Alex Yoong Disappointed At New Mercedes-Petronas Deal

achtung! warning!

kudos to Petronas for making the wiser move!...when will people learn that just because it's a local company doesn't mean that Petronas is obligated to sponsor...it's business and between Mercedes and Lotus, it's pretty much a no-brainer that Mercedes is the better option business wise...of all people AY should understand this, seeing that he wasted our hard-earned tax payers money with his embarrassing foray into F1...

I understand his disappointment, but he is not looking at the bigger picture.
I'm not against lotus, in fact I may just support it later (but mclaren for life!), but Petronas is not just a side project for some CEOs.
Petronas is Malaysia's source of income, and it needs to expand, and joining with Mercedes will do this..
Like they say, its business, and the stakeholders of Petronas far outweighs that of Lotus F1.

F1 is motorsport and it is business. AY probably confused what is business and what is being patriotic. If AY manage his F1 team really good (with good results in racing), I'm sure loads of sponsorships will be flooding in for Lotus too.



So, AY. Can you make sure you can perform your job well, and produce good result??

Petronas is trying to build a brand name for themselve in oversea market not for Malaysia market lah.

Kudos to Petronas for choosing a winning team.

ha-ha. Mercedes GP team will be struck with bad luck from 2010 onwards.

KUDOS TO PETRONAS !!!!
petronas will advance more wit this new partnership wit Mercedes:)
AY shouldnt b dissapointed as F1 is all about bussiness n means money
if he is really good other company will come sponsor him .. one day that is .. or he can join Merc as well for money :P

Kudos to Petronas make the right move, Alex Yong Disappointed? Who care .... :P

It may look like 'good business' for Petronas now.

If Lotus wins and Branson wears skirt? Petronas should wear kebaya lar.

Same thing with Gillette, Tag Heuer, Accenture and Tiger Woods. No way to know what, that's the beauty of the fun of it.

the unseen thing is that Tony has been courting Petronas for quite sometime before this. and the fact is that, the entire courting team, including tony himself, FAILED.

we are not looking at another 'national service' now thats for sure. petronas had done a two in one job, that is to enchance its own position on the world globe and avoid to be called the milking cows by the oppositions, since our political scene changed drastically last year.

mercedes would be a very good deal, 50 million a year for 5 years also not a problem for me (the details of the deal have been kept exclusive) since mercedes is a the biggest name now in F1 (after their sensational win in the maiden season last year). with names like Nolbert Haug, Ross Brawn, and perhaps, king Schumacher at the helm, not much could go wrong with the team. and in that sense, i could only see petronas getting more of it.

Alex should shut up and find sponsors from somewhere else. he knows how the finance thing work in the F1 because he was one of them before. other than team's sponsor, the drivers also need to find their own which i believe also contribute directly to the team's coffer. if my memory still serve me well, alex was backed by Magnum who contributed to his old team as well. Minardi.

He should stop commenting this and that and reserve his energy to help the team find one reliable sponsors. infact, even before this idea born out, they should have find several, and then only announce it to the world. but what they done was, announced first then find later.

but i do hope for the best for them. and please, proton, make use of this opportunity to improve mass productions. i mean, inject all necessary and available F1 technology inside the wajas, personas, etc etc.

I wish Petronas wouldn't sponsor any teams. Their money is our money and I fail to see the value of giving it to anyone when there are better uses for the money here in Malaysia.

I would really like to Petronas sponsor primary and secondary schools to uplift the standards. Alternatively sponsor heanthcare for the underpriviledged?

There are better ways to spend OUR money and its not in Lotus or Mercedes..its in our people

Agree completely with drMpower.

I think Petronas and Hassan Merican had enough of TonyF. I think their press statements in the last few days indicate thay they have been planning to kill 2 birds with one stone. Bolster their image and simultaneously slap LotusF1. They've done it beautifully. Merican and Petronas don't like to be strong armed and have always been quite aloof. Lotus F1's Kamarudin Meranun made remarks in the press before this attacking Petronas and I don't think Petronas appreciate that kind of 'courtship'.

I suspect Petronas are annoyed at Lotus F1 to the point that they will never sponsor the team ever. Just like how they will never associate themselves with projects involving the Yoong name.

alex, alex......wat they said is that when ya cant have the grapes it u will always cried it to be sour.

