Melbourne Grand Prix - March 17, 2019

stormybadger8 said:And then you have those massive crowds of fans who just blindly buy into all those fairy tales...

Totally the post of the year—considering who 🙂

darkmarlin16 said:To be fair, he's bringing up Nanda again 🤣

Really?🤣 I'm not even reading this...🤣

ruggedhawk20 said:Just look at guys like Nick Heidfeld, Jean-Éric Vergne, Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas... you know the type—just totally lacking charisma

But Valtteri Bottas has actually found his spark now. Did you see what he pulled off after that win👍—honestly, nobody can touch him right now.

neonfox65 said:Valtteri Bottas is suddenly all about that charisma. Did you see what he pulled after his win👍 honestly, nobody's touching him now.

Missed whatever he did after the win.

But look—if he didn't actually sway the people around him or change how they see things—like, if people aren't actually shifting their attitudes or habits because of him—then that isn't charisma.

stormyviper2 said:Seriously, this guy’s got less charisma than my five-year-old cousin—if you actually think that's charisma, then... yeah, okay. xD

If your cousin is five, you're probably what, thirteen? Explains the top-tier quality of your posts here perfectly.

ruggedhawk20 said:I didn't catch what he did right after taking the win.

But, if his actions don't impact those around him—if they don't shift people's perspectives or change their actual lifestyles and habits—then we aren't really talking about charisma...

He actually said over the radio, "to whom it may concern, fuck you"...

Fernando Alonso is apparently so lacking in charisma that he still pulls in over $80 million annually from sponsors😁 (I caught that figure in Forbes, though I'm not entirely sure how accurate it actually is)

What does charisma even have to do with any of this?

ruggedhawk20 said:If you’ve got a niece who's five, then you’ve got maybe 13 to 15 IQ points max, which pretty much explains the quality of your posts on here.

Look, we joke about Fernando Alonso, but that has nothing to do with how old someone is.

I can make fun of anyone, about anything, anytime, and anywhere. 😉

I suppose that's one way to put it—though perhaps a bit too brief. [User Name] says:
Just another side note—you seem pretty quick to claim Ferrari was faster back when Sebastian Vettel wasn't driving for them. I mean, since he joined, they’ve been hovering near the top of Formula 1—well, occasionally, anyway—not to mention how everyone there seemed to turn against him, regardless of those massive contracts they were cutting.😂

I guess Ferrari was easily the fastest—by at least double—back when Fernando Alonso was behind the wheel. The car was practically breaking the sound barrier in third gear every single year—but we still didn't see any titles, mostly because Alonso just wasn't up to the task. If anyone else had been in that seat—say, Narain Karthikeyan—we probably would have dominated every race and season through sheer brute force.

All those massive trophies started rolling in once Sebastian Vettel arrived—back when the Ferrari was barely an upgrade over the current Williams—but they only ever contended for the top spot because of Seb’s sheer genius and, I guess, his almost otherworldly talent. 🐔

Nobody really questions anything at Mercedes—they just happened to get lucky when Ferrari stumbled with an incompetent Fernando Alonso. Since then, they haven't quite managed to engineer a car that’s quite as hyper-dominant as the old legendary ones, I guess. The F14 T—well, I suppose it was certainly an interesting chapter in the history books, if one considers that sort of thing. For example.

It seems like the Italian media is a bit of an issue—which might be exactly why Ferrari keeps playing catch-up with Mercedes-Benz. 🐔

Richard Walker38 said:I suppose one might wonder what charisma has to do with any of this—though I'm not entirely sure.

It seems sponsors—even before Fernando Alonso secured his second title—weren't exactly lining up to back uninspiring figures like Pierre Gasly, Heikki Kovalainen, Marcus Ericsson, or Will Stevens. I guess when Fernando Alonso says one thing, it carries massive weight. Those other guys only seem to get any real traction if they pull some kind of stunt on the track—whereas Nando just dominates.

