Your Ad Here

Friday, September 28, 2007

McLaren

Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, and BMW are considered the top F1 teams. Renault’s Fernando Alonso snatched the driver’s championship from Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher back in 2005 and 2006. Alonso is now with McLaren and the constructor is back at the pole position early in the current 2007 season. McLaren’s early dominance is not only attributed to Alonso but also to the surprising rookie F1 driver, Lewis Hamilton and for the fact that they have a better car this year.

I’m a Ferrari and Schumacher fan but I am starting to be a fan of Alonso for the fact that he did not suffered adjustment snags just after transferring to McLaren and he’s currently on the number two spot in the driver’s championship before going to the Japanese Grand Prix. You might be thinking why just number two? The number one spot for now belongs to… again… the surprising rookie… Hamilton (leading by 2 points with 97 pts). The Alonso-Hamilton tandem backed by a superior car is pretty solid from the beginning but serious cracks from the two drivers relationship is beginning to surface… obviously, since Hamilton is not playing the part of the no. 2 driver. At the end of the first half and the early third quarter of the season, Hamilton took the opportunity to be in front of Alonso and might even go down in history as the greatest rookie sensation ever in F1 not to mention that he is British with Caribbean descent.

For McLaren, they are set to capture the constructor’s championship this year until… the spying issue. McLaren’s chief designer Mike Coughlan allegedly received top-secret data (780 paged technical dossier) from Ferrari’s chief engineer Nigel Stepney in April. The FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) penalized McLaren by removing them from the constructor’s championship.

Somehow, Ferrari’s technical information was used to McLaren’s advantage and although Alonso and Hamilton were not involved, they have benefited from it. To prove that they are really the best, they have to win the remaining races and repeat the feat next season. But whether Alonso will still drive for McLaren is in question. There are news that he might return to Renault, go to BMW or even Ferrari because of ongoing rift with Hamilton.

Alonso amidst all of these is already one of the best… Hamilton, again… the surprising one, must prove his worth next season.

No comments: