http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_3771780,00.html

"We are fairly happy with our two drivers, but we'll be interested to see what Fernando does," remarked Brawn.


"He's a great driver and a World Champion, and if he chooses not to stay at Renault then I think every team would be interested in what he's going to do. But it's no more than that.


"Over the last five years the two top teams have consistently been Ferrari, and latterly McLaren.


"I don't suppose he's got an invitation to go back to McLaren, so if he wants a top-team berth then I'm sure he's going to be looking very hard at Ferrari.


"I'm not completely clear on the Ferrari situation. Felipe (Massa) has a contract until the end of 2010 and he's doing a very good job so I'd see no reason to change that.


"If Kimi (Raikkonen) doesn't wake one morning and decide to stop, then it doesn't look like it's a situation that is going to change in the short term.


"If he doesn't get in to Ferrari, he's got to pick a horse and back it for the next few years.


"I guess he's got some thinking to do about what he wants to do, but we've not made an approach."


Appreciating his team's stock is not as high as Ferrari or McLaren, Brawn added: "Ours is all promise as we haven't delivered anything yet.


"I think for any top personnel in F1, be it drivers, engineers or whoever, we hope Honda can be a serious consideration in the future.


"People want to work with teams that can compete at the front, and at the moment its primarily McLaren and Ferrari, so if you want to work for a winning team it's a limited choice.


"We hope we can become one of those teams."

Interesting remarks...Brawn obviously understands the dynamics of the silly season. The heavy hitters remain Honda and Toyota, with the deepest pockets to back a driver like Alonso for a longer term development and the goal of getting to the front of the grid. Next to BMW, they offer the most promise, assuming Fernando is not going back to McLaren or taking a seat at Ferrari. Brawn is simply advertising Honda's willingness to negotiate with Alonso.

If I was Nick Heidfeld, however, I might be watching the events at Renault very closely for the next few grands prix. If the other top teams have for one reason or another not worked out for Fernando Alonso the BMW Sauber might be looking more and more attractive. With Kubica winning at Canada, and giving BMW their first win, and Quick Nick consistently bringing up the rear, it is not going to be the Pole who is sold down the river for the Spaniard.

The things is that if Alonso goes to Honda he well have some responsibility of making the team a top runner again a situation which Fred might not like.

Toyota seems to be pretty happy with the Timo/Jarno combination and Varsha even said that they're a lock for next year.

I could see a situation where Heinfeld leaves BMW and goes to Honda and Alonso goes to BMW. BMW seem has a very strong quiet confidence to themselves though a style which I can't imagine Alonso fitting well in.

The things is that if Alonso goes to Honda he well have some responsibility of making the team a top runner again a situation which Fred might not like.

Strange that you would say that, IMHO.

The reverse seems more likely to me.

Hitokiri2 - 04 July 2008 01:46 PM

<snip>
I could see a situation where Heinfeld leaves BMW and goes to Honda and Alonso goes to BMW. BMW seem has a very strong quiet confidence to themselves though a style which I can't imagine Alonso fitting well in.

As an outsider, one only has limited access to team interna, but I also think that the team style of BMW and the persona of Alonso are not necessarily a match made in heaven.

All drivers in F1 seem to be 'high maintenance', but compared to Alonso, Villeneuve almost borders on being just the nice neighborhood guy. And if I recall correctly, Villeneuve was a little bit too 'high maintenance' for BMW's style of running a team.

It will be interesting.

SharkZ4 - 04 July 2008 05:30 PM

Hitokiri2 - 04 July 2008 01:46 PM

<snip>
I could see a situation where Heinfeld leaves BMW and goes to Honda and Alonso goes to BMW. BMW seem has a very strong quiet confidence to themselves though a style which I can't imagine Alonso fitting well in.

As an outsider, one only has limited access to team interna, but I also think that the team style of BMW and the persona of Alonso are not necessarily a match made in heaven.

All drivers in F1 seem to be 'high maintenance', but compared to Alonso, Villeneuve almost borders on being just the nice neighborhood guy. And if I recall correctly, Villeneuve was a little bit too 'high maintenance' for BMW's style of running a team.

It will be interesting.

:)

Apparently Kubica is incredibly demanding internally so they probably could handle Alonso. Besides, they're mates. Apparently Alonso rates Kubica better than Raikonnen.