I think button needs to grow a pair this season. He needs to show Ron he is sat behind that wheel for a real reason not just a second rate driver. Given equal equipment as above he may well prove difficult for Alonso to deal with. Button is brilliant with tyre management

 

I heard that a lot of the team mechanics had Smedley quotes as ring tones or something

 

I hope so Ron! It's going to be very interesting. I'm a massive Button fan, but Alonso is going to be a difficult and fascinating test.

He's shown some very tough driving over the last 2 seasons. He does get accused of not getting stuck in enough, but just look at his reliability record. You never see him spin, and barely ever seem him involved in an incident which is his fault. All makes for a lot more point scoring that his team mates.

 

Android TV box plus XBMC = Sky F1

 

It was the right decision!

 

It's an interesting saga.

My interpretation is this:

Alonso goes to McLaren in '07, no contractual or explicit promises of being number 1 are given, but he's being paired with 'just a rookie'. Alonso says that's your choice to Ron but it may cost the constructers trophy, clearly with no idea what to expect from Hamilton.

They are all complicit in spygate, Hamilton is getting setup data from Alonso so has no incriminating communications. Ron is smart enough to maintain plausible deniability.

When Hamilton proves to be a real challenge Alonso confronts Ron thinking he had leverage with the Ferrari data, Ron feels it incriminates Alonso more so calls his bluff but miscalculates the FIA giving immunity to drivers.

Fast forward all these years and both sides realise they committed mutually assured destruction and rather than earning several championships together, instead spent their best years fighting for scraps.

The comments about Hamilton striking the first blow and immaturity are not without merit, but Ron and Alonso escalated it and even Hamilton knows he's grown since then so it won't alienate him that much.

Ron and Alonso probably hate each other, but they know they are each others best hopes and have since learned their lesson that you shouldn't wound what you can't kill.

I also think they are trying to lure Hamilton back. I've never heard Alonso talk of Senna a great deal, all of a sudden he's talking of a historic matching of McLaren and Honda and emulating Senna, we all know how much that means to Hamilton.

 

Wow you love a good conspiracy theory or if there isn't one to create one Philip

Alonso v Button ... my view, they will be very evenly matched, Alonso will stamp his feet later in the season and demand the team make Button number 2 (although JB does know the car so could actually be quicker than Alonso all year, but I doubt it). I think HONDA and Maclaren is a great mix, but in their first season to go up against the Mercedes with the last year under their belt I think will be difficult, I really hope they can do it though and make a great competition of the year between the teams. Looking forward to it already!

 

I honestly cannot see McLaren doing much next year. The test McLaren did at the end of the season with the Honda engine did not go well. I don't expect lightning pace from day 1, but not even being able to do a full speed lap is worrying. I fear Alonso and Button will spend most of next year nearer the back, than the front.

Maybe I'm wrong, and Honda will bring it in pre season. I hope that's the case, and they are challenging for race wins. My gut says otherwise.

On a side note. Don't forget to vote for Lewis tonight on BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

 

Yes but that was November. Last year the Renault teams were still having the same sorts of issues in the third test in February. In reality, Red Bull won three races and finished second overall.

The thing that's often forgotten is McLaren had the best engine this year, but were still nowhere near Mercedes or Williams, and were often out performed by Force India too. Even if Honda come up with an even better engine than the Mercedes, they still need to take a big step forward in every other area. They'll probably consider third or fourth in the championship a success.

 

I don't think Mclaren would ever consider 3rd or 4th in the championship a success.

You'd expect Honda to produce a pretty good engine from the off. They'll have got a lot of info about the Merc unit and they have the advantage of having been able to start with a clean sheet of paper so can copy all the good bits about the Merc design. Power wise i suspect they'll hit the ground running. Reliability might be another issue altogether.

Mclaren have made a lot of staff changes and the car at the end of the year wasn't so bad. I think they might be challenging Williams next season.