You only prove in F1 is that u ve compete in it. Your experience in only driving an F1 car, not winning in 1. Sad to say, ur only a kampung hero.....ur not that goood....so please shut up.....

As for Lotus F1, i guess u guys r giving urself a bigger handicap for choosing this joker to be ur operating chief. until you can prove urself, mercedes will always be safer and wiser choice

kudos for Petronas.......it is definitely and will be wise decision.

good job petronas!

Wow! Petronas has all that money to invest and non to give back to the ppl? Try lowering the price of fuel first and not comparing our rates with NON Petroleum countries. It's already bad enough that they sell higher grade of petroleum overseas and leave us with shitty ones. Same goes to Proton.

To those who kudos to petronas i think u all are stuck with stupidity worms. WTF why they not keeping the money and help improve the malaysia economy. Most of us know that automotive sports are money burning sport. Do u all think by simply sponsoring a F1 team will improve Petronas business...hell no..those caucasions might be just utilizing petronas money end of the day fight the Petronas will leave with nothing and cry back to their papa the MR.G.

I am agree that what supercoffee said. Think yourself some of the stupid dude here. You like cars it doesnt mean you have to blindly support Petronas to do so.

Zen says:
"To those who kudos to petronas i think u all are stuck with stupidity worms."
"Think yourself some of the stupid dude here."

How about you learn the proper usage of English vocabulary before coming in here calling everyone else stupid.

'Stuck with stupidity worms' ???

What the f*ck is a "stupidity worm", dude ? Something that lives between your leg ? LOL

That's just what we need. Some Ah Beng from Jinjang trying to sound intellectual.

You think petronas is a charity? Simply give money like that? Its set up for the LONG RUN, so it has to spend money to make money.... The Gov gets like 50% of petronas profits every year, so technically petronas money is being used for developments (schools, roads, etc)... how its managed by the G is different story la... if simply use ALL the money for needy development, habis like that in a few years lor...

Just imagine, even with some 50% of the money being taken away by the G, its still a fortune 500 company doing deals and ventures all around the world...

Ask any marketing and business guru, F1 means big-big exposure. Everyone who is anyone wants F1 coverage... And its not just F1, one of the biggest names in the automotive industry is now associated with petronas... more exposure means more sales, etc... Yes, branding/marketing/advertising money is hard to quantify, but needed none-the-less...

I think that both Petronas and our supposedly 1 Malaysian F1 Team stop and use/concentrate their money here in improving our economy. Everybody knows that racing is for the elite and rich? Is Malaysia considered a rich country. Being involved in F1 is just like throwing our money down the drain. Why not spend the much needed money to improve our infrastructures and economy? Like last years team...they dont even have petronas' green colour on the F1 car they sponsored. So I would be suprise to see no petronas green colour on the Mercedes new car. Anyway, our countries' foray into F1 is to 'make' certain parties richer. Why? Because the costs of motorsports is never made known to the public. Its just sheer waste of funds and contries' wealth.

Mannessman,

If you think that merely abandoning F1 will mean that all that money get poured back into the economy and the people, then I think you are just being simplistic and naive.

It's not happening with this Government because if there is clear pattern of behavior here, then it is that no matter how much money is available, some smart cookie at Putrajaya will think of imaginative ways to spend it.....not necessarily for the public's interest.....if you get what I mean...*wink* *wink*

If you want your Government to spend the people's money honestly, then change the Government because it's not this current Government that you can trust. For that matter, there's not much of a viable choice our there....Anwar is just as much a bastard as those from BN...and PAS....bunch of stone-age, antiquated, intolerant religious zealots.

can i say something.....

Petronas is NOT our Government. So why the f*ck r u bother them spending their money? Now u all blaming Petronas for spending, but after all these years he spent for us do u apreciate them?

why some of us, which they think they are a bit cleverer, to call the others stupid? u cant accept the freedom of speech, arent you? now preach freedom of speech, then if like this your attitude, then pretty sure will shut off all these blogs, forums.

cant accept the others opinion? go die. quitely. why must call the others stupid?

investment is always about risk and not guarantee lose or gain. but some investments are worth going if THE RISK MANAGEMENT permits. in this case, the story looks convincing. probably by spending 50million a season for a return of.... 5 times of that amount. but i am not saying its a guarantee for a return of 5 times, and also not saying this investment WILL definitely bring return. it could be a non gain or lose.

