With the strengthening rumor that Alonso has agreed to go to Ferrari next year, with Massa off to Toyota, talk surrounds a replacement for McLaren. Even if the Ferrari story is untrue, it seems inevitable that Alonso will leave his present team and so the talk is not entirely wasted.
Gary Paffett
Many are saying that Nico Rosberg would be ideal for the job. While this may be true, it does not necessarily mean that he wants it; Nico has been singing the praises of the 2008 Williams recently and is clearly looking forward to driving it. That does not sound like the words of a man about to change teams. Frank Williams has also been talking highly of his young driver and, although it was tempting to assume that this was to drive up the price for any team interested, it looks increasingly as though Frank actually means what he says. Coming from a man who is renowned for regarding drivers as replaceable components, that is high praise indeed.
So Nico would be a good choice but I doubt that he is avalable. Second favoite in the forums is Jenson Button but there are problems where he is concerned too. For a start, Honda have just announced yet again that they are sticking with their driver pairing for 2008. Would they be doing this if there was any chance that Button was about to break his contract and leave? And why would Ron Dennis be willing to take a risk on a driver whose contribution to a previous silly season was a long wrangle between Honda and Williams? Ron has had enough of driver problems for the moment, I think.
So who else is there? It has to be someone who can drive the car well enough to keep Hamilton in sight at least but not a prima donna who is going to be complaining about treatment all the time. Presumably we can forget about Ralf in that case. Fisichella? Once again, I think Ron would recoil from any more Briatore proteges. What about de la Rosa then, the good old standby? Except that Pedro has blotted his copybook over the emails thing; Ron may not be one to hold a grudge but he is unlikely to see de la Rosa's involvement as deserving of a reward like a race seat.
But McLaren has another test driver, one who has not been mentioned at all in connection with the recent scandal and who has the reputation of being very, very fast. Gary Paffett is the man with the best chance of the second McLaren seat and what's more, he deserves it.
Although not a McLaren product in quite the same way as Hamilton is, Gary has been a McLaren driver for quite some time now, winning championships in other formulae while he awaits entry to the team. Ron has had a very happy experience of bringing a completely new driver into F1 and he may well wish to repeat the experiment. In Gary, he is likely to be just as well repaid, for his record is similar to Hamilton's, as I have pointed out before. Add to that the fact that Ron may not wish to pay superstar wages after the FIA fine and the necessary upward hike in Hamilton's pay, and Gary becomes even more a tempting prospect.
It is really the perfect solution. No more trying to satisfy the demands of an overpaid F1 star, no more arguments about who is getting preferential treatment; Paffett would be happy with whatever he could get and be grateful, I'm sure. Hamilton would be free to pursue his dreams of championships and Gary would be under no pressure to equal his performances, at least in the first year. Which is not to say that he wouldn't be as quick as Lewis; I think he would be.
So, if you're looking for advice, Ron, take mine and hire Gary now. Apart from anything else, it would take the wind out of an awful lot of fanciful speculation regarding the second seat.
Gary Paffett
Many are saying that Nico Rosberg would be ideal for the job. While this may be true, it does not necessarily mean that he wants it; Nico has been singing the praises of the 2008 Williams recently and is clearly looking forward to driving it. That does not sound like the words of a man about to change teams. Frank Williams has also been talking highly of his young driver and, although it was tempting to assume that this was to drive up the price for any team interested, it looks increasingly as though Frank actually means what he says. Coming from a man who is renowned for regarding drivers as replaceable components, that is high praise indeed.
So Nico would be a good choice but I doubt that he is avalable. Second favoite in the forums is Jenson Button but there are problems where he is concerned too. For a start, Honda have just announced yet again that they are sticking with their driver pairing for 2008. Would they be doing this if there was any chance that Button was about to break his contract and leave? And why would Ron Dennis be willing to take a risk on a driver whose contribution to a previous silly season was a long wrangle between Honda and Williams? Ron has had enough of driver problems for the moment, I think.
So who else is there? It has to be someone who can drive the car well enough to keep Hamilton in sight at least but not a prima donna who is going to be complaining about treatment all the time. Presumably we can forget about Ralf in that case. Fisichella? Once again, I think Ron would recoil from any more Briatore proteges. What about de la Rosa then, the good old standby? Except that Pedro has blotted his copybook over the emails thing; Ron may not be one to hold a grudge but he is unlikely to see de la Rosa's involvement as deserving of a reward like a race seat.
But McLaren has another test driver, one who has not been mentioned at all in connection with the recent scandal and who has the reputation of being very, very fast. Gary Paffett is the man with the best chance of the second McLaren seat and what's more, he deserves it.
Although not a McLaren product in quite the same way as Hamilton is, Gary has been a McLaren driver for quite some time now, winning championships in other formulae while he awaits entry to the team. Ron has had a very happy experience of bringing a completely new driver into F1 and he may well wish to repeat the experiment. In Gary, he is likely to be just as well repaid, for his record is similar to Hamilton's, as I have pointed out before. Add to that the fact that Ron may not wish to pay superstar wages after the FIA fine and the necessary upward hike in Hamilton's pay, and Gary becomes even more a tempting prospect.
It is really the perfect solution. No more trying to satisfy the demands of an overpaid F1 star, no more arguments about who is getting preferential treatment; Paffett would be happy with whatever he could get and be grateful, I'm sure. Hamilton would be free to pursue his dreams of championships and Gary would be under no pressure to equal his performances, at least in the first year. Which is not to say that he wouldn't be as quick as Lewis; I think he would be.
So, if you're looking for advice, Ron, take mine and hire Gary now. Apart from anything else, it would take the wind out of an awful lot of fanciful speculation regarding the second seat.