Fernando Alonso may have ended his time at Renault F1 on a distinctly low-key note with a 14th-place finish in the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the weekend, but the double world champion nonetheless admitted that it was an emotional farewell and that the team had given him ‘the most amazing seven years’ of his career to-date.
Having struggled in qualifying around the all-new, spectacular Yas Marina street circuit – failing to make it beyond Q1 for only the second time all year – Alonso found himself promoted to 15th on the starting grid by McLaren-Mercedes ace Heikki Kovalainen’s gearbox penalty.
However, a tardy getaway when the lights went out saw the Spaniard cede track position to Kovalainen, Vitantonio Liuzzi in the Force India, Ferrari’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Renault F1 team-mate Romain Grosjean on the opening lap – and he would spend the remainder of the race trying to make amends, meaning 2009 represents only his third winless year out of eight in the top flight.
“The result is disappointing,” reflected the Ferrari-bound Oviedo native, “as we were not able to produce the performance we wanted. I would have liked to finish the season on a high, especially as this was my last race with Renault. I would like to thank the entire team for everything that we have achieved together over the years. We had some great victories and won championships together. It has been the most amazing seven years of my career, and something I will never forget.”
Grosjean, for his part, concluded what looks likely to have been his final grand prix for the French manufacturer in similarly frustrating fashion, getting the jump on the sister R29 at the start but going on to cede position to Alonso en route to 18th and last position at the chequered flag.
“The race was disappointing,” the Swiss-born Frenchman acknowledged. “I made a good start, but I was blocked several times. I also suffered with some brake problems during the race. Towards the end I unfortunately lost a place to Fisichella, which was a shame, but the performance of the car didn’t really allow me to show what I was capable of. It’s now the end of the season, and I can say that I have learnt an enormous amount this year, especially being team-mate to Fernando.”
Just as Alonso was full of praise for Renault and the role the team has played in his outstanding success over the years, so the management of the Enstone-based outfit was effusive in its gratitude for everything the 21-time grand prix-winner has done for them since joining back in 2002.
“We have to recognise that this has been a difficult year for Renault,” stated managing director Jean-François Caubet. “From a technical standpoint the year started with confusion, and on the human side we will miss Fernando who is leaving the team. From the political perspective, all the problems that we have encountered this year have been negative for us and for F1.
“However, next season is full of hope; we have turned the page and the future is ahead of us. The strategy is well underway, the choice of drivers is close and the technical changes being overseen by Bob [Bell] for the chassis and Rob [White] for the engine are promising. The sponsors are coming back, and even though we are disappointed with our performance in the final race of the season, we know that changes are underway and we are confident for the future. The team is united and full of optimism.”
“In terms of performance, it was a disappointing race for us,” recognised stand-in team principal Bell. “Going into the weekend, we had slightly higher expectations, but in the end we just didn’t have the pace. In terms of the event itself, it has been fantastic and Abu Dhabi deserves real credit for providing the facilities and for staging a great event, which has been great for F1. As a team we are obviously disappointed as we had hoped to end the season on a high, but we are upbeat for next year. We will move on from here and will be back fighting next year.”
“The story of the year overall is that we have not been competitive enough, summarised head of engine operations Remi Taffin, musing on the eighth-place finish in the final constructors’ standings. “The race was difficult again, and unfortunately we couldn’t fight for points. In terms of the engines, we have not had any issues this year, but we are missing overall performance with the car. We will work hard over the winter to come back stronger in 2010.”
Comment 1 - 17 of 17
Post 12 (Dan)
Sorry, man. My previous post has no reference to Hamilton. So I don't understand why you're saying that it's my beloved driver. Don't be so biased, please.
By the way, I'm not convinced at all by your argumentation.
Alonso's teammates that you're refering to, to underline his skill, are not top drivers. It's not really difficult to do better than them, if you see what I mean.
Anyway, I wish all the best to Fernando (may I understand that it's your favourite driver?) with Ferrari.
It is ludicrious to say that Hamilton did not play any part in the development of the McLaren car. Every single driver tries to sense what is going on with the car he is driving and communicates his feel for the car to the engineers. Based on what the drivers tell them, the engineers go to work to eliminate the shortcomings of the car in accordance with what the drivers are telling them. To suggest that the McLaren team ignored whatever Hamilton told them and only listened to Alonso is ridiculous. The fact that Hamilton was able to beat Alonso consistently with the same basic car indicates that Hamilton was probably better at refining his drive than Alonso.
If Alonso is responsible for McLaren developing their car, it's odd that Hamilton out-performed Alonso consistently. If a team gives its two drivers the same car and one of them out-performs consistently, the obvious conclusion is that one of the drivers must be significantly better than the other driver. And, if as some posters are saying, Alonso was responsible for the development of the McLaren car, that would have given Alonso the edge with the car. Alonso proved himself to be a better driver than Grosjean and Piquet at Renault. But he also proved himself to be no match for Hamilton at McLaren.