but the story looks convincing - sponsoring a newly crowned world champion team, great motoring people at helm (haug, brawn, schummi perhaps), on a championship of highest quality (F1). the list goes on and on.

so if u really hate them (petronas), but you think u are level headed, then why not give them benefit of the doubt? thats the very least a normal/ level headed people should do. not calling the others names like stupid or naive. we jotted down this forum because we wanted to share opinions, not to be called by these bunch of prats, some names whatsoever.

cant agree with what the others people, go die. quickly and quitely.

ps- i dont mind forking 100 million for a return of 100 billion. thats subject i believe, but i'll vote such idea in the first place. and not flaming or anything, but account book of petronas is only for PM's eyes. hahahahahahaha.

Alex,

No hard feelings. Petronas is just doing its business. Don't fret though - sponsors will be pouring in if Lotus turns out to be a decent team. Have you heard of Brawn GP? Just sort your race car :)

bapakkau, Do you pay your taxes?

1.Petronas is a GLC

2.GLC is the abbreviation for Government Linked Company

3.It means the govt has a stake in the ownership

4. And who does the govt belong to?
Ans: Rakyat. If you disagree it means you have never paid taxes

5. So to who does Petronas belong to?
Ans: Ultimately the rakyat!

The thing I don't understand with a lot of the nationalistic nonsense is this.....

People have been having issues with companies like Proton getting preferential monopolistic treatment from the Government just because they are the national carmaker. And ever since everyone has been barking about how companies should really ought to stand on merits rather than looking for national handouts.

Personally, I believe it is only proper that Lotus (1Malaysia)F1 go out there and compete for their own sponsorship like all the other teams. When does the word '1Malaysia' entitle the team to $$ from the national oil corporation? Now Alex didn't actually said this.... but he certainly implied an entitlement to national sponsorship by equating the Petronas decision with "shame" (his own word).

Quite frankly sponsors pour in the money based on what they think you can offer them back in return. I wrote in the other thread it's obvious that from a marketing exercise involving millions of viewers, oil corporations will want to be seen to be associated with competitive teams because it's good promotion for the products they supply the teams. I mean look at the mileage that Shell and Mobil have gotten from their association with McLaren and Ferrari. If you want your product noticed for all the right reasons, it's sensible to back it up with a competitive team.

Why would someone of a prudent business acumen want to back Lotus F1 which is not even in a realistic position to be competitive in their debut year ? Can you imagine the outlook on an oil corporations products if they are seen to be supplying to a team that brings up the rear in the field of 20+ cars ?

Brothers please chill out lah.

Whyyyyyyyy lar everytime talk about Malaysia F1 must gaduh?

Why must be disgruntled all the time? I can't see people go fist-fight at mamak everyday yet at online forums always we talk like champion and cari gaduh.

Practice humility a bit lah... festive season mar...

my point of view i cant really know why petronas want to spent this kind of money. branding/ we are quite well known in the world. Re amemiya japan GT/ Petronas sauber BMW/ is already proven to the asia country and world / sometimes when this big player spend what in return and what they get we dont know only the top player they know a win win situation...

we have to see from next season how it works. BMW petronas totally fail last season. Sauber petronas also fail.my opinion Perception other peoples country will see us dumping money into the sea. why cant we see a middle east oil company secure a F1 deal. just wonder how does mercedes will drop out Mobil oil deal ....

my personal opinion... only

When is ZTH going to have a small sticker on the Lotus F1 car? hehehehe. Small one enough la. On their helmets also can. Small sticker, small sponsor. Can la? hehehe

"teo1957 says:
December 22, 2009 at 8:14 pmBrothers please chill out lah.
Whyyyyyyyy lar everytime talk about Malaysia F1 must gaduh?
Why must be disgruntled all the time? I can’t see people go fist-fight at mamak everyday yet at online forums always we talk like champion and cari gaduh.
Practice humility a bit lah… festive season mar…"

On the internet, there are several catergories of people. The opiniated smart-asses, the shit-stirrers, the slow-witted and then there's always that one guy who walks into the middle of a debate and start playing-acting Mr. Moderate Nice Guy......I guess that would be you.....the kind who stands in the middle without any opinion on any issue at hand aside from merely telling everyone they should moderate their views with humility. You're as much a part of the local wildlife that makes up the internet circus as the rest of us.

