I dont think we saw the best of Alonso in 2007, but its up to the drivers to adapt to the equipment theyre given, so I wont use it as an excuse for 2007, but I do think prime Alonso was much better than 2007 Alonso. Secondly, there was always an optimum time for a first pit stop in the race - and therefore an optimum number of fuel-burn laps. Pedro de la Rosa feels Fernando Alonso was unfairly blamed after his alleged role in the Spygate scandal which led to McLaren being punished with a hefty $100m fine and exclusion from the 2007 World Championship. Its weight distribution surprises me; I dont know either if its 100% reliable, but at least it draws attention. The World Endurance Championship is the leading worldwide series for prototype road-based sports cars. That set up a relationship between Mercedes and Brawn, who were running hand-to-mouth, struggling for income and heading towards collapse as the season went on. However the creation of the rival Indy Racing League in 1996 created a split which badly damaged the championship. Vengeance, vindictiveness and ambition. It was Mikes wife that did the photocopies. F2 was later revived as a one-make series between 2009. You also have the Spyker-Toro Rosso/Red Bull case in 2007 as well. This is bigger than we all think. A disgruntled employee at the sport's most famous team, Ferrari, felt passed over and let down. Challenger, champion, change-maker: The real Lewis Hamilton story, And when Dennis mishandled his two drivers after they finished one-two at Monaco - Alonso ahead, having led the race throughout from pole, Hamilton believing he had been denied a fair crack air trying to beat him, and not troubling to hide it -. Nothing changed. He asked Dennis to ensure LH ran out of fuel. Edit - yes downvote, that'll . There were some great fights between them mainly through 2010-13, but ultimately too few for what should have been the great rivalry of the decade. De la Rosa described how relations between McLaren and the two-times champion Alonso had become strained as his team mate Lewis Hamilton, then in his first year in Formula 1, proved a strong rival. What defines a great champion is how they handle adversity. The pattern was obvious. If you look at Alonsos onboards from 2006 to 2007, it seems like its a completely different driver with a completely different driving style. You can be sure of one thing, had Ferrari been caught, they would not have received a fine of that size if at all. Now Alonso, too, was furious. The case was officially dropped by the prosecutors, but the implication is that Ferrari cut a deal with Toyota all of those figures were fired by Toyota, suggesting that Toyota agreed to fire them in return for Ferrari dropping the case. Also, the fact that you wish Hamilton was made into a subjugated #2 driver, rather than Alonso having to actually fight his teammate says it all really doesnt it. Alonso and De La Rosa were talking about the stolen data in emails, that's proof that many people knew if even the drivers are so blatant. Alonso decided to play his hand. If they got banned Im sure the sponsors could withdraw and even claim their money back which would most probably be the end of McLaren as we know it. McLaren being fined an unprecedented $100m and thrown out of that year's constructors' championship. This pitstop on lap 12 got the go ahead because Alonso knew exactly what was going to happen and gave his blessing for the plan to go ahead. Read about our approach to external linking. Alonso shared set up data with his team mates at Renault and at Ferrari even when those teams gave him No.1 status, so why should McLaren have been different? If he had let Fernando past, there would not have been an explosion.". About half an hour after the meeting, Abad went back to Dennis and said that Alonso wanted to apologise - he had lost his temper and completely retracted everything he said. The new F2 lasted just four seasons. Coughlan sent a text message containing the details to de la Rosa. Max Mosley had axe to grind with the bloody commoner or peasant called Ron Dennis. But I do think such things are normal in F1 only in this case they actually had a very very good source. @6 "Much of what has been written here is pure speculation". Sir Lewis Hamilton. So I was surprised that OK, we did something wrong, yes, of course Im not trying to say we did everything right. So how to decide who got to choose the optimum strategy? Widely credited with launching Fernando Alonso's glittering F1 career, Briatore was bold and brash in his management style, and led the Renault team to two double F1 titles with Alonso at the wheel, before the Spaniard signed for Ron Dennis's McLaren in 2007. The fine was not justified. For Brazil Alonso then needed Hamilton to have a completely bizarre gearbox shut of for 40 odd seconds for him not to lose the title to his rookie teammate. Formula 2 is considered the foremost single-seater feeder series to Formula 1. ); as well as his view of 20-naughties era F1, and its drivers. Mashiat (@mashiat) 18th March 2020, 14:56. @johnmilk Thats not something were working on right now but you should see some new video stuff from us very soon. Alonso had told Flavio Briatore, his former Renault team boss and his manager. Its believed Stepney and Coughlan had plans to go to another team with the 500 odd pages from Ferrari. except for the people that worked with him. and everyone says the strategy was silly how could he not know. Heres what the e-mails said: 21st March 2007 09.57 McLaren were fined $100m and thrown out of the constructors' championship for illicitly holding information to confer a dishonest and fraudulent sporting advantage, although there was no finding they had actually used the information in the design or development of their cars. Of course, this is nothing new I am sure. Chief mechanic Nigel Stepney was suspended by Ferrari, described by head of . It was not right. wow, Alonso driving ferrari in the future was just spot on right. Then being able to brag: he had my data and settings and i still beat him But sadly no. Then find out a bit later that the boss hired a buddy and gave him all the perks instead. Sad really. Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here. In acting in an exclusionary way and refusing to share data, youd basically want Alonso to adopt an approach which would potentially actually be counterproductive for his own performance. From: Pedro de la Rosa On his own second lap, Alonso took pole. It is the subject of a new podcast series produced by BBC Sounds. He was not taking it seriously. there is something else and this may be the key; lets hope we can test it during this test, and that we can make it a priority! De la Rosa told the official F1 podcast, Beyond the Grid. Why did you think she did it? In 2014, McLaren were two seconds off the pace, and from 2015 they lost Mercedes engines altogether, beginning a disastrous relationship with Honda, which ended after only three years. As head of the F1 Teams' Association - effectively a union to counter what the teams saw as Mosley's increasingly authoritarian methods - he saw it as his responsibility to help save the team following Honda's withdrawal. Dennis phoned FIA president Max Mosley to tell him what Alonso had said and the wheels were put in. Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? But there was other fights going on at the high levels that we were not aware of actually at that point.. Alonso's relationship with Dennis fractured. Fernando Alonso was wrongly blamed within McLaren for revealing information to the FIA which led to the team being fined $100 million in 2007, his former team mate believes. Formula E is a recent additional to international motorsport. Both Alonso and Hamilton won one more race each that year, and ended up losing the title to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen by a single point. Nonetheless todays IndyCar championship retains a reputation for spectacular racing with its single-specification chassis and features a broad range of circuits including road, street and traditional American oval courses. They finally won a race again last year - nine years after their previous victory - but are still a long way from the competitive force they were. But the FIA knew, it could be from Ferrari, it could be from any anyone because there was many people in the team that knew about the weight distribution of Ferrari or whatever. Im sure the evidence from the Italian police alone wouldve been enough to come to the conclusion that McLaren knew more than Ron has been saying. The stewards called up the two drivers and asked them what had happened. 'He tried everything to win with Ferrari', Alonso, Vettel and a nice box of chocolates - how Alonso left Ferrari, Comparisons with Lewis Hamilton & what makes Spaniard an all-time great, Hamilton's father Anthony went to see the stewards and lobbied hard for Alonso to be punished. Mosley talked him out of dismissing Alonso. And everyone seemed to blame Fernando for something that we didnt know and we have zero evidence that he did. *On 25th March the two drivers were in different time zones, hence the apparent discrepancies in times. Great driver, extremely poor decision maker, end of.. Alonso=great driver on track but a poor team player on and off it. Imagine being offered a job and being told youd get some extra perks, just sign on the dotted line. There was this theory that we were engineering a copy department of Ferrari or that we were engineering a way into Ferrari or trying to get information from Ferrari. During that season, Spyker filed a formal complaint to the FIA that Red Bull were breaking the rules on customer cars, claiming that the chassis of the STR2 was the same as that on the Red Bull RB3. Until 1984 the championship was an open series for manufacturers of different chassis, engines and tyres. Dennis said he thought they should phone FIA president Max Mosley. Did we change anything of our development, of our testing program? On April 12th, the Thursday before the Bahrain Grand Prix, de la Rosa contacted Coughlan asking for further details: 12 April 2007 at 12.25 They took everything into account, and gave Alonso a five-place grid penalty. McLaren were disqualified from 2007 constructor's championship because of spygate. It convulsed Formula 1, nearly broke one of its most famous teams and, seven years after its conclusion, the man at the heart of it died in unexplained circumstances. If they didn't, he said, he would hand over emails pertinent to the spy case to the FIA. De la Rosa also referred to a new rear wing assembly which he described as being, a copy of the system we think Ferrari uses. Raikkonen actually pitted on lap 19 of that race, but as the FIA noted de la Rosa mentioned the transfer of information as a means of underlining Stepneys reliability. Relations between the McLaren drivers broke down in HungaryBut the FIA knew, it could be from Ferrari, it could be from any anyone because there was many people in the team that knew about the weight distribution of Ferrari or whatever. F2 has existed in three different guises over the years. Coughlan too. Two days later Coughlan replied with an explanation of the system adding, we are looking at something similar. By 2008, with Champ Car on the bring of collapse, the two series finally merged, but the damage had been. The fine was overkill because Mosley who was the head of the FIA at the time said 5 million for the spying, 95 million for Ron (Dennis) being an arsehole. He already knew about the emails, he told this writer - Briatore, Alonso's manager, had told Bernie Ecclestone, who had told Mosley - and the hearing was already inevitable, even if Dennis did not know it. It's available now on BBC iPlayer under the title of "Driven". They took everything into account, and gave Alonso a, Comment posted by BigErn, at 11:03 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Stephen Taylor, at 11:54 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by D1679092449428, at 13:04 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by IBH, at 12:44 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by D1679482753149, at 11:49 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by DavidB, at 11:35 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by D1679482753149, at 12:02 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by D1679482753149, at 10:56 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by CR, at 11:19 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Nick, at 16:32 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by AlwaysRight, at 13:33 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Anansis, at 16:40 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Christopher Clarke-Williams, at 11:08 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Ladysmith, at 12:25 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Neil, at 18:28 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Sarkus, at 13:09 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by roythboy, at 11:48 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by johnnywishbone, at 13:53 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by jaguarstype, at 15:54 20 Nov 2018, Comment posted by Fatviking, at 17:39 20 Nov 2018. In Hungary, it was Alonso's turn to have priority. Well, it isnt even in Ferraris interest to get McLaren banned, because if they did get banned that would start an avalanche that might bury them as well. Alonso destroyed his own career and legacy and it is nobody's fault but his. And the same one a few other fast cars near the back used that day. The photocopy shop incident happened in early June. Had he not done both or one of those things he would have been champion, frood19 (@frood19) 18th March 2020, 19:32. I hope Im wrong. Ron Dennis can shed more light on this topic. Which is of course why Ron hired Alonso 7 years later. How the second hearing happened is where the drivers come in. Michael, dont quite, no one would have noticed Spyker cheating. Rob Semedley Lewis beat alonso. Alonso had gone to McLaren expecting to be their number one driver and title contender - indeed, he believed he had been promised that status by Dennis, something the team boss always denied. StefMeister (@stefmeister) 18th March 2020, 17:40. Mosley saw this as an opportunity to inflict harm on Dennis so big that it might drive him out of the sport. Recommended for listening, nut just for that, the HRT bit/Dennis was great, Irvine lol (wondered: having heard Rosberg abt MSC, did Irvine get his approach to teammate there? Stepney was found guilty by an Italian court of "sabotage, industrial espionage, sporting fraud and attempted serious injury", and given a prison sentence of a year and eight months, although he served no time behind bars. IIRC they got the largest fine ever issued in sport over spygate - 100 million and were totally excluded from the championship! A recovery process was begun under new management - part of which has been a return to being a Mercedes engine customer since 2021. Dennis phoned FIA president Max Mosley to tell him what Alonso had said. Their plan unravelled after Coughlan's wife Trudy went into a photocopy shop in Woking and asked for copies of the documents. It was that all I personally witnessed up close was 2018, and while that still had its moments - his Azerbaijan Grand Prix efforts come to mind quickest - by the end of the year his impending sabbatical and McLaren's struggles were the main story. Last updated on 19 November 201819 November 2018.From the section Formula 1comments192, Fernando Alonso: the F1 great who couldn't catch a break - part two of five. Dan M the Masshole 14th September 2007, 18:07, Andy, Just noticed you were Canadian.. Shouldnt you refer to Hamilton as Canadian Bacon instead of The Ham? Alonso and de la Rosa discussed information that de la Rosa noted had come from a trusted Ferrari source Nigel Stepney. The Renault team, buoyed by the return of Fernando Alonso, had started to enjoy improved performance over the course of the . Formula 2 is considered the foremost single-seater feeder series to Formula 1. Nothing changed. I agree 100% that we must test the [tyre gas] thing very soon. Then, in 2009, McLaren produced their worst F1 car for years, and had a terrible season. "The problems had started before," a source says. As the FIA is Ferrari IA they got away with it. They both had 4 wins apiece. As Mercedes' feelings towards McLaren cooled - as a result of spy-gate, of the road-car programme, of their lack of competitiveness - they began to think about going it alone. There was worse to come. 2023 Collantine Media Ltd | About RaceFans. The most high-profile were Max Mosley and Ron Dennis. So it was the divorce