20 replies to this topic

[magic]

spa,
2000,
f3000,
pole,
vic,
fstst lp,
alonso.

most scary thing?
he looks like the latin version of ms.

info?

[Lamont]

you know, sometimes the way you format your posts reminds me of the poet e.e. cummings.

(don't know anything about alonso, that just struck me so I thought I'd mention it)

[Pacific]

Fernando Alonso is considered by many to be the most talented Spanish driver of all time. He is currently Minardi's test driver but rumor has it he will replace Marc Gene.

That's right, replace Marc Gene, not Gaston Mazzacane. Apparently Telefonia are expecting more out of Marc Gene than he has produced this season.

Lackluster results? Have you taken Luca Badoer for granted lately? If so...

[Darren]

And something about the content reminds me of Philip Larkin.

[arcwulf7]

Rather odd they'd take an Argentine over a Spaniard (Alonzo replacing Gene) in a team so heavily sponsored by Telefonica. Maybe Mazzacane shone in testing, or maybe they liked his performance in SRWC last year racing a Ferrari 333 SP (a win at Magny Cours). Anything to rub some luck on f1's bottom dwellers. Or is Mazzacane one of these payed for drives??

[Chris G.]

Originally posted by magic

he looks like the latin version of ms.

info?

Well, I suppose you'll have to hate him then.

[Pacific]

Fernando Alonso was born is Spain. Check Minardi's new website out for information at http://www.minardi.it

They list him as Spanish, and I doubt Minardi would screw it up on their own web-site.

Marc Gene hasn't been as impressive this season as last to many.

Again, I attribute much of that to the fact that Luca Badoer could help sort the Minardi car out a lot while Gene and Mazzacane aren't as able. I imagine currently Mazzacane beat out Fontana because Mazzacane has more understanding technically about things. Mazzacane hasn't proven to be horrible at the F1 level, but he isn't super fast. Although, he's been closing the gap a bit between himself and Gene.

Minardi could really use somebody with some experience at this point to help Gustav Brunner and crew a lot more. Mazzacane doesn't appear bad, but Gene is still rather young and Alonso would be even younger. Having Alonso with somebody like Luca Badoer again would be key, but that probably won't happen. Having Alonso and Gene race with Mazzacane as the test/reserve driver would probably be the best case scenerio, but I doubt Mazzacane's sponsors would accept that.

[Indian Chief]

Alonso looks like a real talent. But he is only a teenager still. It would be great to have him with Minardi alngside Gene.

I hope Mazzacane is fired. He clearly isn't in the F1 league. A really talented driver in his place would have done far better. He isn't off the pace in qualifying, but his race in the race is raelly poor.

[magic]

Chris G.
quote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by magic

he looks like the latin version of ms.

info?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
quote:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I suppose you'll have to hate him then.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

nope, unless he starts wheelbanging his way to vics and wdc's.

still curieus about his juniorachievements ( minardi-site only?)
wake up bb, this might be the next button/ms/senna etc.

[magic]

FERNANDO ALONSO

Dorsal: 2
Nacido en: Oviedo (España)
Edad:18 años

PALMARÉS MÁS DESTACADO

- Campeón de España de karting 1994, 96, 97
- Campeón del Mundo de karting 1996
- Subcampeón de Europa de karting 1998

Cuestionario:
Un piloto... Ayrton Senna.
Un circuito… Catalunya.
Piloto favorito para ganar el Mundial de F-1 1999… Michael Schumacher.
Escuderia preferida del Mundial de F-1… McLaren.
Hobbies…Ciclismo, fútbol.


La opinión del piloto:
"No descarto ganar el campeonato. Tengo toda la ilusión del mundo y las máximas expectativas. Además, estoy en un gran equipo, campeón el año pasado, en el que sólo se piensa en ganar.
Creo que las primeras carreras depararán muchas sorpresas. Será a partir del cuarto meeting cuando se vean las verdaderas posibilidades de unos y otros.
Lo que está claro es que van a ser carreras muy disputadas. La preparación física del piloto y el trabajo de equipo serán decisivos en la segunda carrera de cada reunión, debido al kilometraje y el cambio obligatorio de neumáticos".

