FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[McLaren Fan]

From autosport.com:

Briatore: Alonso surpasses Schumacher

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, December 25th 2008, 09:52 GMT
Renault boss Flavio Briatore believes Fernando Alonso has qualities that surpass even his former driver Michael Schumacher - especially when it comes to handling pressure.

Although drawing short of specifying which driver he believes was better, Briatore has claimed that there was one area where Alonso is much better than the seven-time world champion.

"They are two different drivers, in different eras of F1," Briatore told the latest edition of F1 Racing magazine. "But between the two I believe Fernando makes fewer mistakes than Michael.

"The more pressure you put on Fernando, the better he gets. Michael was not so good at handling pressure."

Briatore claims that Alonso's aborted switch to McLaren, which ended after a turbulent 2007 season, did make the Spaniard an improved driver.

"Fernando is Fernando. He came with one more year's experience. And at this kind of high level, especially in a very competitive team, that's important."

Speaking about his feelings when Alonso announced back in December 2005 that he was switching to McLaren, Briatore said: "For sure it wasn't good. It was Christmas and this was not a good Christmas gift.

"I knew it would be difficult for him because the human part is very important to Fernando, but I knew he was not happy there. But I wasn't angry or disappointed. Just sad."

Alonso is a great driver, but I'm not sure he handles pressure any better than Schumacher did. When the going gets tough, Alonso is prone to outbursts against his teams, over-driving his cars and, well, we don't need to say too much about what happened in 2007.

[Gaz]

From autosport.com:

Briatore: Alonso surpasses Schumacher

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, December 25th 2008, 09:52 GMT
Renault boss Flavio Briatore believes Fernando Alonso has qualities that surpass even his former driver Michael Schumacher - especially when it comes to handling pressure.

Although drawing short of specifying which driver he believes was better, Briatore has claimed that there was one area where Alonso is much better than the seven-time world champion.

"They are two different drivers, in different eras of F1," Briatore told the latest edition of F1 Racing magazine. "But between the two I believe Fernando makes fewer mistakes than Michael.

"The more pressure you put on Fernando, the better he gets. Michael was not so good at handling pressure."

Briatore claims that Alonso's aborted switch to McLaren, which ended after a turbulent 2007 season, did make the Spaniard an improved driver.

"Fernando is Fernando. He came with one more year's experience. And at this kind of high level, especially in a very competitive team, that's important."

Speaking about his feelings when Alonso announced back in December 2005 that he was switching to McLaren, Briatore said: "For sure it wasn't good. It was Christmas and this was not a good Christmas gift.

"I knew it would be difficult for him because the human part is very important to Fernando, but I knew he was not happy there. But I wasn't angry or disappointed. Just sad."

Alonso is a great driver, but I'm not sure he handles pressure any better than Schumacher did. When the going gets tough, Alonso is prone to outbursts against his teams, over-driving his cars and, well, we don't need to say too much about what happened in 2007.

Yeh 07 is an typical example of this you wouldn't see Schui swerving at the pitwall like alonso did in the US or blocking the pit lane as he did in hungary.

He was loosing out to a rookie and he was not happy about it.

[Denthúl]

From autosport.com:

Briatore: Alonso surpasses Schumacher

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, December 25th 2008, 09:52 GMT
Renault boss Flavio Briatore believes Fernando Alonso has qualities that surpass even his former driver Michael Schumacher - especially when it comes to handling pressure.

Although drawing short of specifying which driver he believes was better, Briatore has claimed that there was one area where Alonso is much better than the seven-time world champion.

"They are two different drivers, in different eras of F1," Briatore told the latest edition of F1 Racing magazine. "But between the two I believe Fernando makes fewer mistakes than Michael.

"The more pressure you put on Fernando, the better he gets. Michael was not so good at handling pressure."

Briatore claims that Alonso's aborted switch to McLaren, which ended after a turbulent 2007 season, did make the Spaniard an improved driver.

"Fernando is Fernando. He came with one more year's experience. And at this kind of high level, especially in a very competitive team, that's important."

Speaking about his feelings when Alonso announced back in December 2005 that he was switching to McLaren, Briatore said: "For sure it wasn't good. It was Christmas and this was not a good Christmas gift.

"I knew it would be difficult for him because the human part is very important to Fernando, but I knew he was not happy there. But I wasn't angry or disappointed. Just sad."

Alonso is a great driver, but I'm not sure he handles pressure any better than Schumacher did. When the going gets tough, Alonso is prone to outbursts against his teams, over-driving his cars and, well, we don't need to say too much about what happened in 2007.