"talk like champion"...well I like that, especially coming from some guy without an opinion. LOL

Petronas should utilize the money to help Poor Malaysian insted.
We have Cancer patients, Blind people, old folks home, place for 'specal' kids. and many more..

ohhhh yeeeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!just dump all the money to the country,forget about expansion,forget about bigger profit.....how the hell on earth petronas going to grow without advert&promotion budget????

the bigger they grow the bigger they contribute....

Totaly agreed .. wit "teamsleepnine" we dump all the money to charity no need advert & promo or watever.. so lame.. always seeing things in "one way" learn mistake from others...

The New Seven Sisters: "Bottomless Piggybanks?"

Some of the New Seven Sisters have become little more than their home country's bottomless piggybank, funding politically expedient social ventures. The poster child of irresponsible profligacy is President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela who spends two-thirds of PDVSA's profits on his populist social programs. The result? PDVSA's production capacity has fallen from 3.4 to 1.5 million barrels per day since 1999. In Iran, NIOC cannot boost its oil production or fix its refineries because its profits go toward keeping gas at 40 cents per gallon for Iranian consumers. In Russia, too, little of Gazprom's earnings go towards upgrading Russia's antiquated, leaking pipeline system.

This mismanagement has global consequences. The IEA estimates that the world is falling 20% short of making the investment needed to ensure adequate energy supplies for the next 25 years. And governments' unwillingness to allow their national oil companies to reinvest profits back into industry is the primary culprit.

Among the New Seven Sisters, only Saudi Aramco, Petrobras, and Petronas have turned themselves into international players able to compete with the likes of BP, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell. That's why the revenues of the new Seven Sisters noticeably lag those of the Western majors.

The New Seven Sisters have the natural resources. The Western majors have financial resources and technical and managerial know-how. At some point, the New Seven Sisters will need the help of the Western majors to develop their reserves. But once their fields decline and they can no longer produce as much oil and revenue as they want, it might just be too late.

The New Seven Sisters: The Saudi Prince... And His Little Sisters

With 25% of the world's oil reserves and with nearly triple the capacity of any other group, Saudi Aramco is the world's largest and most sophisticated national oil company. Think of Saudi Aramco as the world's self-appointed central banker of oil -- turning taps on when there is a shortage of global supply -- and off when prices are falling below its comfort level.

In 2002, Saudi Aramco launched its most ambitious expansion program in a generation. By investing $50 billion over 15-20 years, Saudi Aramco aims to boost production capacity from 11 million barrels to 15 million barrels per day, thereby consolidating its position as the world's most powerful oil company.

Although less powerful than the Saudis, the other sisters now dominate the familiar Western majors in terms of influence. Russia's Gazprom is the industry bad boy, never reluctant to flex its muscles on the battlefield of business. China's CNPC owns 88% of PetroChina and is active in about 20 countries from Azerbaijan to Ecuador. NIOC, Iran's national energy company, has partnerships with Italian, French, Dutch and Norwegian companies and collaborates with Chinese and Russian groups. PDVSA is Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's political pawn. The company's profits are subsidizing London commuters. Brazil's Petrobras is a global leader in finding and producing oil from deep waters. "Petronas is Malaysia's national oil company and may be the slickest and most commercial organization of the bunch"[the slickiest].

thnks to hassan merican brain..

ohh forgot one thing i got it from this website

http://www.theglobalguru.com/article.php?id=110&offer=GURU001

Petronas, a company that spends a lot for branding. A company that looks good but at the heart of it, they are a piece of shit. Not that I'm supporting Alex, being with them for the past 6 years, you should see how they treat their staff. Still wonder why people working there are so proud.

I actually know plenty of people who work at Petronas who share your same opinions about the place. Obviously, I can't name names. The problem seems to be the usual Bumi preferential crap. There's plenty of work loading but when it comes to the promotions, you know who's going to get it.

Dear race fan,

Thanks for the reply. I like the way u pointed out the fact of Petronas and GLC and stuffs.

First of all, yes, I do pay taxes. To the Govt of course, not to Petronas.

See this picture please, Mr. Race Fan.

Petronas is a GLC, true. Govt has a share inside it thru Khazanah (if not mistaken). But not 100% of the share belongs to Khazanah. So, Khazanah is not a major decision maker (even the biggest shareholder) due to the status of public listed. What Kahazanah is doing, they gain profit from Petronas then use the profit for Govt.