[magic]

Fernando Alonso

Giorgio VinellaDate of birth: 29th July 1981
Place of birth: Oviedo (Spain)
Residence: Oviedo (Spain)
Height: 1.71 m
Weight: 68 kg
Marital status: single
Hobbies: football, cycling
Favourite music: Spanish music
Favourite drink: mineral water
Favourite meal: pasta
Race career
1994 Spanish Kart champion
1996 Spanish Kart champion
World Kart champion
1997 Spanish Kart champion
1998 Runner up in the European Kart championship
1999 Euro Open by Nissan champion
2000 F3000 International championship with Astromega
Team Telefónica Minardi Fondmetal test driver

[arcwulf7]

Karts to f1 in 2 years!!?? 19/20 years old. Even the best drivers need to be developed. I know Button's impressed at 20, but i think there is a case for even the strongest potential drivers to spend 2-3 years in F-Ford, F-Renault, FPA, F3, F3000 before getting into f1, where there is no time or patience to hone basic skills.

[Pacific]

Alonso is in F3000 doing just fine and he has tested with Minardi and straight away was right close to Gaston Mazzacane's pace.

Talent is talent, Alonso has proven he's ready. He'd need to prove it in race trim, similar to Jenson Button, but...Jenson Button has not had that many problems. He's had contact with a few drivers, but drivers of all sorts of experience make contact with other drivers. Check out Jacques Villeneuve at Canada for instance. He's pretty experienced and that was one of the dumbest moves ever. It's not typical Jacques but it proves lapses of stupidity know no experience and wisdom knows no age.

It just might be that Alonso is one of these dynamite talents. It's interesting how Spain has de la Rosa, Gene, and Alonso right now. Three rather talented drivers if you ask me.

I'm hopeful that Gene does not lose his seat. He's proven he's fast. Minardi just need their second driver or test driver to be someone of some experience. Perhaps Mazzacane might help if he's retained as a test driver. Note, Gaston is getting more top speed. Gaston's race goals are to finish the race. He's never THAT far behind Marc Gene in the races. One could only wish that Gaston Mazzacane was the worst F1 driver ever, but I can think of plenty of drivers who have not matched Mazzacane's performance in the past 10 years, let alone back to say the 50's, etc. What level of technical ability does Mazzacane have though?

Again, if for some reason Ferrari lets Luca Badoer go, Minardi must pick him up to race the second seat again if possible or be the test driver. Gianni Morbidelli ... perhaps, but has he been out of the fold too long, even though he was a pretty good F1 driver. But, I doubt Ferrari will dump Badoer, because who would you replace him with? Ricardo Zonta isn't an answer for Ferrari. Badoer is Italian and has more experience, it makes sense for Ferrari to have Badoer to work with. Unless Ferrari can nab Verstappen as a test driver...

Perhaps another solution for Minardi might be Vincenzo Sospiri. What's he up to? Sospiri won an F3000 championship and tested with Benetton and did quite well. Then his, and Ricardo Rosset's, careers basically fell apart when Lola self-destructed. Sospiri is not as experienced in F1 as many though, so...

Andrea Montermini would also be somebody Minardi might consider to test their cars. He has some somewhat recent F1 experience, and he's Italian. He's still active in racing. When you have Gustav Brunner, you need to have a driver who has some F1 experience to help relay info to the team. Montermini wasn't slow. He tested for Ferrari remember. He of course raced for super-powers like Pacific and Forti, and was even test-driver for Lola and initially was going to be a test-driver for the Honda Developmental Team because of Dallara's involvement. They wanted Montermini involved I guess. Of course Verstappen went on to test that car.

So, if Minardi really want to move forward, keep Gene at the wheel, bring in Alonso, and hire Andrea Montermini or perhaps Vincenzo Sospiri or Gianni Morbidelli to test the car. (If Mazzacane's technical abilities aren't high enough. Is Mazzacane really fast enough to give such info though to relate to potential speedster Gene and Alonso?) Again, Montermini or Morbidelli would be preferable because they are Italian and working with a largely Italian crew, it'd be easier that way. Mazzacane is not bad, but Alonso has tons of talent, Gene has shown talent, they need somebody with more F1 experience testing the car. Maybe I underrate Mazzacane's technical abilities, maybe that's the main reason he's there and not PSN and his other sponsors.
Again, I ask, is Mazzacane fast enough and skilled enough to really relate good testing info. What he can handle probably is not at the level as to what Gene or Alonso could handle. (Thus, when you have proven speedster Olivier Panis testing, you know your feedback and telemetry is valid)

