More to the point, he is replacing Alonso. For a four-time World Champion, it must be extremely goring to be sat on the grid with two other drivers the media classify as better then you. I've heard Lewis Hamilton described as 'the fastest driver on the grid' and Fernando Alonso as 'the best all round driver in F1.' Now those are some bold claims when ignoring Sebastian Vettel, a man who has continued to break records ever since his maiden victory for Toro Rosso all those years ago.
There is no doubt that he is a phenomenal driver, the story speaks for itself. Four back-to-back World Championships puts you into the stratosphere with F1's greatest drivers. However, something that Alonso said last year has stuck with me, "Time will tell us, but I think when he will have a car like the others, if he wins he will have a great recognition and he will be one of the legends of Formula One." In essence, put him on a level playing field and see if he does as well as everyone else. Well, ask and you shall receive. This season's Red Bull car has not been a world-beater, partially due to the Renault engine and partly because Adrian Newey is going to be moving on from the F1 side of things. However, neither has this season's Ferrari. Vettel must know something we don't. Either that they will have a competitive car or that the car will be so uncompetitive that he can blame the lack of success on that. I'm inclined to believe the latter, but suspect that it's the former.
Simply put, he can see how much Raikonnen is struggling in that Ferrari this season and believes that he can do better than that. But can he do better than Alonso? I doubt it. Alonso is a great driver and, although it seems stupid to suggest this, a third World Championship will prove that.
So who's going to provide the car for him to win that important third? Mercedes? If so, they will have to get rid of either Rosberg or Hamilton. Difficult choice as Rosberg has been with the team since it returned four years ago and Hamilton is likely to win the Driver's Championship this season. Alonso and Hamilton also had a rather acrimonious relationship while they were both at McLaren. That was seven years ago. So is that seven years enough for the Ron Dennis and Alonso relationship to have warmed up again? Are McLaren likely to be the team that he goes to? There's no seat for him at Red Bull and the next most competitive team he can go to is Williams who spend more time going up and down the F1 ladder than a yoyo.
I believe Alonso will end up at McLaren, which is a bit of a shame because whilst I think having him back in the team will do it no end of good, it will mean saying goodbye to either one of a pair of drivers that I thoroughly enjoy watching. Magnussen has been epic this season, there's no way you can fault his driving. And Button? He and Ricciardo fight it out for the nicest guy in Formula One. He's faultless and he's a lovely man to boot.
It looks like we won't be treated with the usual merry-go-round that we're used to in the close season so I'll finish off with this: whatever happens, it will be a sad day if Alonso is forced out of the sport rather than given the opportunity to retire with the grace he so deserves.
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