What we can see here...Petronas is a mule to Khazanah, but still, Petronas has to find its own way to make profit for them. So...one of the way is MARKETING via this Mercedes sponsorship stuff. It is their choice, their money, their decision...not Government. U can keep blaming the G but dont blame Petronas alone. This is their strategy...nothing to do with your tax money...remember...Petronas is giving Gov the money, not other way round.

Ok, let us see this different picture. What will happen when Petronas sponsoring Lotus F1. Bet you, people will say the same-wasting the payer's money. And what if Petronas stand still, not sponsoring anyone? People still keep complain...trust me on that.

Remember the E01 engine? Developed by them collaborated with Proton? Where is that engine now? Why dont stuff it in Neo or Gen2? It is because Proton's not-so-wise decision because it was involved by other policians. then Petronas pulled themselve out. Can u see it? Petronas is clever and professional. But people confuse by keep saying that Petronas and Proton and Government is the same party on the same bowl and they sharing same thought. No! Petronas is different.

Now, from this long "picture" story, I hope u, Mr. Race Fan, understand what does our tax money has to do with this Mercedes GP sponsorship. Please reply your comment.

I too have friends working at Petronas. Some went into their divisions like Carigali after having worked with MNCs or private local companies. Indeed a bit of a culture shock for them because in a way Petronas working environment is somewhat like a government agency. Worse still lots of egos especially with the managers because they feel like they're No1 because they think they're working with the No 1 company on earth.

Productivity levels are not stellar just like a govt type organisation. They have many managers and VPs who are very well paid but seem to be redundant. And because of the Petronas 'bond' their staff tend to stay for very long periods (no choice), sheltered and cocooned becoming disconnected with whats outside of the tower walls.

On the other hand, since Petronas is a very significant GLC with mostly Malaysian workforce, there are positives for paying comfortable salaries to a whole load of citizens who may seem to be 'overpaid' because it's money into the local economy derived from offshore profits. The downside is most of the employees would have little value in the marketplace once they leave Petronas and I hear a quite a significant number of their workforce would need to find new jobs very soon..

bapakkau,

I understand what you are saying. Yes Petronas is a GLC and not a GOC. Though I do believe that Khazanah, directly or indirectly via other investment vehicles, is indeed a significant shareholder regardless of controlling(51%) shareholding or not.

They are an oil and gas entity and they need to do what needs to be done to improve revenue just like any other company.

As you pointed out, Petronas will do what they think is right for profits but as a GLC it doesn't mean the rakyat doesn't have a say. Just like all shareholders of company, including minority shareholders, all have a say.

It is different if they are a totally private entity, with private ownership. Probably Air Asia is one example. Who cares how they spend their money. No one cares if they want to sponsor a flight to the moon which would bankrupt their company.

I actually have no problems with the deal with Mercedes. I think its a good move.

I was just replying specifically to your earlier comment which sounded simplistic.

If some of you call it a waste of tax-payers money ( and I'm a tax payer ), well I would rather waste it on Michael Schumacher than something that involves Alex Yoong!
Well now its CONFIRMED, SCHUMI's gonna drive for team Mercedes! Bravo PETRONAS!

Alex Yoong???dissapointed???win any F1 race???business knowledge???

Please do not judge by using the mouth,let us see the outcome when the days come!!!! Let us give our Malaysia Team the "UTMOST" support!
Malaysia Boleh!

“FVel says:
December 23, 2009 at 10:14 amOn the internet, there are several catergories of people. The opiniated smart-asses, the shit-stirrers, the slow-witted and then there’s always that one guy who walks into the middle of a debate and start playing-acting Mr. Moderate Nice Guy……I guess that would be you…..the kind who stands in the middle without any opinion on any issue at hand aside from merely telling everyone they should moderate their views with humility. You’re as much a part of the local wildlife that makes up the internet circus as the rest of us.

“talk like champion”…well I like that, especially coming from some guy without an opinion. LOL”

Champion, you're very good lar. Know plenty who work at Petronas, huh? Champion lah you. Name-call other people Ah Beng from Jinjang.

Bro, can explain more your statement ah: "then change the Government because it’s not this current Government that you can trust. For that matter, there’s not much of a viable choice our there….Anwar is just as much a bastard as those from BN…and PAS….bunch of stone-age, antiquated, intolerant religious zealots."

