Alonso pays to win...

[pino]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/motorsport/2007/09/17/alonso-pays-to-beat-lew-89520-19801166/

Could this be true or just media speculation ?

[janneppi]

A British media outlet trying to badmouth it's golden boys's biggest rival, surely not? :p :
It might even be true, it's not uncommon for drivers to award his mechanics, I can see why Dennis might be upset though.

[AJP]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/motorsport/2007/09/17/alonso-pays-to-beat-lew-89520-19801166/

Could this be true or just media speculation ?

it certainly doesn't surprise me if it is true...

[leopard]

One thing that I could believe that the more money the more we handle control.

[Ranger]

That does seem like a pretty sensationalist article.

[DonnieDarco]

Another paper said it was £1300 :D

[Valve Bounce]

This is the Mirror, for Goodness sake!! I'll believe it when it's reported in The Bild.

[ChrisS]

"Alonso pays to beat Lew", if it was Hamilton the headline would be "Lewis shows his appreciation by giving his mechanics extra money bonus" :rolleyes:

I think its quite common for drivers to give some sort of gift to their crew, I cant think of an F1 example of the top of my head but earlier this season MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi gave the BMW Z4 M Coupe he won to his crew to sell and split the money among themselves.

[ShiftingGears]

After that fine the mechanics are gonna need to get the extra money from somewhere :p :

[Ranger]

"Alonso pays to beat Lew", if it was Hamilton the headline would be "Lewis shows his appreciation by giving his mechanics extra money bonus" :rolleyes:

I think its quite common for drivers to give some sort of gift to their crew, I cant think of an F1 example of the top of my head but earlier this season MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi gave the BMW Z4 M Coupe he won to his crew to sell and split the money among themselves.

Damn right. Besides, isn't Fernando being criticised for ostracising his team this year?? :rolleyes:

[Daniel]

"Alonso pays to beat Lew", if it was Hamilton the headline would be "Lewis shows his appreciation by giving his mechanics extra money bonus" :rolleyes:

I think its quite common for drivers to give some sort of gift to their crew, I cant think of an F1 example of the top of my head but earlier this season MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi gave the BMW Z4 M Coupe he won to his crew to sell and split the money among themselves.
So true. There was a Lewis Hamilton appreciation show on ITV last night. It made me sick to the pits of my stomach. Lewis seems a nice enough person but to an English speaking person such as myself he's no more of a personality than Kimi or Michael. IE he doesn't really have a personality. He's the sort of guy you'd want dating your daughter. Nothing more than that when it comes to personality. I swear if Lewis turned out to be gay James Allen and Steve Ryder would jump him so fast it wouldn't be funny. The "love" that is shown towards him sickens me to the point where I'd rather back Fernando "I'm a dirty stinking cheat" Alonso for the title if Kimi can't get it :mark:

[555-04Q2]

"Alonso pays to beat Lew", if it was Hamilton the headline would be "Lewis shows his appreciation by giving his mechanics extra money bonus" :rolleyes:

I think its quite common for drivers to give some sort of gift to their crew, I cant think of an F1 example of the top of my head but earlier this season MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi gave the BMW Z4 M Coupe he won to his crew to sell and split the money among themselves.

Even though I dont particularly like FA, well said :up:

[F1boat]

I guess that soon we will learn that Alonso is trying to use black magick against the golden boy...

[Mihai]

At least he doesn't pay for sex. :p

[BeansBeansBeans]

"Alonso pays to beat Lew", if it was Hamilton the headline would be "Lewis shows his appreciation by giving his mechanics extra money bonus" :rolleyes:

Exactly, I couldn't have put it better myself.

[Tazio]

It came to my attention back in the early 1990s when I was still a test driver. One of the drivers in the team I was working with was paying his mechanics bonuses on the basis of results. I won't name the driver or the team but it is common practice. Especially for the established driver, who is probably earning a lot more money than the new kid on the block and can afford to be generous.

