How would Webber stack up against Alonso?

[Frank_White]

There is a consistant rumour that Webber might be swapped with Giancarlo between renault and Williams.

http://www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view...d=1&nid=117905


There was an inferance that flavio was trying to arrange this because he didnt want Webber's value going down by driving for an under-performing Williams. Apparently webber sought to scuttle this plan and insisted on remaining with williams, on the basis that He'll work with Williams to overcome their present problems. (there were numerous articles to this effect)

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=33893

If the obove scenario is to be accepted, the question is; what is webber's true motive?

Is is operating out of loyalty and a genuine belief that williams will rise up in a few years to become serious championship compeditors (extremely unlikely), or is he afraid to face up to alonso?

I personally think that webber is afraid of Alonso. If webber goes to renault and is destroyed by Alonso, his hype/value would be gone forever. i think that its a risk he is unwilling to take. the reality is that now, webber is often matched and sometimes beaten by nick. considering this, what are the chances that he can hold his own against Alonso?

[Boro]

He isn't afraid of being destroyed by Alonso as much as he's afraid of having the [sarcasm] bad luck with the fuel rig [/sarcasm] that seems to have plagued Fisi this season.

[mac]

Webber has said all along (since before he signed for Williams) that he wanted to race for Williams. And I have heard nothing that would indicate a change of stance.

Would you like a storm in that teacup of yours, sir?

[vatuloa]

Mark Webber is a very good qualiflyer a poor starter and an agressive racer if he can improve his starts he would do a lot better but he always drops a couple of places and this would be fatal racing Alonso.

[F1_KING]

renault play the one-two game so going there would be useless, ask fisi. but whe nwebber first signed to williams he said he intends to be with williams long term. we will see how webber goes next year with a fresh start, and his luck has to change soon. As of been scared of alonso, na i dont think so, webber isnt that type of person to be scared of another driver.

[Kicking-back]

In equal cars, Alonso would destroy him, I believe.

Webber's a journeyman who can pull out some quick qualifying laps, Alonso is "the real deal".

[Not Rated]

Poorly. I also belive he will be thoroughly beaten by Bunson too.

[FPV GTHO]

If hes scared of Alonso, why is he claiming to have pushed for Buttons '06 Williams contract? If he made the switch to Renault, Alonso would simply be the first of his targets

[Trev Campbell]

Why would anyone want to go to Renault at the moment. To me Renault looks like the new Ferrar Re: Team Orders. It's now Alonso's Team. Just like Ferrari is Michael's.

[Super Tourer]

Unless he managed to get on top of his overall performance, I think Webber would have a pretty uncomfortable time alongside Alonso.

[esorniloc]

The question would also be would Williams want Giancarlo? If they were to swap Webber for a Renault contracted driver then they should go for Heikki Kovalainen.

[spectator22]

Webber fears nobody - Turkey was the second time he's 'thrown down a marker' with Michael. Having said that, none of the top guys should 'fear' each other - theyre all pretty confident buggers. I am amused (hardly) by those who seem to constantly want to knock Webber down on the basis of this year, when it is so clear that he has hit Williams when they are at a low ebb. The car is rubbish. And now youre misconstruing his loyalty to a team hes always wanted to drive for (remember he turned down both Renault and Toyota to do it) as a fear of taking on Alonso in the same team! PLEASE? For what its worth, based on Webber's performances at Jaguar, I think he'd give Alonso a much tougher time than Fisi is. He's faster than Heidfeld, but the one thing I think even he would agree with is hes tried just a bit too hard in races to make up for a car that just doesn't have the pace, a bit like it was at Jag really. I look forward to the time when some of these short memory Webber bashers have to eat a big slice of humble pie.

[twig]

Where are you from spectator22 by the way? You almost looked blinkered for a moment, but i agree to an extent - i don't really think that drivers fear each other, especially when they seem to be in F1 quite solidly, which i believe Alonso, Webber, Fisi and many others are.

People stress it over and over again, it's so difficult to compare with not only such different cars, but with cars which change every year anyway. The Williams isn't really the best car to be using to judge driver talent. Also I, I don't think the Webber-Heidfeld difference is large enough to be making any huge accusations or judgements that one driver is MUCH better than the other.

Remember, also, how Trulli was much faster than Alonso last year, with Trulli winning a race, although it's hard to figure who did a better job in the championship, as Trulli was in another team by the end of it. Alonso looked lacklustre compared to Trulli, and the gap, i feel, was larger than that of Heidfeld and Webber's.

