bounce back hard from tough races. Plus Montreal suits McLaren.

Alonso not only needs to out-score Vettel in Montreal, he needs to make sure Hamilton doesn't lead a McLaren 1-2 like the Englishman did last year.

If Ferrari don't score big points in Canada, should they still continue to put resources into 2011...or should they then shift more resources into 2012?

Thoughts?
 
Alonso needs to score as many points as he is able to with the car he is given in the remaining races of the season, and hope that that number is enough to win him the world championship.
 
There will come a point in time, however, where Ferrari will throw in the towel on the 2011 season and focus on 2012.

It's nothing new at Maranello.

2009 comes to mind.

McLaren had an even worse start to 2009 than Ferrari but kept developing the car to the end whereas Ferrari froze development by June/July.

So, it's something they've done before.
 
That would depend on whether Ferrari do or do not believe the chance of winning the championship is realistic enough at a given point in the season, to be worth the resources they are at that point using to develop the current car, weighed against what they believe to be the benefits of diverting a certain amount of those resources into developing their 2012 car.
 
It will be determined by the number of successive podiums/wins Alonso could possibly string together now say until Spa, if they don't make any notable headway then I think they will divert development to 2012, until then I think development on downforce will be continued.
 
I think Silverstone is a reasonable time to make that decision. Obviously it depends on circumstances - an Alonso DNF in Canada with Vettel winning could push the decision back to Valencia.

It's worth waiting a race or two though. They never really got to terms with their car until after Silverstone last year - I know RBR did them some favours in the championship with non-finishes, but I wouldn't throw in the towel with Alonso as my driver as early as I would if it was someone else.
 
If Ferrari decide at some point NOT to 'go for it', I hope they have the decency to withdraw from racing for the rest of the season.
 
Briatore suggested Ferrari write off 2011 to concentrate on 2012 as early as the third race. That would have been bad Pr, however unless Alonso wins next time around or the Red Bulls lose their 1 lap trick there would be no further point in developing

They could just start to focus on trying to win a race maybe at Monza

Personally I think Alonso and Ferrari are on a downward spiral that might be irrecoverable without a complete overhaul of approach and personnel, starting with Monte

New thinking is needed, building a Latin dream team is now changing to building a Latin team with compliant foreign members.

A new leader with a long term vision and the willingness to let Alonso go if needed is required
 
Personally I think Alonso and Ferrari are on a downward spiral that might be irrecoverable without a complete overhaul of approach and personnel, starting with Monte
A new leader with a long term vision and the willingness to let Alonso go if needed is required

1] Each to our own thoughts and views, though that was supposed to be the case last year to.:thinking:

2] Do you think the RBR brains trust will get rid of Vettel if they think it is right? or conversly McLaren getting rid of Hamilton?
 
I don't think RBR or VMM are built around one driver so much

It is said that Alonso has vetoed the employment of certain staff, it is said that Ferrari won't hire the fastest drivers like Kubica or Rosberg as Alonso likes to run with a compliant number 2

It is also said that this years car snd it's development has had a very big input and direction from Alonso

Yes this approach worked when a certain MS was there with JT and others, however this time around it might be that the concept of all Latin dream team around Alonso is untenable. Maybe F1 has changed

I just think a new leader must be introduced with a 5 year plan, especially with so many changes in the air
 
I don't think RBR or VMM are built around one driver so much

It is said that Alonso has vetoed the employment of certain staff, it is said that Ferrari won't hire the fastest drivers like Kubica or Rosberg as Alonso likes to run with a compliant number 2

It is also said that this years car snd it's development has had a very big input and direction from Alonso

Yes this approach worked when a certain MS was there with JT and others, however this time around it might be that the concept of all Latin dream team around Alonso is untenable. Maybe F1 has changed

I just think a new leader must be introduced with a 5 year plan, especially with so many changes in the air

I concur but you did avoid answering the question: "would RBR or McLaren owners if the decision was right! get rid of Hamilton or Vettel respectively?
 