You ask change government but cannot trust BN, Anwar bastard, PAS zealot. Statement sounds clever but piece of... veryyyy champion lar you. Still on F1 ah?

Peace bro, holiday season.

Dear race fan,

thanks for the reply.

peace...:)

teo1957,

Go take a chill pill. We come in here and give the opinions, good or bad. If you cannot stand the debate, no one here is putting a gun to your head to listen to all the discourse. And for the record, there are some good opinions here from everyone.

Why come in and label everyone as "cari gaduh" and suggest the people have less humility just because they have strong opinions ? Pointless just because you want people to express themselves the way you think they should.

All of a sudden, who made you the icon of proper social manners ? You a moderator ? Head of Charm School, or what ?

For that matter, I don't recall seeing you mention any views (for or against) the topic about Petronas sponsorship ? So aside from telling me how I should emulate your oh-so-refined sensitivites, wtf exactly is your opinion on the topic ?....if you even have one.

You can type W-H-O-L-E paragraph to explain why asking people to chill is wrong. In a F1 discussion thread.

You can even find fault in asking people to chill.

Classic champion.

What's the point of me giving an opinion about F1 when there are people like you, name-calling-everybody-else-are-zealots-bastards-I'm-always-right around?

Happy holidays bro.

You can go in a F1 discussion thread telling people that BN cannot be trusted, and the Pakatan Rakyat leader is a bastard and some zealots.

That is like, all the parties in the Malaysian political landscape!

They are all wrong! Everybody wrong!

So what is right bro?

Happy holidays ah bro.

Just saying it the way it is. Have you been reading the news. I used to vote for BN..for many years in fact since Dr. M.

So how do you want me to phrase the statements without offending your girly sensitivities ? Gawd! some people are so politically correct (yeah, I mean YOU)

Telling E-V-E-R-Y parties that they are wrong is not only politically incorrect, it's plain incorrect logically.

I'm sure you yourself won't waste time explaining something to that kind of person, would you?

No need to rephrase or paraphrase statements for me. It's not me who you call Ah Bengs, bastards and zealots.

Holiday cheers bro.

Malaysian should disappointed with AY because most of the time AY failed to qualified in F1 qualifying..but now he become a head of driver development..hahahah..who appointed him must be crazy or didn't watch the time AY become a F1 driver..hahaha ridiculous

Teo,

You are getting boring. Do you actually have anything relevant to say about the issues of F1 sponsorhip besides harping on about my style of speech ?

Walk into the kitchen, complain about the heat. Walk into the middle of a debate, complain about the strong opinions. You give new meaning to the word 'pretentious'.

Don't be a killjoy, allright ? No one likes a 'good-two shoes' who walks up centre-stage and start his grand-standing routine about political correctness. Go preach to your flock at Church. This ain't no Sunday parish for group hugs.

If you have a glass chin and can't take a little hazing amongst debaters.....well, it's not my problem if your sensitivities are built like fine china-ware. Ever been to Parliament and sit through a session ? I've been to local Parliament, Westminster and Austalian more times than I care to rremember. If you think I say politically incorrect things, obviously you never seen the spectacle of elected reps having a go at each other in the hallowed halls of the corridors of power...lol

Now do you actually have anything to say about the Petronas sponsorhsip ?

P.S. yeah I know the holidays are coming up. You don't have to keep reminding me. Festive or not, it doesn't change my disposition.

"sleepyhead says:
December 23, 2009 at 8:05 pmMalaysian should disappointed with AY because most of the time AY failed to qualified in F1 qualifying..but now he become a head of driver development..hahahah..who appointed him must be crazy or didn’t watch the time AY become a F1 driver..hahaha ridiculous"

He may not have been an accomplished driver in his carreer, but that doesn't necessarily mean he cannot ultimately turn out to be a good motivator and driver-manager. It's different skill sets you are talking about between driving and managing drivers.

Personally, I feel he should at least be given a chance to make something of his current appointment. Who knows, he might do a good job. Contrast that with a guy like Kimi with all the raw talent but none of the team commitment that ultimately led to his departure from Ferrri. All things being equal, I can't imagine anyone preferring to employ Kimi (over Alex) to be Head of Driver Development.

Arguements aside,I support Petronas wholeheartedly for doing what they presume is right which is to take calculated risk and going to sponsor Mercedes,seeing how good it could means for on the marketting side and possibly on Formula 1 itself,having known that Schumi will be driving for Silver Arrows does make it a safer bet if theres one.

