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Showing posts with label Fernando Alonso. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fernando Alonso. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 July 2018
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 - Another look back ... the Festival of Speed 2005
Friday, 20 October 2017
F1 News - Alonso stays at McLaren
So, finally, the announcement Fernando Alonso has signed for McLaren for another year ...
He says he is very happy at Woking alongside Stoffel Vandoorne... but only for 1 more year.
Now the double world champion has had 3 terrible seasons at McLaren, and few other driving choices.
There are no seats at top three Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull.
But I don't believe it is either inertia or money that is keeping Fernando in Zak Brown's squad.
He knows something.... There are engine and chassis developments afoot that have persuaded him to stay post the Honda debacle.
I think he knows 2018 could be a major return to form for the team and he wants to be back in the points not back on the retirees list.
Alonso is a truly great racer, give him just half a chance in anything reliable and he will work wonders. All of the other front runners, Lewis, Sebastian, Daniel, know, respect and perhaps fear him a little. Only Max fails to give respect.
Will we see him back on the podium next year? I believe we will ... and much more importantly, Fernando believes we will.
Graham Benge
Wednesday, 17 May 2017
What will Alonso be driving at Indy 500..?
If you've been wondering what Fernando Alonso will be driving at Indianapolis, Motorsport.tv have kindly produced a 3D model of the McLaren Honda Andretti indycar with mention on many of the differences between it and Fernando's usual runabout....
Friday, 15 July 2016
Friday F1 Fun!
Someone at Formula1sBlog has kindly put together a selection of the funny and daft things that F1 drivers are required to do for their sponsors…
And where would we be on a Friday afternoon without them!!
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Melbourne Grand Prix - Immediate reaction
Graham, Dave and Andrew talk through the thrills and spills of a fantastic Melbourne Grand Prix....
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Immediate reaction to the Bahrain GP....
Graham Benge, David Wakefield and Andrew Denyer give their immediate reactions the first race of the 2010 Formula One season... the Bahrain GP...
Download the MP3 HERE
Extra UKMotorTalk Programme!
A short extra edition of UKMotorTalk as Graham Benge, Andrew Denyer and Mike Turner get together to talk about Stirling Moss' unfortunate accident, and then discuss the price of new cars!
Download MP3 HERE
Thursday, 4 February 2010
It's what you've been waiting for...! - UKMT's F1 briefing for 2010...
Just when you thought we'd forgotten... ;-)
Graham Benge, Andrew Denyer and Dave Wakefield discuss the forthcoming 2010 F1 season...:
New Cars
New Teams
New Driver line-ups
Who will be Champion?
For more, visit http://www.ukmotortalk.co.uk/
Graham Benge, Andrew Denyer and Dave Wakefield discuss the forthcoming 2010 F1 season...:
New Cars
New Teams
New Driver line-ups
Who will be Champion?
For more, visit http://www.ukmotortalk.co.uk/
Friday, 25 September 2009
So long and thanks for all the exposure..
So the fallout from the recent 'Crashgate' continues to settle as we learn that two of Renault's principal sponsors have jumped ship in the light of the recent murky goings-on.
ING, the Dutch bank which has been the team's title sponsor since the beginning of the 2007 season has effectively torn up its contract with the Oxfordshire-based outfit, citing its disappointment in their actions at the 2008 Singapore race.
Whilst this is obviously a blow to Renault, it should be remembered that ING along with fellow banking giant and Williams F1 backer RBS were to cease their sponsorship at the end of this season anyway in the light of the recent banking crisis.
There had been much debate regarding the legitimacy of these corporations 'frittering away' huge sums of money to have their names emblazoned on what might be seen as the playthings of the rich and famous when only a few short months ago the taxpayer was bailing them out to prevent their demise..
The other aggrieved party in this sponsorship retreat is the Spanish insurance company, Mutua Madrilena, who whilst continuing to back driver Fernando Alonso following his absolvement from having any part in the matter, has also shredded its agreement with the team demanding that their branding be removed from the car with immediate effect.
This will undoubtedly be a humiliating experience for the team as they head into the closing stages of the year, their car and uniforms denuded of the arguably somewhat gaudy livery (in ING's case at least) of their former backers and troubled by the knowledge that they are, for all the hand-wringing and penitence, damaged goods.
Their task of enticing a new title sponsor to put their name over the door will not be made any easier either by the fact that a whole new gaggle of teams are heading to the grid next year - all of whom will be presenting squeaky-clean and untarnished (as yet) 200mph billboards for potential suitors to adorn with their product names.