It's difficult to make up the difference in the loss of Luca Badoer, somebody who has some speed, consistency, experience, and was and is Italian. He was huge for Minardi last year and still helps Ferrari regardless of all the excuses the Ferrari fans try to come up with for their failure to beat McLaren. The main difference between McLaren and Ferrari is not the drivers, it is that McLaren is a more well-balanced team so the car isn't so extreme towards one driver and also Adrian Newey is the best designer and Mercedes/Ilmor is the best F1 engine. Can Michael Schumacher realistically be expected to beat the tri-umverate of Newey, Mercedes, and Hakkinen. Not to mention the rest of the McLaren team, Coulthard and Panis included, are highly capable. The organization needed for Ferrari to manufacturer damn near everything on the car has to be difficult. One wonders how this Renault team will do. Perhaps this is another reason Honda aborted. Let BAR and Reynard concentrate on what they do best and Honda can concentrate on what they do best and not spread their resources out so lean.

Ferrari has no alternative though. They are THE team of F1. They could never ask for outside help outside of buying brakes, safety harnesses, wheels, tires, etc. It's easy for Minardi to have an outside company to develop their gearbox. I recall for some time Jordan didn't even lathe their own chassis. It was done somewhere else. They just put it together and maintained it.

Anyway, as a Minardi fan, I am highly interested in their progress and hopefully they can get away from this vicious cycle of pay drivers and establish something with Gene and Alonso and if Mazzacane has more technical ability than I think, keep him as test driver. If not, get Montermini, Morbidelli, or perhaps Sospiri. Again, Sospiri is Brazilian if I recall correctly, so...

And this is also why Arrows needs Jos Verstappen or someone with similar experience. Verstappen has been around the block. He's worked with Benetton, Simtek, Arrows, Tyrrell, tested a Jordan, Honda, and back to Arrows. He's experienced a lot, he's rather fast, he knows how F1 cars should feel, what it takes. Pedro de la Rosa is fast, but two years ain't quite enough. Replacing Verstappen with Zonta (two years only again, or three for both if you count testing with Jordan for Pedro, McLaren for Ricardo) doesn't make sense really. Zonta is proven enough yet for a team like Arrows to work with. He's still young. Junqeira? Less experience yet. Webber, just like Junqueira. Many of these guys show talent, but you have to have one of your three drivers be somebody experienced to help car development.

This is why if Sauber has both Heidfeld and Zonta, you'd have to expect some outside help from McLaren, if they truly care about Heidfeld and Zonta. Recall, Bernoldi is will likely stay as test-driver for Sauber. If they do get Heidfeld and Zonta, and have no help from McLaren and Mercedes, well then they too have to go hunting for a Montermini, Morbidelli, maybe even Boullion type. This is why Vector is trying to convince Alesi to stay if they buy Prost. It's why Jaguar signed Irvine to a multi-year contract. It's why Salo was pursued and taken by Toyota, and it's why Alexander Wurz is in demand from Sauber and McLaren. Sauber needs Wurz bad. They need his experience and technical ability, and having an Austrian and German working with the Swiss team makes sense on a communications level.

[arcwulf7]

I know i'm going to get a exhaustive analysis of every interation and possibility on topics of also rans in f1, Pacific. Some interesting stuff in there, thanx.

Still, although it makes sense getting Alonzo if f1 sooner rather than later, 1 years experience in heavy duty F3000 open wheel equipment seems a touch on the light side. Minardi probably needs a good test driver more than they do a racer at this stage of development, and test drivers main attributes are experience and some technical sophistication, so that might be a reason Gene is purportedly going to be moved there.

Zonta, at Sauber, hadn't heard a thing about this, (except talks, blah, blah). It seems his one hope of remaining in F1, i don't think McLaren would take someone so relatively inexperienced into their key Test Driver position. Especially at McLaren where the culture is so 'engineering' oriented.