I dont think a local team should have a defacto sponsor.pun intended they should earn their share first,just like asking your dad to sponsor you to convert your engine where you didnt even score your exams to show my paradigm.

I wonder what the cars will look like though ?

Mercedes was quite adamant that they retain their traditional Silver Arrows look. So I guess ultimately the green/white logos of Petronas ought to be featured prominently as they are a major sponsor but not too prominent as to take away from the Silver cars.

are talking about petronas and F1 or some political views... hermmmm heheheh

hey,guys!i know how u all feel.its true that AY weak on 300KPH monster.Do u all ever thinking that human have their on limits?AY is a good driver,just miss some hyper skill to control 300 beast.don get to upset with him.if i wrong,don u guys go and test urs for it.words don prove so much.think urself b4 critics others.

hey,guys!i know how u all feel.its true that AY weak on 300KPH monster.Do u all ever thinking that human have their on limits?AY is a good driver,just miss some hyper skill to control 300 beast.don get to upset with him.if i wrong,don u guys go and test urs for it.words don prove so much.think urself b4 critics others.pity 4 lotus.

kira x, kira x.......

In F1, as a driver...u do need to push to the limit as wat all these car are build off. All these F1 cars are built for speed. If ya dun have the stamina, mentality, attitude and hardworking...u will never hav a gud result. Plus, ur taking millions of dollar for ur paycheck.

As for Alex, is he a gud driver????based on previous result...is a bit doubtful......whether he can wrestle with the big boys...

I can only say.....Alex Yoong....please do proof me wrong.....wooh me

null;zerotohundred>>>malaysia today

feliccw,

What exactly are you expecting Alex to prove you wrong about?

That he is a great race driver? or that he is a great head of driver development at Lotus F1?

The two are not exactly related.

hahahaha... what u want to disappointed about??? u already been given a chance but u dont prove it?????????

Petronas is multibillionaire company so do u think they will support multicents company?? If u are the boss of petronas of coz u doing the same thing.

Lotus??? what the most achievement u have??? not even asian top 10 car so????

SHUT UP ALEX

I think having Petronas sponsor another team is good. Now we have 2 teams carrying Malaysia flag..If either team fails, we still have another..HAHAHHAA...But for Merc combine wit Michael plus Ross to fail miserably??? Nah...I dont think so...Maybe at worst, N0.3..hahah ALEX!! You had your chance in dropping our water face! Enough of complaining, just do your best in the job given to you...

er...no one likes alex?...LOL...guess he should have just remained silent..wahahaha

Think he is jelous that petronas didn't bother to hire him as a driver instead. they hire the great Michael Schumacher. wakakaaka... just realize the fact that he cant race.

im not supporting alex, but u guys should not just consider the reason he lose is because his a bad driver, u have to take into consideration that the car he drove was not as competitive as other f1 car.

His twitter stated:

"Mercedez a good team, no doubt but what Lotus is doing is completely ground breaking+brave and Petronas not seeing that fills me with shame."

There is nothing outrageous about his statement and given his alliance with Lotus F1 naturally he is biased but like you and me, he is entitled to his opinion.. He expressed his views and the media took it, added spice and blew it out of proportion.

His abilities as a race driver is irrelevant to the matter.

Still he is one of Malaysia's top 2 race drivers and having worked with him I can tell you he is no where near as bad as his time at Minardi made him out to be. That was simply a lousy career move for him and which he has since moved on from but we Malaysians just can't get over.

Alex did earn for our team (A1TM) 3 wins, 3 poles and 3 fastest lap during his time in A1GP. He also earned recognition from BRDC in 2006 with the Bruce Mclaren trophy. It means BRDC recognized him as the best driver from the commonwealth that year. It's a significant achievement. Google BRDC.

So lets give this topic a rest shall we.

well imo, from the patriotic point of view Petronas shouldn't do that

from the marketing point of view !! it was a wise move by Petronas !

btw i cannot blame Petronas to team up with Mercedes GP bcoz Petronas has really good ties with Germany !

many Malaysian Petronas engineers are German grads !

ooo i almost forgot

since this is an issue (small one)

how about Petronas become a small sponsor for team lotus.

something like INTEL with Williams, Toyota and BMW Sauber ??

I have to say Ive always felt you are a great writer.