Has anyone ever actually seen an onboard clip in WEC used to highlight someone breaking a track record? Not really—I guess it just doesn't happen. It’s pretty obvious who they're saving those shots for—you know, the one person responsible for boosting WEC viewership by 300% according to those recent stats:

Honestly, I can't stand driving this track—it’s just not my thing. Either I'm being way too slow, or I'm constantly scraping the walls, I guess.

crimsonhawk23 said:Well, Ferrari was definitely the fastest—by at least double—back when Fernando Alonso was behind the wheel.

I’m not really sure where you're coming from here, but that Ferrari Alonso drove was basically an average car at best. It was pretty much a bucket. In terms of raw performance, it sat right up there with the McLaren-Honda, just with a better engine under the hood. But when you look at the chassis and the aerodynamics? It was a total wreck.

Richard Walker38 said:What does charisma have to do with any of this?

He convinced the sponsors he was worth every penny.

Just so we're clear, buddy—charisma is about being persuasive, not just swearing over the team radio.

You can't pull that kind of stunt when you don't have the track record to back it up. I mean, look at Alonso. He’s a two-time Formula 1 champion and a total household name in the sport.

I mean, seriously, why are we even talking about a guy who’s about as relevant as last year's snow in this thread about the 2019 Australian Grand Prix? XD

ruggedhawk20 said:Charisma is about the power of persuasion—not swearing over the team radio, I guess.

This.

Richard Walker38 said:You can't really justify that kind of talk when there aren't any results to back it up—I guess. Alonso is a two-time Formula 1 champion and, frankly, a household name in the sport.

After Schumacher left, he became the second driver in terms of sponsorship revenue—at least by the start of 2005, I guess. 🙂

stormyviper2 said:I'm not quite sure what you're seeing there, but I'd say Alonso's Ferrari is pretty much just an average car at best—basically a bucket. It might sit in the same tier as the Honda, perhaps with a slightly better engine, but when it comes to the chassis and aerodynamics? It's really nothing more than a scrap heap.

Jesus, I guess you might have missed the irony in my entire post—maybe? 😬 Tibi is essentially echoing my exact sentiment—and I think our friend Dakako touched on this too. People talk about Ferrari as if they have some futuristic, unbeatable machine, yet somehow Alonso is framed as this subpar driver who just couldn't clinch those wins. Then, suddenly, once a talent like Vettel arrives—who, let’s be honest, doesn't even come close to Alonso’s pure skill—Ferrari falls into a total tailspin. And apparently, there's nothing they can do about it because, well, everyone else is just better than them, I guess. 😁

Richard Ross11 said:I mean, he basically told them over the radio, "To whom it may concern, fuck you"...

Did anyone actually change their lifestyle after saying that? Did he land a massive new sponsor? Did his standing within the team suddenly skyrocket?

If not, then let's be real, buddy—it's not "charisma," it's just venting pure frustration over the team radio.

ruggedhawk20 said:Has anyone actually changed their lifestyle after a comment like that? Did they land a massive new sponsor right afterward? Did their standing within the team suddenly shift because of it?

If the answer is no, then let me tell you, my sweet little friend, this isn't about charisma—it's just a simple way of venting frustration over the team radio.

Just back off, kid... I’m way ahead of you in every sense of the word... 🙂

Nothing really matters here, except for the fact that you're acting up without any actual basis...
It's a shame we'll never run into each other in real life... 🙂

Richard Ross11 said:Shut up, kid... I'm bigger than you in every sense of the word... 🙂

Nothing matters here—except the fact that you're just talking shit without any backup...
Too bad we'll never run into each other IRL... 🙂

Bottas school like😁 😁

ruggedhawk20 said:Bottas school like 😁 😁

Like I said...

Giancarlo Fisichella and Aleksvurc at Benetton... pure charisma, total avant-garde—the literal essence of this sport. 🙏

Like Alonso and Bottas.