[Pacific]

The good thing about McLaren for Zonta he could test for them in that they do have some interest in him. Or did, I still would. He seems to have talent. BAR wasn't a good environment. Better than what Heidfeld has received at Prost probably, but still... McLaren already has David Coulthard for development and Mika Hakkinen does have a lot of ability and experience. It wouldn't be death to McLaren to not have a driver like Panis testing. Panis testing does help a lot, but who tested for McLaren the previous two seasons that Hakkinen won the WDC? Heidfeld was technically, but how much testing did he really do?

Zonta, for a team like McLaren that has drivers like Coulthard and Hakkinen, would be an acceptable test-driver in my opinion. He's fast, has three years experience of racing F1 cars in some capacity, and has F3000 and FIA GT racing experience. Alexander Wurz might be superior for McLaren in that he has more experience plus his German heritage would be attractive to West, Mercedes, and a few other McLaren sponsors. But again, McLaren Mercedes has already invested in Zonta.

They might as well see what he has and make a decision on Zonta after a season of testing in 2001. Sauber would be advised to take Alexander Wurz or Jos Verstappen if Arrows is foolish enough to let him go. I described such earlier and have many times about Verstappen and Arrows. To me, the only reason to take Zonta if you're Sauber is that Mercedes has stipulated such in an agreement for engines. Zonta and Heidfeld aren't incompetent, far from it. Zonta has some experience, but still, Alexander Wurz (or Verstappen) should now be Sauber's target to pair with Nick Heidfeld and of course Enrique Bernoldi, their project test driver.

As for my caring about the lesser F1 teams, that is true, I focus on them. But I do follow the top teams too, but they get enough attention already, there isn't a whole lot on Ferrari that hasn't been said. Same with McLaren, etc.

[Jackman]

Wow Pacific - you've clearly been waiting for this subject to pop up.

If Zonta goes to Sauber then both of the junior McLaren drivers will be next to each other in a junior Ferrari team - just thought I'd throw that out.

I'd love to see Minardi bring in Alonso because I miss the days when they provided the young stars of the future (ie. Fisichella, Trulli) rather than rentadrivers. If he comes in Gene is gone though - there is no way that Minardi can have two Spanish drivers. Telefonica do A LOT of business in South America, btw ...

[Pacific]

As for Sauber and Ferrari, I bet Sauber could work their way out of their contract as long as Prost/Vector/Lotus ends up with Ferrari instead next season. It would all make sense if Zonta does go to Sauber. Because, could Ferrari really support 3 teams? Doubt it. Can/does Supertec want to support three teams? Maybe. Mercedes having a customer engine for a change makes some sense to me and even if it is Wurz going to Sauber it still makes sense to me. Ferrari has two teams, Honda has two teams, Renault sort of has two teams...we know Cosworth and BMW will not have two teams. I'd doubt AMT would. Toyota, of course not.

But you are right Jackman, if Heidfeld and Zonta do both go to Sauber without a McLaren Mercedes connection, that Ferrari aspect would be odd. Again, Schumacher, Michael, has supposedly been helping Verstappen with a ride if needed. That would likely be Sauber or a Ferrari test drive. Again, Arrows would have talent with de la Rosa and Zonta or maybe Junqueira, but Junqueira's Petrobras conflicts with Repsol. It'd make no sense. All of the Dutch sponsors probably want a European at least, let alone, cough, Jos Verstappen is the best Dutch driver out there.

As for Minardi and Telefonica...Telefonica would get a lot more coverage world wide with Fernando Alosno (a very good young talent) Speedvision, Fox Sports, ITV, etc are all bound to focus more on Fernando Alonso than Gaston Mazzacane. Why? He's a young Spanish driver who has shown excellent talent.

If they do require a South American driver, well, Ricardo Zonta is still out there and so is Bruno Junqueria. Although, it has been stated that Junqueira would rather race for a top team in CART than a lesser team in F1. If Montoya makes the transition, well then cool. If not, Junqueira might have a one-way ticket regardless of what he may do in CART. (I think Montoya will do okay in F1 and not create a problem for CART drivers going to F1.) I'm aware of Telefonica's strong presence in South America, but does backmarker Gaston Mazzacane really garner any interest in South America? I would be interested in an actual answer from a South American. There are plenty of Brazilians here that might know.