Alonso is a middle-of-the-pack driver. He's as big a cheater as Schumacher, but not as good a driver. His only hopes at Ferrari will be if Ferrari can build an incredibly faster car or that the Ferrari/Todt/FIA alliance will be able to influence race outcomes using their bias. Ferrari made a big mistake going with this little punk. And poor Massa is going to be relegated to number two on the team. I think Ferrari has demonstrated that a willingness to cheat is more important to them than driver ability.
Ellie, as a matter of fact LH did not contribute to the development at all until he was forced to when Alonso was fed up with the was the team treated him. Here is a reigning double world champion not getting preferrential treatment with strategies, set up, or anything! If you were him you would be greatly upset. As soon as Alonso cut off LH from his development notes is when you saw LH drop in performance and allowed Alonso and Raikkonen to catch him in the standings.
You obviously have blind love for your compatriot, LH, but geez open your eyes and admit that LH was gifted an excellent car when the season started.
Zedio, look at Alonso's teammates' performances this year compared to him. Alonso was consistantly manhandling the car to get into Q1 but rarely cracked the top 5 on the starting grid. Out of the last 36 races or so, Alonso had only been out-qualified by his teammate twice!!! Not even your beloved LH could boast this. The few updates Renault brought out for the last 3 races obviously did not help and possibly made the car worse.
Zedio:
HAve ou ever heard that this year there is a ban on testing and there is just one day of practice?. have you?
Ellie: Yes he is exactly saying that. He did nothing to develop the car in the first year. Ands this is official consensus. Reasons: Alonso was in the team when they did not knew who will be the second driver (or they did not say) deceloping the car as only driver of the team. By the time the season started, Lewis was the first time he drived an F1 car so highly unreliable...
Also, for those that talk about the spy gate....where the info was? in Alonso's laptop? perhaps?....what did lewis said. 'I know nothing about this', which perfectly described his knowledge about cars then...
Dan
If Alonso is that good, why didn't he succeed in developping his 'horrible' Renault's car this year especially?
Don't you think that the high performances of McLaren cars in 2007 were more imputable to Ferrari data (cf. spygate) they used rather than the so-called Alonso's 'developer' skill?
As no team can be certain to provide great cars to their drivers each year, if the car is really that bad (cF MP 22, F60), there's no (or maybe, just little) issues, whether the pilot is a good 'developer' or not.
What I mean, is that Fernado Alonso can only succeed in Ferrari if the car is competitive. Sure he has a role to play to achieve this goal, but in the end, the enginners are the people supposed to provide a good or a bad car.
DAn so you are saying that LH had nothing what so ever to do with the develoipment of the car? That when the two were team mates it was all ALfonso and that LH did and said nothing about the car?
brucef1lee
take your pills..go to be yerk off and rest!
Anyone remember in 2006 when the McLaren was a horrible car and was slow as hell? Who did McLaren sign to develop the car and bring it back to form for 2007? Alonso, that's who. Hamilton benefitted greatly from Alonso's developmental skills in 2007 and won the WDC in 2008. Hamilton is a great driver and I take nothing away from his accomplishments but without Alonso's development for the 2007 season, that McLaren would have been that 2006 pig all over again. Now Ferrari brings in Alonso, widely regarded as the best driver in F1, to develop and race their 2010 car. Alonso may not win the 2010 WDC but he will again be a force to be reckoned with. Oh, and Ferrari won't be kicking anything but a$$ with Massa and Alonso.
So sad... from being a champion now down to 8th. What's wrong with Renault?
what has that got to do with the article bruce?
The Great Briton and proud Englishman Lewis Hamilton will beat the German boy Nico next season...Lewis is BY FAR the SUPERIOR driver and the McLAREN have the SUPERIOR cars to Brawn..fact...
Button will not win the WDC ever again. His title is pure fluke. Hamilton on the other hand had to fight like a REAL racing driver for his 2008 title....Button = spawny brawny tw at...
Mclaren take 3rd in constructors...ferrfarti 4th...LMFAO.
Mclaren win ...2010.....
Hamilton WDC....2010....
HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA..... Button will become Nico's whipping boy next season....Ross will do the same next season as he did at Ferrfarti except Button will be the "new" Barrichello ..hahahahahaaaaa.......
-----------------))))))McLAREN (((((((-----THE TOTAL KINGS OF F1-----)))))))
ha amazing was not what he was calling REnault on Friday night!!
I'm down with that, Tempoe. Shame to let Kimi go when he's done a man's job this season with that red pig.
:)
Meh...I still can't stand this guy. I think Ferrari will soon be kicking themselves... although he will get good results on the track I guess.
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account