Couple this to the fact that number one driver Fernando Alonso is almost certainly going to be wearing red overalls next year and it looks like the Anglo-French operation are going to be experiencing a couple of lean years - assuming of course that the French board don't decide that enough's enough and it's time to throw their considerable weight behind a World Rally Team again..
These withdrawals by the two backers at such a late stage in the year could be seen as slightly cynical opportunism on the part of the two financial institutions, given that Renault aren't going to be clinching either Driver's or Constructor's title this year & earning them some much needed brownie points in a climate where banks in particular are seen as publicly-funded bonus-generating machines, but whatever the reasoning, it's a sad day for Formula One & the Renault F1 Team in particular when much needed revenue is cut off under such controversial circumstances.
Formula One relies on patronage from big business whether we like it or not and long gone are the days of visually-uncluttered cars circulating in their national colours with maybe just a small sticker exhorting the public to buy Bloggs Oil or Meldrums Patent Mechanical Widgets adorning their flanks.
The FIA have long wanted to see a drastic reduction in costs and, perhaps, if more big-name corporations decide that they don't want to be associated with what they see as a 'tricky' sport they might just get their way as funding becomes harder to come by.
I think that the best we can hope for is that this unpalatable incident is put behind us as soon as possible and that any potential sponsors thinking of entering the fray see what has taken place as a bizarre aberration rather than the norm.
Otherwise we could soon be watching a grid full of cars that all look like a Brawn..
Dave Wakefield
ING, the Dutch bank which has been the team's title sponsor since the beginning of the 2007 season has effectively torn up its contract with the Oxfordshire-based outfit, citing its disappointment in their actions at the 2008 Singapore race.
Whilst this is obviously a blow to Renault, it should be remembered that ING along with fellow banking giant and Williams F1 backer RBS were to cease their sponsorship at the end of this season anyway in the light of the recent banking crisis.
There had been much debate regarding the legitimacy of these corporations 'frittering away' huge sums of money to have their names emblazoned on what might be seen as the playthings of the rich and famous when only a few short months ago the taxpayer was bailing them out to prevent their demise..
The other aggrieved party in this sponsorship retreat is the Spanish insurance company, Mutua Madrilena, who whilst continuing to back driver Fernando Alonso following his absolvement from having any part in the matter, has also shredded its agreement with the team demanding that their branding be removed from the car with immediate effect.
This will undoubtedly be a humiliating experience for the team as they head into the closing stages of the year, their car and uniforms denuded of the arguably somewhat gaudy livery (in ING's case at least) of their former backers and troubled by the knowledge that they are, for all the hand-wringing and penitence, damaged goods.
Their task of enticing a new title sponsor to put their name over the door will not be made any easier either by the fact that a whole new gaggle of teams are heading to the grid next year - all of whom will be presenting squeaky-clean and untarnished (as yet) 200mph billboards for potential suitors to adorn with their product names.
Couple this to the fact that number one driver Fernando Alonso is almost certainly going to be wearing red overalls next year and it looks like the Anglo-French operation are going to be experiencing a couple of lean years - assuming of course that the French board don't decide that enough's enough and it's time to throw their considerable weight behind a World Rally Team again..
These withdrawals by the two backers at such a late stage in the year could be seen as slightly cynical opportunism on the part of the two financial institutions, given that Renault aren't going to be clinching either Driver's or Constructor's title this year & earning them some much needed brownie points in a climate where banks in particular are seen as publicly-funded bonus-generating machines, but whatever the reasoning, it's a sad day for Formula One & the Renault F1 Team in particular when much needed revenue is cut off under such controversial circumstances.
Formula One relies on patronage from big business whether we like it or not and long gone are the days of visually-uncluttered cars circulating in their national colours with maybe just a small sticker exhorting the public to buy Bloggs Oil or Meldrums Patent Mechanical Widgets adorning their flanks.
The FIA have long wanted to see a drastic reduction in costs and, perhaps, if more big-name corporations decide that they don't want to be associated with what they see as a 'tricky' sport they might just get their way as funding becomes harder to come by.
I think that the best we can hope for is that this unpalatable incident is put behind us as soon as possible and that any potential sponsors thinking of entering the fray see what has taken place as a bizarre aberration rather than the norm.
Otherwise we could soon be watching a grid full of cars that all look like a Brawn..
Dave Wakefield
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