Of note, Vector Motorsports have stated if they do purchase Prost they will have a North American driver. Who this is is unknown though. It's not Jacques Villeneuve of course...what other North American might race in F1? Paul Tracy is too large, Jimmy Vasser, too old? Bryan Herta, well...kind of doubt it. Memo Gidley? That'd be a huge step to make. It would likely be a Canadian, perhaps Alexander Tagliani already? Patrick Carpentier, doubt it. I'd love to hear who everybody thinks Vector has.

[arcwulf7]

I haven't really heard much about the Prost ownership situation since Hungary, although the team was supposed to do some major announcement before Monza. At that time Marc Boudreau of Vector and David Hunt of 'Lotus' seemed the major contenders. Alain apparently wants a minority interest and a management role as part of any purchase agreement. If Vector is successful you can count of Tagliani being at the top of their negotiation list, for his skill as much as his Canadian and Quebec roots.. I don't follow Cart closely enough to have a sense of him, but he has and impressive F-Atlantic record. He had a great race at Elkhart Lake a couple of weeks ago, the premier American road course (personal opinion) qualifying 3rd and retiring with mechanical problems while in the lead. A bit of a late bloomer for entering the big leagues at 28. Carpentier just hasn't been impressive enough recently to earn something like an f1 seat.

[T0NT0]

looks like the rumours are correct. looks like Alonso is going to sign with Minardi. I think thats great news, i love when someone new breaks through. And Minardi has a good track record at picking drivers. Rumours also Gene might go to Prost???? Not sure how true that is. Well i am look forward to next season.

[Shrimp]

To clear all this up. Telefonica insist on having one Spanish driver and one Argentine driver. Argentina is Telefonica's second largest market. That simple.

Shrimp out.

PS I live in Spain and have had to hear about all of Telefonica's dealings abroad from my mother in law who has a pile of Telefonica stock.

[Pacific]

It's interesting that Gene could get dumped for Alonso. Gene has not been doing poorly. He might have trouble catching onto another ride in F1 because he has no real personal sponsorships. Telefonica called on him and now they may call upon Fernando Alonso instead. As if another rookie driver is going to pilot the Minardi with a Supertec engine to the front next season. Good luck.

As for an Argentine driver, one can only wonder why Esteban Tuero wasn't considered. He showed some talent and would be a much hipper selection for Argentina than Gaston Mazzacane. Tuero isn't exactly old. Norberto Fontana was considered. Looks like he'll return to F3000 with SuperNova and try to impress there. He'll have to realize his only shot into F1 is Minardi because of this whole Argetnine driver thing. I bet Telefonica would make an exception if Pedro Diniz became available. He's Brazilian and brings a lot of money for Minardi to work with, which can only help things. The better they run on the track, the better things are for Telefonica.

Are there any Argentines here? If so, can you tell us if you've noticed major support in Argentina for Mazzacane. Because for some reason I rather doubt he's get cheered on for being 22nd all the time. (Gaston isn't a bad driver, he brings the car home, but Minardi needs more skill and experience. Somebody like Diniz to pair with Gene or Alonso.) I went into this in depth above. Poor Minardi are still reduced to catering to driver nationalities. Does West really care right now if Mika is Finnish and David is Scottish? Doubt it, they just run up front. Same with Marlboro and Shell, etc with Ferrari. Schumacher is the best and Rubens is damn good too. Other teams gain sponsors because of the nationality of their drivers, such as Jordan having Frentzen and gaining Deutsche Post. Williams comes to mind as to not having to cater to sponsors for their selections, except Petrobras with Junqueira. God forbid if you had to have Bruno testing your car. (Sarcasm, he's quite good.) As for Pedro de la Rosa, he's proven himself. Pedro Diniz has put in some good performances in the past. Jos Verstappen is showing why he deserves to be in F1. You don't stay involved in F1 from 1994 through 2001 at least by being bad. He had no personal sponsors really either.

Thankfully the sponsors for Minardi aren't requesting Taki Inoue, Giovanni Lavaggi, or Jean-Denis Deletraz. Mazzacane is well within 107%. It'd just be cool to see two highly talented youngsters at Minardi like Gene AND Alonso or Gene and Tuero. Of course, Tuero had sponsorship from Telecomm Argentina. A competitor of Telefonica. It'd really be nice to see a good experienced driver with a good youngster with somebody like Mazzacane as the test driver. This is why Toyota went out and got Mika Salo...