BMW confirm Alonso negotiations

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Originally Posted by Knock-on

BMW are a team on the up and no mistake.

Kubica and Alonso together is a lean, mean line-up.

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thats a terrific lineup if it materializes, along with the resurgent STR (if they keep it up) there would be 4 good teams in 09

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Originally Posted by wedge

Kubica is now known to be demanding. He recently said he didn't like Heidfeld getting the attention over the past few weeks.

Should be fun seeing Alonso and Kubica throwing their toys out of their prams.

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how true. Would be interesting to see how Kubica reacts. I think/hope Alonso has learned a thing or two and I would suspect that it would be Kubica who would be throwing the first stones across the bow...then agian who knows

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Originally Posted by FIA

Well it looks like Heidfeld may go to Renault or Williams, maybe Williams over Renault (cause of the Piquet, Grosjean, Di Grassi dilema). Although rumours of Toro Rosso becoming Lancia could be interesting, pick Heideld over any of the STR candidates. What about Prodrive could they still put a car on the grid.

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at this point in his career, I wouldn't pick Heidfeld over Bourdais or even Sato.
He is a solid but unspectacular driver who will just do enough to keep ahead but not more to maximize the car. I think he might be out of F1 next year, or at best will compete for a seat in Renault or Honda.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/70682

I think the engine issue may be the key whether Alonso decides to stay at Renault or not...

If we look at this way... For example Alonso himself has said that STR has third fastest car at the moment (quite likely looking at performances), then with proper engines Red Bull should be at least as quick if not quicker (A-team after all) and the other team using Renault' engines - Renault itself :D - has had a better season than Red Bull. This is of course an undefined assumption, but looking at this evidence (Renault chassis > RBR/STR chassis) Renault could have been almost a title contender (or somewhere at BMW's position) this year with a top engine! If they get the engine issue solved, Alonso would have no reason to leave Renault. Interesting times ahead...

And also honda is whispering in Alonso's ears. Ross Brawn has praised Fernando a couple of times this year (at least in the spanish media) and he is the best asset Honda has right now...

Renault is a good option since at least they know what you need to make a fast car. But the engine regulation has deeply hurt them.

BMW seems to be a question mark since they started the seasson really strong but have been going backwards as Alonso has been able to challenge them on few ocasions lately with the crappy Renault. By the way, Alonso and Kubica are pretty good friends and will get along well.

All in all, I just want him to have a car that allows him to fight for something, and not just fight to keep it on track.

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Originally Posted by Kevincal

No, Kubica only said that because the season is almost over and the team needs to focus on the driver with the most points. Kubica can still win the WDC believe it or not, just look at the points, he's not far behind at all. If Alonso comes over and is well ahead of Kubica in points next year around this time, Kubica would happily agree to let Alonso get preferential treatment if it meant possibly winning the WDC...

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Amazingly all the drivers from McLaren, BMW and Ferrari are all mathematically still in title contention. Although I think BMW would be foolish not to support Kubica at this stage.

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Originally Posted by tamburello

Personally, I think that BMW's decision to quit development of the 08 car and concentrate on the 09 car, with the investment in KERS that they have been the main protagonists for, makes them at this stage my favourites for next years titles.

Not that I'm willing to put any money on that statement, mind.

But I do know that BMW are not in F1 to be beaten by Mercedes. They mean business. A few of the people I know who have been recruited by BMW say that they are still yet to scratch the surface of the potential of what they have done with Hinwil.

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In the back of my mind in respect of 2009/KERS is the fact that, some 10 years ago, McLaren had a system ready to run. Now, if they have continued to develop this in the background, the potential for them to have a very robust, reliable and well packeged system is enormous.

They have been very quiet on this front, is that good or bad???

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Originally Posted by SGWilko

In the back of my mind in respect of 2009/KERS is the fact that, some 10 years ago, McLaren had a system ready to run. Now, if they have continued to develop this in the background, the potential for them to have a very robust, reliable and well packeged system is enormous.

They have been very quiet on this front, is that good or bad???

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Bad!

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Originally Posted by SGWilko

In the back of my mind in respect of 2009/KERS is the fact that, some 10 years ago, McLaren had a system ready to run. Now, if they have continued to develop this in the background, the potential for them to have a very robust, reliable and well packeged system is enormous.

They have been very quiet on this front, is that good or bad???

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Wilko!!!! You know all that must be hogwash?

How on earth could the FIA, headed by a man who apparently has it in for Mclaren, possibly have introduced a new system that would benefit the boys from Woking?

Are you suggesting that there is no anti-Mclaren conspiracy?

I think you need a long lie down while you reflect on the silliness of your statement!






PS - Don't know how to do that 'Smiley' face thing.

PPS - It does actually raise a very interesting point (KERS development, that is, not the 'Smiley' face dilemma) about who is going to be straight out of the starting blocks with this one.

I do know that Zytek are currently working with a couple of un-named F1 teams on their KERS systems. Zytek have a few years of knowledge with hybrid power systems. Sorry, I don't actually know which F1 teams they are working with...the contact I have isn't at liberty to say. I would, however, imagine that there are other specialists currently working with F1 teams and that, despite expectation perhaps, not all KERS stuff will be unique to a specific team or indeed an in-house design.

BMW appear to be ahead of the game at the moment, just because they have done a semi-public test of their system. It could be that others are running behind closed doors, and Honda would, I imagine, be in that category (who knows what goes on in Honda's japanese sporting division...certainly not aero-work, it seems).

For me, BMW would be the obvious place for Fernando to end up, because they seem to be without any major worries.

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Originally Posted by SGWilko

In the back of my mind in respect of 2009/KERS is the fact that, some 10 years ago, McLaren had a system ready to run. Now, if they have continued to develop this in the background, the potential for them to have a very robust, reliable and well packeged system is enormous.

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IIRC there was an article in Motorsport about this not so long ago. Adrian Newey was developing it while at McLaren and initially the FIA approved the system. Newey continued work until a KERS-type system was ready for testing/racing (not sure which) at which point the FIA changed their minds.

Who knows whether McLaren have continued to develop the idea in some shape or form, or perhaps Newey took the concept with him when he went to Red Bull...

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Originally Posted by aryan

Crystal ball

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Let's leave Lewis out of this thread...Oops! I misread it as "Crystal Balls!" :)