I was reading all the reports about Fernando Alonso finally signing for Renault and the accompanying driver changes and re-shuffles when an amusing thought struck me. Could Alonso be setting himself up as the greatest reputation-maker of all time?
Nelsinho at work
Think about it for a moment. One of the things they say about Lewis Hamilton is that he equalled or bettered the double world champion; and Fernando does like to mention his championships at every opportunity. That's fine when you are delivering the goods and making everyone else look silly - but, when your team mate is putting in better qualifying times and race finishes than you are, it's natural that our estimation of him should go sky high.
Fernando's team mate in 2008 will be Nelsinho Piquet, a man who ran Hamilton close for the GP2 championship and not one to take kindly to playing second fiddle. Oh, I know that, to get the seat, he will have had to promise to be good and sit behind Alonso all season; but that's all he has to do really - sit behind Nando in every race. If Nelsinho can do that and close up after losing time in traffic, the inference will be clear: Piquet Snr's boy could be quicker than the double world champion!
If Alonso then gets in a huff, goes to another team with a rookie second driver and the pattern is repeated, he will have made himself a name as the great reputation-maker. Whether Piquet Jr will have the patience and speed to adopt such tactics remains to be seen and it has to be admitted that most F1 watchers expect him to seize opportunities to beat Alonso whenever they occur. But his father is wily enough to see that Junior can stick to the terms of his agreement with Renault and still appear quicker than his team mate.
The idea of Alonso gaining such a reputation may appear laughable (and that is the spirit in which it is offered) but it is remotely possible. Consider how Jean Alesi made a name for himself through his tussle with Senna in the Phoenix GP of 1990. It was too late in his career for Takuma Sato's pass on Alonso in the Canadian GP this year to have an effect on his reputation, but it remains one of the memorable events of this season. Reputations made in one race can last a long time if dramatic enough; over a whole season, they can become set in stone.
Setting such idle musing aside, Piquet's promotion does appear to have put Heikki Kovalainen in an awkward position. Everyone seems to think that McLaren will take him on and it is a possibility, I know. But there is no guarantee until Ron Dennis makes the offer and he may decide to take the safe route and put one of his test drivers in the second car. It makes a lot of sense, after the enormous upheavals of 2007, to stick with someone who won't make waves and doesn't cost the earth either.
That would leave Heikki with just Toyota as a possibility, the rumor mill having put the Japanese giant back into the frame. Ironically too, it would preserve Toyota's record of changing both drivers at a time, a policy that I have pointed out before as a weakness in the team. Trulli, if he stays, would be a good measure of Timo Glock's real ability, whereas with a Glock/Kovalainen pairing it would be much more difficult to decide whether the drivers were flattering the car or vice versa - always a problem with Toyota.
Whatever happens, I hope that Heikki gets a drive for next year. His season may have started badly but it ended well and he is certainly one of the more talented newcomers to have emerged this year. It would be a tragedy if circumstances were to leave him out in the cold.
Nelsinho at work
Think about it for a moment. One of the things they say about Lewis Hamilton is that he equalled or bettered the double world champion; and Fernando does like to mention his championships at every opportunity. That's fine when you are delivering the goods and making everyone else look silly - but, when your team mate is putting in better qualifying times and race finishes than you are, it's natural that our estimation of him should go sky high.
Fernando's team mate in 2008 will be Nelsinho Piquet, a man who ran Hamilton close for the GP2 championship and not one to take kindly to playing second fiddle. Oh, I know that, to get the seat, he will have had to promise to be good and sit behind Alonso all season; but that's all he has to do really - sit behind Nando in every race. If Nelsinho can do that and close up after losing time in traffic, the inference will be clear: Piquet Snr's boy could be quicker than the double world champion!
If Alonso then gets in a huff, goes to another team with a rookie second driver and the pattern is repeated, he will have made himself a name as the great reputation-maker. Whether Piquet Jr will have the patience and speed to adopt such tactics remains to be seen and it has to be admitted that most F1 watchers expect him to seize opportunities to beat Alonso whenever they occur. But his father is wily enough to see that Junior can stick to the terms of his agreement with Renault and still appear quicker than his team mate.
The idea of Alonso gaining such a reputation may appear laughable (and that is the spirit in which it is offered) but it is remotely possible. Consider how Jean Alesi made a name for himself through his tussle with Senna in the Phoenix GP of 1990. It was too late in his career for Takuma Sato's pass on Alonso in the Canadian GP this year to have an effect on his reputation, but it remains one of the memorable events of this season. Reputations made in one race can last a long time if dramatic enough; over a whole season, they can become set in stone.
Setting such idle musing aside, Piquet's promotion does appear to have put Heikki Kovalainen in an awkward position. Everyone seems to think that McLaren will take him on and it is a possibility, I know. But there is no guarantee until Ron Dennis makes the offer and he may decide to take the safe route and put one of his test drivers in the second car. It makes a lot of sense, after the enormous upheavals of 2007, to stick with someone who won't make waves and doesn't cost the earth either.
That would leave Heikki with just Toyota as a possibility, the rumor mill having put the Japanese giant back into the frame. Ironically too, it would preserve Toyota's record of changing both drivers at a time, a policy that I have pointed out before as a weakness in the team. Trulli, if he stays, would be a good measure of Timo Glock's real ability, whereas with a Glock/Kovalainen pairing it would be much more difficult to decide whether the drivers were flattering the car or vice versa - always a problem with Toyota.
Whatever happens, I hope that Heikki gets a drive for next year. His season may have started badly but it ended well and he is certainly one of the more talented newcomers to have emerged this year. It would be a tragedy if circumstances were to leave him out in the cold.