What's up with Fred?

[airshifter]

It's the proverbial catch 22 for both the team and Fred. If Fernando really had some issue of his own, he doesn't want to admit that. If the car had a problem the team doesn't want to admit that.

If he was driving really slow like Jense did the last race, maybe it would have been safer.


Hopefully it was a freak thing, and both driver and team are ok. They have a lot of work to do, even with Fred driving. Only time will tell how things develop. They are somewhat at a disadvantage of only having that one team with that power unit, so a lot rests on Honda. The team couldn't get the best power unit in the field to help them much last year, so personally even if Honda sorts the engine I think they will have to continue with the chassis if they want results.

[Bagwan]

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/24184/9776231

Oh , Tazzy , sounds like the marriage is rocky already with Fred calling McRon an unhelpful liar .
And , this is all before ever having consummated the racing marriage by turning a wheel in anger .

It wasn't the car .
It was the car .

He was out after the crash .
I was awake for the whole thing .

He was a ten year old .
I was a ten year old when I was ten years old .


So , what the hell is going on , and what will Ron say next , after having been called an unhelpful liar ?

[Tazio]

Dude you really are acting like a gay drama queen

Fred has a well documented history of being brutally honest with the media. He admits he was unconscious from the medication they gave him after the accident, but that doesn't mean his memory isn't a little fuzzy from the bump on his head.
I'm holding you to this Alonso/Dennis "rocky marriage" conspiracy theory! I think Ron is fine with everything Fred has said, and will gladly admit he spoke without having all the available information, or maybe he just didn't want it revealed at that time, who freakin cares? Ron and Fred have a common problem, and that is the performance and development of the car. These guys don't care about this anymore, and it will soon be behind them. Fred has admitted that his steering rack that he asked McLaren to use on his car is different than K-Mag's and JB's.

Who knows Ron (McLaren) may have suggested to Fred that they didn't know how it would work on the MP4-30. For all we know Ron has told Fred: "

I told you so, but it is cool bro, this is what testing is for, bummer you hurt yourself though."

Fred has said:

“I have zero doubts, zero concerns.”
He said he was using a different “steering rack” for his personal driving preference in Barcelona, but has now returned to the standard layout run by teammate Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen.

The situation at McLaren is different than it was the last go round, and I suspect that all the negative personal crap coming out of that camp is for the consumption of drama queens like yourself.


Speaking on the problems he had with Fred in 2007 Ron has said:

“It [the scandal] could be dissected in lots of ways but it is the past,” Dennis said. “The whole thing took on a momentum and was very controversial for the whole sport. It was heavily amplified and everyone got pretty bruised by it. But everyone has moved on. I am mellower, Fernando has matured and there are other people who were involved. To go back into it would be a waste of time. Actions speak louder than words and we need to get on with racing and enjoy the experience.”

Obviously their are drama queens like you that can't enjoy the racing, with just a little anecdotal comic relief. All of the questions you posed in your last comment on this thread art things that you hope cause problems, that's your problem bro, you have my sympathy!

[Doc Austin]

I'm just glad Fred appears to be fine.

[Doc Austin]

Maybe Alonso is a little better than fine:

F1: Alonso certain steering caused crash

Blaming the car at this point is just an embarrassment to the team, so why do it? Why not just let it remain a mystery?

[Bagwan]

Maybe Alonso is a little better than fine:

F1: Alonso certain steering caused crash

Blaming the car at this point is just an embarrassment to the team, so why do it? Why not just let it remain a mystery?

Hey Doc , quit bringin' stuff like this up or Tazzy will call you a drama queen .

About the question , though , what would you do if you were that straight talker that Tazzy was talking about , and you boss said it was all your fault , not the car's , as there was nothing wrong with the car ?
And , what if he said it when you were still on the gurney ?
Would you want to assure your big backer that it really wasn't your fault , and that all the faith they had put in you was well placed ?

[Doc Austin]

Hey Doc , quit bringin' stuff like this up or Tazzy will call you a drama queen .

I'm pretty sure there's no need to make any of this personal.

There is so much confliciting information that who can tell? The marshals reportedly said Alonso was out, but not Fred says he never was. I'm guessing the impact rattled him so bad that he has no idea what happened before or after. That or he remembers things all wrong. When you go bouncing your brain around in your skull, it stops working properly for at least awhile.

The fact Fred was out three weeks tells you this was bad. James Hinchcliffe got a concussion at Indy and only missed a few days. Nelson Piquet had one that was so bad he felt it for most of his 87 championship. I don't think there is any such thing as a minor concussion. some are just much worse than others.

If Ron pointed the finger at Fred, I have not read anything like that. The most damming thing I have seen come from the McLaren camp is that they said they could not find anything wrong with the car. That's not nearly the same thing as saying Fred f***ed up. It's more like "We don't know what happened." Initially they even went with the wild story that it was a gust of wind, so clearly McLaren was going out of their way not to blame Alonso.

What I am not buying is that if the steering really did lock, how come they can't find it now? Why didn't that show up on telemetry?

I am mostly inclined to believe no one really knows what happened because there is no video, very little telemetry, and Alonso got the schitt knocked out of him so bad that he either he is delusional or remembers so little that he has to make something up to save face when he should really just be happy he's going to be healthy.

Look, I have no way of knowing for sure and neither does anyone else except maybe there's a 1% chance Alonso remembers something. What I do know is that it's a little bit early in this divine reunion for the fingers to start coming out. Do these guys want this to work or not?

If it we me I would say "How do I know? I got the living schitt smacked out of me and I don't remember anything." Bang.......... end of controversy.

I think this is just a sign that no matter what happens all year (or as long as this lasts), nothing is ever going to be Alonso's fault ...... nothing. I think all Formula One drivers are self serving prim Madonnas who can never believe they have ever done anything wrong. This goes for all of them, though some are a bit more sure of themselves than others.

And no, I have never had a problem with Alonso at all. I loved it when he handed Schumacher his ass and ran him out of the sport. So, before someone says I am racist against Spaniards or something, don't even try.

Would you want to assure your big backer that it really wasn't your fault , and that all the faith they had put in you was well placed ?

I'm not sure which backer you mean, but I will operate on the premise you mean Dennis. Ron's been in this so long he's not going to lose faith in a driver the first time they bend a front upright and flatten a wheel. Ron probably doesn't even care that Alonso crashed because that's just part of it. All Ron cares about now is getting Fred up to speed and McLaren back to the front.

And for all the Alonso faithful, don't think your driver is being dissed because some of us believe he is capable of making a mistake. He's probably the best driver in the world, but he's also not God himself.

[Tazio]

Good post Doc, It's already yesterdays news!

[Bagwan]

Oh well .
I thought we were having fun .

[jens]

It is interesting to think that Ron Dennis and Fernando Alonso are together again - the couple, who already fell out of love many years ago. And they are together in the most extreme possible situation - at the back of the grid after a major crash with blurry causes of said crash. As opposed to 2007, when it started out so well - McLaren was a top car and Alonso won his second race in Malaysia.

But this great car didn't help with their relationship. Now they have the opportunity to do it again from the bottom. They better be 'mellower' and more mature as they say, because without that you can't manage this! As the saying goes - tough times are a real test for humans. If Ron and Fernando can go through this together, it will be easier later on...

Or not? Because in 2007 it wasn't. Or as long as Alonso doesn't have a too strong team-mate, who threatens to steal the glory from him in a very good car (2007), it should all be fine?