Whilst it would be easy to say 'Who knows!', i'm guessing Alonso would do a better job, especially going from last year, he has matured a lot. But then again, go from the year before, and the situation may be fairly different.

[Dixie Flatline]

I'll say this at the outset - I'm not a Webber fan.

However, I think that Webber would do quite nicely against Alonso. It's a matter of temperament, and I believe that Webber is properly equipped to face up to the challenge.

[NO1SPECIAL]

spectator you speak the truth

who cares if he's thrown a rubbish car off the road a coupla times...i can think of a coupla times this year that Alonso's done the same to a GOOD car...

I think Webber's at least as good as Alonso and probably better...and at the no doubt juicy odds offered by people with extremely short memories and poor analytical skills - just like some of the people here - I'll be having a few bucks on him to be 2006 WDC.

[Hip Priest]

In genuinely equal cars, i imagine Alonso would have the edge over Webber.

[BootsOntheSide]

Perhaps you can tell us when Alonso has been off the track this season? He's finsihed every race and his perofrmances have appeared flawless. For all the bad luck Giancarlo's had, he's rarely matched Alonso's pace all year.

As Webber is a Flavio driver, cynics would suggest that he is less likely to be as unlucky as Fisichella, and would probably get more support from within the team. However, given equal support, he doesn't have the pace to outperform Alonso. Fernando is the real deal - Webber is fast but inconsistant and erratic. Renault don't even have a starting advantage to cancel out Mark's problems there anymore.

[Rubinho]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Perhaps you can tell us when Alonso has been off the track this season? He's finsihed every race...

Montreal...

[Frank_White]

Its one thing to suggest that webber would hold his own against Alonso....

but I find it incredible that some people here suggest thathe would be faster.

there is no evidence that he has championship winning speed and consistancy. in fact there is lots of evidence to the contrary.

I for one find it very doubtful that the redbull is so much superior to the jag of 2004; so much so to justify Coulthards superior performances over webber. In my mind an Alonso would have done much more with the 2004 jad, just as Couthard is now doing at redbull.

[N I Tram]

Webber would be doing well to get closer to Alonso than Giancarlo has. He's got a lot of rough edges to remove from his driving first. Even then, Fernando has shown more signs of raw speed.

[garcon]

Originally Posted by NO1SPECIAL

I think Webber's at least as good as Alonso and probably better...and at the no doubt juicy odds offered by people with extremely short memories and poor analytical skills - just like some of the people here - I'll be having a few bucks on him to be 2006 WDC.

I'd give you great odds on that.

Webber is no slouch, definitely one of the better drivers out there. But 2006 WDC? I'm afraid Alonso, Raikonnen, Michael and JPM are all ahead of him, and Button's at least his equal. I can't see them all having a bad year...

(Oh and to answer the original question, given an equal crack in the same car, Alonso would trounce Webber. It'd be a decent partnership for a Manufacturer's title though.)

[Halsey]

Originally Posted by Frank_White

I for one find it very doubtful that the redbull is so much superior to the jag of 2004

As is the case with so many driver vs driver battle, you really can't read much into things, apart from how all the drivers fare against their teammates. You definitely can't judge the '04 jaguar to the '05 red bull because of the rule changes that fiddled with the aerodynamics. Don't get me wrong, I think Coulthard has done a great job this year. However, I heard that Webber worked closely with the team at jaguar in the two years he was there and helped them to develop. Whether or not this was the case I simply don't know for sure, but I have a feeling (and at the very least I'd like to think) it was true.

I think the '05 red bull car is an improvement on the '04 jaguar, judging by the way coulthard & klien have been consistently scoring points... But that could very well be an indication on one or more of the other team's demise.

[garcon]

I went to the Jag factory a couple of years ago - the impression I got there was that Webber played a very important role in the development process. He was also great with the rest of the Jaguar Racing employees - happy to chat with any of them, keen to include them in any success he had, played 5-a-side with the lads on a Tuesday evening, that kinda thing. Klien was also encouraged to do the same, but it was obvious that to the workers Webber was the main man.

[Knowlesy]

Webber would have great difficulty beating Alonso in race conditions.

[Menelaos]

Alonso is a very good driver, there's no doubt about that. Webber, well, he's supposed to be very good as well, but we'd really need to see him in a really good car with a good driver alongside before we can tell how good he actually is. But it would certainly be interesting.