[Aerkuld]

Some interesting points MFAFF, and a very different perspective on the situation.
I guess I could search for some news articles for confirmation, but wasn’t Mike Coughlan only suspended from McLaren? I didn’t think he’d actually been fired, in which case the car design could continue to progress under his supervision and McLaren will not be adversely affected in that area.
The Development team is another matter all together. I agree entirely that Alonso most likely contributed significantly to the development of the car. I also agree that Hamilton is almost certainly not yet at the level where he can develop the chassis and set it up to the same extent. It will take several seasons, I would have thought, for him to gain familiarity with the machine and the variables involved, and even then he has to have the degree of ‘feel’ to be good at it (which he likely does). In the meantime Ron will need someone to race alongside Hamilton who is experienced enough to be able to develop it and provide effective race set ups. While there maybe experienced drivers on the grid I have doubts that Ron would want someone who is maybe getting a bit long in the tooth and would probably ere on the side of youth, exuberance, and experience. I can’t get Heidfeld out of my head as a possible candidate. Looking at what he has done with the BMW Sauber this year I would imagine that he is maturing well as a technical driver and may compliment Hammy well. Off the top of my head I can’t really think of anyone else out there that could compete at the level that would be expected. As for a test driver, I simply can’t imagine. Do you think that the team philosophy on test drivers is about 75% car development and 25% future talent development, or are they more focused purely on the car? I would think that a potential test driver may not be too difficult to find and significantly easier to change than a race driver.
All in all, with the great number of assumptions that I have made above, I don’t think McLaren’s performance will suffer. But out of all of the things that may be difficult, a good second race driver is probably the key. So to your point, as much as Alonso has been kicking and screaming this year, it may be in the team’s best interest to attempt to keep him and put up with his attitude.