Yeh 07 is an typical example of this you wouldn't see Schui swerving at the pitwall like alonso did in the US or blocking the pit lane as he did in hungary.

He was loosing out to a rookie and he was not happy about it.

Can't really say that Michael would have been much different had he been placed in the same situation. A race driver is a competitive animal, a world champion even more so. I'm willing to bet that around 50% of the grid at minimum would throw a hissy fit if the team was focussing enough on their teammate to allow them to become a threat to their championship hopes. Look at some of Kubica's comments when they tried to help Heidfeld improve his qualifying performance so that the team could succeed.

[bud]

for majority of Schumachers titles he had it easy pressure wise! his car was far superior and his team mate was never a threat. when he was in a fight he did on numerous occasions show cracks in his armour, eg stalling in Japan in 98, or his numerous kamikaze moves on his main rivals or even his parking at Rasse Casse!
But Alonso has been no angel either, as stated his attacks on Renault in the latter stages in the 06 championship where he questioned the teams willingness to help him due to his signing with McLaren, and then there were his first corner mistakes in 07 Spain and Canada which cost him points(and the title) in both cases and ofcourse his hissy fit in hungary and the whole 07 campaign.

I think they are as bad as each other Flavio

[Jabberwocky]

but like Schumacher, Alonso has built a team around him. Looks at renaults dip when alonso left... but then again if he had stayed would Renault of faired any better in 07?

[bud]

but like Schumacher, Alonso has built a team around him. Looks at renaults dip when alonso left... but then again if he had stayed would Renault of faired any better in 07?

i think you give him too much credit there! when they say Schumacher built the Ferrari team atleast that is true, he brought key people to Ferrari from Benetton. Alonso gives good feedback etc but i wouldnt say he built the team!

[darwin dali]

but like Schumacher, Alonso has built a team around him. Looks at renaults dip when alonso left... but then again if he had stayed would Renault of faired any better in 07?

Sure - remember FA brings 0.6s to the team

[scotty]

On the track, no doubt about it! Just think back to San Marino '05, and (i think) more impressively Turkey '06 where Alonso was either in second or third and Schumacher was right behind him and going SO much faster... he still couldn't get past though because Alonso was hustling the car around turn 8 lap after lap to stop Schumacher getting close to him for the long straight.

We all know about Schumacher's rash actions on track over the years - '94, '97 and Monaco '06 - they are just a few examples of him doing something very stupid under pressure at a key moment.

People fairly slate Alonso's actions off the track in '07, but on track he still gave it 110% and you cannot fault him for that.

[madbrad]

What Fernando did with that Renault in the last 1/2 of 2008 is something few could have done. If only the points from the last 9 races were counted, he would be champion because he scored more points than anybody in that period. The car development he did prior to that was also helpful. He's pretty darned good at that. Notice all the champions of the last 20 years were good car developers. HIll was renowned for it but couldn't parlay it into a lot of titles, mainly since he had to race his teammate while his main rival did not. But I digress. I expect Fernando to do even better this year, unless the KERS factor mixes things up.

[headless]

Fernando is amazing though, you cannot take that away from him.

Yeah i agree that lots of the F1 field would have had paddies like Alonso did last year.

Which is worse throwing a paddy and still driving well, or like Kimi in 2008, going off and being very bad??

[texasmr2]

What Fernando did with that Renault in the last 1/2 of 2008 is something few could have done.

I have to agree as his testing feedback, input/info, to the team is in the top two if not number one of the current drivers.

[Dutchcruijff]

What Fernando did with that Renault in the last 1/2 of 2008 is something few could have done.

I have to agree as his testing feedback, input/info, to the team is in the top two if not number one of the current drivers.

Who would be the other in the "Top two"?

[Denthúl]

What Fernando did with that Renault in the last 1/2 of 2008 is something few could have done.

I have to agree as his testing feedback, input/info, to the team is in the top two if not number one of the current drivers.

Who would be the other in the "Top two"?

If I've read that correctly, and Tex means the best in terms of testing input, then quite possibly Wurz. But I could have mis-interpreted that completely.

[texasmr2]

Actually, and thank you for atleast trying to understand my meaning Denthúl , what I meant was the drivers input and not the 'test drivers' input. So in '08 imho I believe Alonso and Hamilton were the best and made the most of it among the top teams/drivers.

[Dutchcruijff]

Actually, and thank you for atleast trying to understand my meaning Denthúl ,

what I meant was the drivers input and not the 'test drivers' input. So in '08 imho I believe Alonso and Hamilton were the best and made the most of it among the top teams/drivers.

What did I do to deserve that snide remark?

Wow, I was just trying to get your opinion on a topic...