If the decision was right then you have answered your own question

The management have a duty first and foremost to their stakeholders, even if those are not corporates but individuals so if the decision was right they would be obliged to

Your first question is if braintrust (employed decision makers?) would ditch their star drivers, then you change it to owners

So let's say VMm and RBR are entirely Ron Denis and Mateshutz (sic) again I would say yes, if the decision was right ( for more ultimate success for the team) they would

F1 history is littered with ruthless team bosses
 
If the decision was right then you have answered your own question........................F1 history is littered with ruthless team bosses

I respect that, as long as you are willing to accept that, I was marely seeing if this was another Alonso don't like this and that tirade......yip if the decision is right then by all means.......Ferrari's problem is not Alonso their problem starts the next day after the season ends, lax off season and the feeling that Pre-Season rocked now we have a winner, Ferraris development side has been shoddy for the last 2-3 years.
 
I concur but you did avoid answering the question: "would RBR or McLaren owners if the decision was right! get rid of Hamilton or Vettel respectively?

It might be because you answered your own question within said question. If the managers of Red Bull or McLaren decided that the right thing to do would be to get rid of Vettel or Hamilton, respectively, then they would get rid of them, QED. If not, they won't. Ask something more interesting.

Edit: lol... edit conflict. I refer the honourable gent/lady to the answer Cookinflatsix gave some moments ago.
 
It might be because you answered your own question within said question. If the managers of Red Bull or McLaren decided that the right thing to do would be to get rid of Vettel or Hamilton, respectively, then they would get rid of them, QED. If not, they won't. Ask something more interesting.

I think Ferrari have pretty much answered that, they signed him to 2016, they obviously see him as there undisputed face of the team, I don't think the position is any different at Redbull with Mark Webber being made to look like their platoon driver.

Again Ferrari need a new overhaul I agree but it is not so much the driver it will be from president to lowest technical developer/engineer, Ferrari always proclaim a heman car, up until it hits the grid at Bahrain then it tells a different story.
 
Alonso this and that tirades tend to be in response to the type of Alonso this or that Wum found on 606 and now on not606. Thankfully we are safe here from the Lorcas and can be adult in our critical analysis

So you agree the Ferrari need an overhaul

A real overhaul and not a Ferrari type plaster the cracks overhaul should involve a new leader with a plan for the next 5 years
It wouldn't be an overhaul if the new chap arrives and finds he is stuck with a moody Spaniard with fixed ideas about team dynamics etc

Don't forget what Ferrari looked like for years before the overhaul involving Todt, Schumacher and Brawn
 
So you agree the Ferrari need an overhaul...............Don't forget what Ferrari looked like for years before the overhaul involving Todt, Schumacher and Brawn

I still think Dominicalli needs to go, someone with a progressive way of thinking is needed, I also think the technical side needs a massive overhaul with similar progressive thinkers, Ferrari have fallen behind the eight ball in that stake.

5 year plans, yeah sounds good and I will say perhaps in 5 years Alonso is not the way forward as a mid 30's racer even if he adds another WDC or two. Right now Alonso is about the only lingering hope Ferrari has of saving face, without him they may be dwelling along the Saubers, Torro Rosso, Force India bracket.

I have heard things about Alonso and his ways I don't believe they are as sensationalised as that though, after all he went to Renault from McLaren.
 
You could be right though, that Alonso is the one thing keeping Ferrari from humiliation

Question still is, do you carry on and attempt to build around him as the main driver or do you look ahead and target success around a solid team with proper foundations?

I suspect that the former approach will be taken with the employment of Briatore sooner rather than later
 
I think the best way forward is to get a young protoge like a said/mentioned Perez, let him grow into Ferrari, by that point Alonso will be in the latter years of his career and may then very well be the number 2 driver.

The car needs to be ready by race 1 not race 6, you cannot always rely on a miracle comeback and I think both Massa and Alonso will like perfect cars by the time Bahrain arrives instead of tweaking away until Silverstone.
 
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