TBK-Light.com

"We weren't racing Kimi, we were racing Fernando" - Ron Dennis after 2007 Chinese GP.

That was 2 races before the end, and it was pretty obvious Alonso ruined it for himself after Hungary.

If Fernando hadn't been so hell bent on throwing his car at Massa in Barcelona and then at every possible escape in Canada, then he might not have been behind Hamilton in the Championship. And therefore would have been the deriguer No.1 for the team that year. But then again, I don't get how Fernando's self inflicted issues during the 2007 season are relevant to this overall discussion.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

More relevant is Senna and Dennis in 1993. When you bow down to the driver's every need and sacrifice the team needs for a driver, what happens when that driver decideds to go somewhere else?

Renault wasn't great in 2007 either....

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

???

_________________

Following on from what was said about how Mclaren became a ghost team as soon as Senna left, Renault took an immediate nosedive as soon as Alonso left for Mclaren....

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

Monaco kicked it off. They favoured Alonso and Hamilton's naivety exposed the initial tensions.

Hamilton and Dennis also had a rather colourful exchange via radio during Q3 in Hungary when Lewis disobeyed orders to favour Fernando, a fact that most missed amid Alonso's subsequent retaliation. It was only post-Spygate when they began to favour Lewis a hundred percent because Alonso's actions showed he wasn't a team player.

Renault in 2007 struggled with the Bridgestones. Their car was centred around Michelins plus they focused a lot on the R26 meaning 2007 development stagnated. Even with Alonso at the helm, they wouldn't have done hugely well, as proved by the start of 2008.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Monaco didn't kick it off. The catalyst was Lewis' speed and consitency, which meant he lead the championship. Alonso didn't like that he was being beaten by a rookie and what he assumed was his number 2. Monaco was merely the first team-order of the season. A pre-race agreement was made regarding the strategy, Alonso was always being favoured. Lewis didn't like being compromised and made a meal of the order post race.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

man, that race (Monaco 2007) sucked.

I'm about a week late, having only just caught the race (no TV or internet on holiday!). Too late to join the discussion, but I'm on the side that it was pretty low from Vettel. Yes, I don't think there should have been team orders in the first place, but the point is that there were. Mark was defenceless until it was too late. I imagine he only would have turned his engine back up when he realised how close Vettel was.

Also, why did they pit Vettel first, and take a few seconds out of Mark's lead? The whole incident was stupid and avoidable. Mark had driven the better race.

Look at this. Magic!

This one looks better

_________________

If it wasn't for the timer bottom right, you'd believe that footage speed was at double time.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

What worries me now going forward is, in Malaysia, if the team orders had gone to plan, we had the top 4 not racing, just cruising around.

And don't forget, this was a race that only had 1 Ferrari in it, so who knows if we could've made that 6 by the end of the race had Alonso survived turn 2 with his wing intact.

That doesn't fill me with confidence going forward.

What can we do about it? Hope and pray the teams don't line up two by two again? Well it's going to happen again at some point this season, you can bet on that.

I don't have any answers on what you can do though. People are pointing to the tyres falling off as the reason for all this but
10 years ago the same "race to the final pitstop then back off" situation happened too and its not like tyres were even 10% of the issue they are now back then.
(And it sounds like from 2014 onwards we'll be hearing the phrase "fuel saving" a lot )

There are no good answers to this problem....that's what worries me the most.

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

Jeez, you're really taking things too seriously.

Team orders have been of the fabric of F1 nee all forms of motorsport throughout history. Regardless of the stage of the season or the drivers or teams involved, they've always been there.

Thats it. End of.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk