Confirmed: Jean-Eric Vergne ousted by Toro Rosso

[Doc Austin]

McLaren could have very easily kept it's current drivers and Alonso would have been totally out in the cold. Where else could he go? He's not going to Sauber and he probably heard all year from Kimmi about the paychecks he had to fight for at Lotus.

Mercedes is set. Red Bull is set. Ferrari is set. Williams is set. Force India is set. Torro Rosso is set. Even Lotus appears set, so what's left outside of Caterham and Marussia?

The only possibility left is McLaren.

Knowing this, Dennis could have used that for leverage, and you can well imagine he would have probably enjoyed it. Why would you pay $40 million for a driver if he has nowhere else to go?

Of course, Honda money might be involved here, but they already have a long relationship with Button. My guess is that Mags is probably out. To me it would make more sense to keep Mags for the future instead of Button for his last hurrah.

Alonso isn't real young in F1 terms either, so driver-wise, McLaren is only planning one or two years ahead. This is in sharp contrast to Red Bull picking up Vettel when he was 12 years old.

[kfzmeister]

You write as if ALO was all of a sudden faced with the fact that Vettel just took his seat. How do you know if this really happened? What if he made his decision to leave Ferrari in September, as he claims, and Ferrari (Mattiacci) then makes Vettel an offer?
Perhaps McLaren already made ALO an offer then?
Doesn't look like he's standing out in the cold to me. Remember that ALO made the announcement to leave. Nobody else. In the meantime everyone else gets fired.
You pay $40 million for a driver, cause you know he's still the best around. Like it, or not.

[Doc Austin]

You pay $40 million for a driver, cause you know he's still the best around. Like it, or not.

Where id I say Alonso wasn't the best in the world and where did I say I didn't like it?

[kfzmeister]

Where id I say Alonso wasn't the best in the world and where did I say I didn't like it?

Would the best in the world really have nowhere to go? Unlikely
I threw the other part in cause it felt right and it seemed to flow :-)

[airshifter]

Would the best in the world really have nowhere to go? Unlikely
I threw the other part in cause it felt right and it seemed to flow :-)

Unlikely that he would have nowhere to go, but if he hasn't locked up a seat it certainly leaves the door open for any team to consider him, not them, in the position of needing a job. Regardless of the budget they have available, Alonso wouldn't know what they could offer in terms of driver salary. For all we know, he might not have any drive yet secured.

It will be interesting to see the sequence of events, if we ever really know. I don't see Alonso as the type to want to sit out a season, and he may have taken a gamble leaving Ferrari before having another seat. With his skill set, it's safe to say that a number of teams would certainly find a way to fund his drive, but are they the team(s) he really wanted to drive for?

[Doc Austin]

Would the best in the world really have nowhere to go? Unlikely

And yet, in 1992, that's what happened to Prost, so it's not like Alonso would be the first.

[Malbec]

Sounds to me simply like wishful thinking from someone that doesn't like ALO. Everything that i've read indicates that he will command the highest current salary, once confirmed.
Not sure where you draw your (IM)O from, but that seems to be about what's gonna happen.
We'll have to just come back to that another day...

I'm one of those guys who thinks that Alonso is the most rounded driver around and albeit by a small margin the best there is. I'm afraid this isn't about his abilities which in my clearly biased mind not in question but about the market place.

Anything is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it, its basic market dynamics. If there is only one seat available thats worth having then the team that has it has the whiphand in negotiations, not the driver. Do you really think Alonso can turn to McLaren and say $40 million or nothing when if McLaren decline him he really does end up with nothing?

[henners88]

What is interesting is the effect RBR's policy is having on driver salaries.

IMO Alonso did not expect RBR to replace Vettel with yet another STR rookie almost immediately but they did. By doing so RBR saved $10s of millions by not hiring Alonso and also decimated his negotiating position with McLaren as he could not play Woking against Milton Keynes for his services. Alonso will likely be taking a substantial paycut for 2015 because of Kvyat, the alternative would have been hoping for a Caterham seat or sitting out of F1 for a year.

It will be interesting to see the effect of a constant influx of young, fast and talented but low paid F1 drivers will have on the market over the next few years, I reckon RBR is singlehandedly driving down driver salaries across the whole sport (for the talented group, paydrivers are another matter).

I think you've hit the nail on the head there. F1 these days is very much about hiring drivers that bring money in rather than hiring drivers that demand higher salaries. I know there was talk that Hamilton would either be taking a cut or remaining on his current salary before he won the Championship, and there were even more options back then. Alonso I feel decided his exit from Ferrari, but I think he did so thinking there were more options at his disposal. Its likely he signed with McLaren some time ago and most likely after Red Bull confirmed their line up. I can't imagine Ron Dennis paying more than he has to for a driver with limited options regardless of his quality. He is arguably the most complete driver on the grid, but there is some great talent at the moment and being the best may not always equate with being the most desirable signing, sadly in this era. Alonso has given Ferrari a lot over the past 5 years and they couldn't deliver their side of the bargain, however at times I can't help but feel his past may have hampered his chances with certain teams. I hope he gets a competitive drive next year as it is us that is being robbed by not seeing this guy fighting for Championships.

Vergne has just been very unlucky. He deserved a better drive and personally I think Red Bull picked the wrong guy to partner Ricciardo, but time will tell and I am sure Kvyat will deliver what is expected.

[Doc Austin]

.........however at times I can't help but feel his past may have hampered his chances with certain teams.

Which makes his going back to McLaren even more surprising.

[Tazio]

I'm one of those guys who thinks that Alonso is the most rounded driver around and albeit by a small margin the best there is. I'm afraid this isn't about his abilities which in my clearly biased mind not in question but about the market place.

Anything is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it, its basic market dynamics. If there is only one seat available thats worth having then the team that has it has the whiphand in negotiations, not the driver. Do you really think Alonso can turn to McLaren and say $40 million or nothing when if McLaren decline him he really does end up with nothing?

Apparently that is what just happened mate.
Not only that, but according to one source Fred has a get out clause, predicated on whether another team will offer him even more frogskins.

But the salary of roughly €35 million that the Spanish driver will take home will no doubt help heal the wounds. The deal, the biggest ever signed in the history of the sport, is based on 2015 and 2016, with an optional third season. The contract does, however, contain get-out clauses, so that Alonso can leave the team should he receive a more attractive offer.
http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/12/11/...04_379086.html

Although this $ amount seems obscene even to me, at least it is good to know that talent is still the most valuable commodity when it comes to choice of pilots in F1 as long as you have the budget.