point, because he was looked at someone that had damaged McLaren.. It wasn't fair he had been punished when Hamilton had started it, he felt. The Spanish driver was slapped with a five-place grid penalty, and McLaren was deducted 15 constructor's . Former F1 designer Mike Gascoyne recounting how he stumbled across the two main protagonists in the story having a meeting in a Barcelona restaurant; A senior Ferrari figure describing the "bomb" that went off inside the team when the scandal first came to light; Insight from lawyers involved in the hearings; An exclusive interview with Flavio Briatore - confidant of Fernando Alonso and Renault team boss at the time. In 2016 Liberty Media took over the running of F1 and purchased GP2, then rebranded it as Formula 2 in 2017. Very true, the crash at fuji was where he lost the title. I am sure Ferrari must have a spy in the McLaren camp Alonso! Four days later, de la Rosa emailled Alonso passing on the details. 14th September 2007, 15:5918th March 2020, 11:36 | Written by Keith Collantine. There was a sit down and that was how Dennis managed to appease Alonso. He gave them to his friend Mike Coughlan - then chief designer of McLaren - and together they hatched a plan to try to get jobs at another team. A coroner recorded an open verdict on his death. Fact or fiction, I cant tell the difference anymore. . If the case had gone to court, Mosley would have been admonished for abuse of office and possibly asked to step down. It was a ridiculous sum of money and the team to my knowledge to this day, still uphold the documents were not viewed by personnel and any design similarities was most likely due to convergence through regulation stability. However American open-wheel racing has a chequered history. As for the Spy-Gate issue Ferrari also had similar technical information about McLaren what had happened was that an engineer on each team swapped the data. I've always given Alonso the benefit of the doubt over Piquet's deliberate crash (which helped him to his only win of that season). So - and this fact still beggars belief - his wife took it to a local photocopy shop. The stewards called up the two drivers and asked them what had happened. Max benefitted of broken rules to win his wdc that's obvious 3 13 Chudretti (ENSHIN KARATE ENJOYER) @local_luka The people who really believe Alonso sat there in the pre race debriefs gormlessly nodding yes in agreement to this nonsensical strategy are clueless. And all this was the backdrop to an intense sporting rivalry, in which Dennis was also deeply involved. Renault did, during the 2007 season, then attempt to use the information given to them by the McLaren employee to get McLarens J-damper banned, although the FIA rejected their attempt. People have to understand that that information that was passed, I never saw it, said De la Rosa. However that championship was phased out and replaced by Formula 3000. McLaren fell under suspicions of gaining access to a dossier of information about rivals Ferrari, including details such as their cars weight distribution. It was more or less one employee who got caught out. What a joke! After Spygate, F1 played host to Crashgate in the following 2008 season. They went out to do their first qualifying laps, with Hamilton setting a faster time, before returning to the pits, Alonso a few seconds ahead on the road. In the event that an appeal is lodged with the FIA International Court of Appeal, the effect of this Decision will not be suspended pending the outcome of that appeal., those points are going boys, and they aint coming back :). From: Pedro de la Rosa As the 'dream team' of Schumacher, team principal Jean Todt, technical director Ross Brawn and chief designer Rory Byrne broke up at the end of 2006, Stepney felt not only that he was owed a promotion - in recognition of what he perceived to be his central role in turning the team into such a powerful force - but that he had been promised one. Hamilton had double-crossed him on the fuel-burn laps, Alonso said, and now he had a penalty and was sixth on the grid. @19: Hamilton driving slowly in front of Rosberg in 2016 ring any bells? True, but the mailing address remains Whitehall and they are only contactable through MoD. Webber in Korea in 2010 felt very similar. Alonso had emails from De La Rosa which made it clear that McLaren had confidential Ferrari documents. p.s. The funny thing is, I dont know why the British media keep playing this, its not as if Alonso went on to win anymore championships and became one of the greatest driver of all time. I still cant understand why we keep talking about this. Mrs Coughlan took the sheets to a copy shop, as they could copy in colour. "I already knew about the emails," Mosley says. Fernando Alonso took pole after holding up McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the pits so he could not get out for a final qualifying lap. I bet his fan base has been halved overnight. That led to a second 'spy-gate' hearing, which re-analysed the claim that McLaren had benefited from secret Ferrari technical information. That situation was like a divorce inside the team, De la Rosa told the official F1 website. That's according to fellow Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, who was reserve driver at the British team in 2007 when the double world champion spent his first and only season in Woking during his first stint. And then came the nuclear moment - he demanded McLaren run Hamilton out of fuel in the race. They could not have a driver blackmailing the team.
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