It doesn't split the camp. It is an extra incentive for the boys. Not that I think it makes them work any harder or better. They are always flat out anyway and they all want to win. Team bosses don't tend to know about it. It is not usually talked about in the garage, so I'm surprised this has come to light.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/sport/2007/09/18/smblun118.xml

[janneppi]

Or perhaps Ron was asked if he would allow Alonso paying Hamilton's mechancs to sabotage the car.

"No", says Ron

"Ron put's bans on bonuses to mechanics" writes the ever so clever journalist. ;)

[Hawkmoon]

The author doesn't even try to hide his Hamilton worship, nor his distaste for Alonso.

Even if it is true, so what? NFL quarterbacks and running backs quite often give expensive gifts to their offensive linemen because without the linemen doing a good job the quarterback can't do his. Same goes for a driver and his mechanics.

[ratonmacias]

in my mind its ok to do it hell i race enduros at an amateur level and still thank my mechanich with some money after he puts long hours rebuilding my bikes motor or suspension.

also lewis could do it if he wanted its not like he earns peanuts. i mean how large can a crew be 40 guys? thats around 50,000 british pounds i heard he gets 100,000 for every point scored. that would equal to 10% of a 4th place finish.

[markabilly]

So Freddie da blackmailer is going to pay each mechanic around $1300 each time he beats Lewis?

Talk about putting a massive dent in his 25 million dollar salary :rolleyes:

Need to rename him to "feddie da cheap blackmailer" :(

However, that is just racing....and since team orders are banned, RD can not be vetoeing that w/o incurring the wrath of we-know-who and it smacks of retaliation

If Hamster were a real man, he just would quit whining and double up the ante, to say $2,600 per mechanic or whatever FA offers for everytime he beats Freddie.... :s mokin:

Real racing and passing in the pits, that is what it is all about...

[luvracin]

It's probably just Alonso sharing winnings with his mechanics as extra incentive, and has just been extrapolated and twisted by an overzealous journalist.

If I was getting paid to race F1 cars I'd do the same, no matter where I was on the grid.

[markabilly]

It's probably just Alonso sharing winnings with his mechanics as extra incentive, and has just been extrapolated and twisted by an overzealous journalist.

If I was getting paid to race F1 cars I'd do the same, no matter where I was on the grid.



"same"as in meaning paying every and only when you beat your team mate...the real question is would you up the ante over your teamie's offer...??? :D

May the best player--opps "payer" win !!!! :D

[ratonmacias]

i wouldnt think of it as when you only beat your teamate but as in "when you beat your closest competitor and the guy who leads by 2 points the wdc."

[Mickey T]

utter non-issue.

can't understand why anybody on this forum would think this a dirty tactic.

companies large and small use incentives to hit targets all the time. and alonso's contract is larger than plenty of the companies that use incentives

[luvracin]

"same"as in meaning paying every and only when you beat your team mate...the real question is would you up the ante over your teamie's offer...??? :D

May the best player--opps "payer" win !!!! :D

This is why I mentioned the "extrapolation" by the journalist. I don't think "who" he beats is part of the equation. He's simply sharing the benefits of success.

[Spanish]

This happened in Germany: After his victory FA he gave 950$ (Different versions according to different newspapers) to each one of the members of his box team , and their mechanics accepted it.
Later, RD when it found out, made give back the money them. Its argument was not to create discrepancies between equipment both (the one of FA and the one of LH).
Later, FA wanted to invite them to have supper (to their box team) and RD returned it to prevent.

Both things, were habitual in Renault, and Briatore, Fisico or Jarno also has done it (although these two last do not have many reasons), but these are habits that a Latin people will understand perfectly. But other people...

[jas123f1]

It looks more and more that Alonso is the better driver of them two so I don't think he need to do something ells than drive.. :)

[kalasend]

If I were a FA crew and RD stopped me from receiving incentive$ from FA, after knowing already that the WCC bonus is gone, I'd probably go give RD a finger and convince others to do the same.

[tinchote]

I want to be one of FA's mechanics :D

[leopard]

Lollipop man deserves more incentive