The question here is if the Alonso influence been negative in car development of the under-steering Ferraris of last couple of years.
He has been clearly the leader of the team, so his input is certainly heavily considered for the development path.
Understeering car as such doesn't necessarily have to be slow as the Renaults of 2005-2006 showed, even if such car is not ideal for handling (at least for many drivers).
Why has Ferrari been developing understeering cars and why it hasn't worked out? Perhaps it has something to do with the technical team and their skillset, which means it is natural for them to develop cars with such characteristics. How much of this is Alonso's input, is hard to say. Does understeering car play to Alonso's strength in relation to his rivals? It seems like that. There is no guarantee Alonso would have such an advantage over his team-mates (Fisichella 05-06, Massa, Raikkonen) in, say, an oversteering car. We see it with Vettel - now struggling with a different car. So we never know, how could team-mate battle swing in a car with completely different characteristics.
Edit: I know that many people try to re-evaluate Raikkonen and Massa now. Some people say they were always average, some say this car just doesn't suit them - doesn't mean they were slow/bad the rest of the time. Some say they are/were past their prime, some think they are/were hindered/unlucky.
But I am starting to re-evaluate Fisichella. Many said he was just flat-out crap. But despite that he was once rated very highly. Perhaps in a top car in a different team he could have had Raikkonen-kind of effect by at least seemingly performing superbly and fighting for titles? Maybe he was a diamond never tested in a top car suitable for him? But he was found struggling in an understeering car against Alonso in the same team like the past two Ferrari drivers. It looks like Fisichella might have been just as good as Massa/Raikkonen, not way worse like many believed. Food for thought.
Edited by sopa, 21 June 2014 - 15:41.