Wold Champion Alonso To Race With Vodafone McLaren Mercedes In 2007

Posted by www.eMercedesBenz.com on December 19, 2005 at 9:30 AM CST

Hot on the heels of the McLaren Mercedes team's announcement that  
Vodafone will be their title sponsor in 2007 comes even more F1 news.

This time, McLaren Mercedes is announcing they have signed current  
world champion Fernando Alonso to race for the 2007 season.

Alonso earned the title of world champion last season by edging out  
current McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen.

According to Ron Dennis, team principal and chairman and CEO of the  
McLaren Group: "Its great that our strong belief in the strength and  
competitiveness of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes package has been  
further endorsed by the World Champion." He added: "We always make it  
clear that we want to be the best and the only way of achieving this  
objective is by attracting the best people, the best drivers and the  
best sponsors."

Despite signing Alonso, the fate of Raikonnen and teammate Juan Pablo  
Montoya remain unclear for the 2007 season.  Again, quoting Ron  
Dennis: "We are in discussions with our current drivers' Kimi  
Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya regarding the 2007 season.  Both  
Juan Pablo and Kimi are extremely talented, professional and  
competitive Formula One drivers and they have and will continue to  
concentrate on our joint challenge for the Championships."

I'm sure you all have your own opinions on the announcement, but I  
personally think the move is absurd.

When I hear Dennis saying "we want to be the best, and the only way  
of achieving this is by attracting the best drivers," I think there's  
something he's forgetting - the McLaren Mercedes team already has the  
best driver.

Kimi Raikkonen would have been the world champion, if it weren't for  
numerous reliability issues with his car, especially at the start of  
the season.  Alonso didn't win because he's a better driver, he won  
because his engines didn't explode.  It's that simple.

McLaren Mercedes should be focusing on fixing their cars, not opting  
for what they call "better drivers."  If they don't, I can guarantee  
you won't be seeing any McLaren Mercedes driver becoming world  
champion in the near future.

For more info on the announcement, you can check out the full press  
release by clicking the link below.

http://emercedesbenz.com/Dec05/19AlonsoToRaceWithMcLarenMercedes.html

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

F1: Alonso Secures Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Drive

Stuttgart, Dec 19, 2005

"Its great that our strong belief in the strength and competitiveness  
of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes package has been further endorsed by  
the World Champion," said Ron Dennis, Team Principal and Chairman and  
CEO of the McLaren Group. "We always make it clear that we want to be  
the best and the only way of achieving this objective is by  
attracting the best people, the best drivers and the best sponsors.  
To be able to announce Vodafone as only McLaren's third title partner  
in more than 30 years and Fernando's employment within only a few  
days is fantastic news for the team, our Partners, Formula One and  
the fans."

"We are in discussions with our current drivers' Kimi Raikkonen and  
Juan Pablo Montoya regarding the 2007 season," continues Ron Dennis.  
"Both Juan Pablo and Kimi are extremely talented, professional and  
competitive Formula One drivers and they have and will continue to  
concentrate on our joint challenge for the Championships."

"Fernando and McLaren Mercedes wanted to make the announcement as  
soon as possible in a controlled and professional manner to allow  
McLaren Mercedes, Fernando, Kimi and Juan Pablo to focus on the  
preparations for the 2006 season," states Ron Dennis. "Our aim for  
next year remains absolutely clear to everybody within the team – we  
want to win races and be in a position where we might have two  
Formula One World Champions driving for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in  
2007."

"We are pleased to welcome Fernando to the team and look forward to  
working both with him and our new title sponsor in 2007," said  
Norbert Haug, Vice-President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. "To have a  
World Champion joining the team is a great endorsement and will  
create a tremendous amount of excitement. However for now our focus  
must remain on the 2006 season where we want to go one better than we  
did in 2005."

"To become part of a team with such a desire to succeed and passion  
for performance is a dream come true for any Formula One driver,"  
said 2005 Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso. "I'm very  
excited about 2007 and the fantastic opportunity to drive for  
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. It will be a new beginning for me and a  
tremendous challenge and from what I have heard about this exciting  
new Partnership there is something to look forward to. Obviously I  
will be sad to leave Renault but sometimes possibilities come along  
which are just too good to miss. I'm pleased that we are able to make  
this announcement already now as it will allow my current team and I  
to focus 100 per cent on defending the World Championships next year."

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