Thread: Mind Games or Truth

Originally Posted by JoStream

Yea it's the usual show, the slow people pretending to be fast and the fast people pretending to be slow and having problems. We need to wait to fully understand the performance hierarchy

Well, that's the whole story EXCEPT when you talk about McLaren. For some strange reason, Ron believes that having his cars 1-2 in winter testing actually means something for the season (other than his sponsors will not be calling him to ask for their money back before Melbourne...)

You know that McLaren will do up to the impossible to look fast before the action begins... who can forget that 2004 season, on which they were breaking EVERY SINGLE track record on which they were testing before Australia, just to find them fighting in the back of the grid? Furthermore, who didn't put a smile on his face when Raikkonen stop out of gas in the pre-season of 2005, after lapping almost 1 second faster than everyone else that day, just to be behind the TOYOTAS for the first three races of the season? If the McLaren is the car to beat, they will be 1-2 during testing; but if they fail to be in those positions, it is possible that the car is not up to the task, yet...

Also, after Alonso gave his statements about "we are not ready to win yet", he cancelled a press conference he had at the circuit the next day, and left without giving any explanations AT ALL, which looks to me like 100% Dennis at work: his driver says something he doesn't like (not has to be true or not... just something he dislikes), he dismisses the driver asap and keeps him away from the press until he can "brainwash" him (or at least, instruct him what to say, in what tone to say it, and how to say it) before the next press conference. Then, he sends *another* member of the team, to give statements that are 180 degrees opposite to what his driver was complaining (in this case, de la Rosa claiming that the car is great, bla, bla, bla), and then the whole incident is just a thing from the past. (For instance, the "gentleman agreement" that DC dismissed in 2005, the "Honest mistake" with Montoya in Canada 2 years ago)

Dennis was quite happy with JPM, claiming that he would exploit his full potential, the next Senna, etc, etc; just to criticize him heavily after the very first race of the season, and we all know how their relationship evolve in those magic 18 months. Somehow, I think that if Alonso doesn't start thinking before open his mouth, and realizes that Dennis is not Briatore (who always played 110% his cards to help Alonso AT ALL COSTS), he might find that McLaren is not the paradise that he so naively is trying to sell.