After a tumultuous year with McLaren Mercedes, Fernando Alonso is back in Renault's arms where he won two world championships. But the Spaniard is warning his Renault team that he could leave at the end of this season if the car does not improve.
In 2007, Alonso surrendered his crown to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. His heated rivalry with then teammate and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton was unsettled. This is why Formula One aficionados expect an exciting season now that the 26-year-old Spaniard has transferred to Renault.
"I'm at Renault because I wanted to get back to winning, like in 2005 and 2006, if not this year then next year," Alonso said in an interview. "But I have an option to leave so I can be in the best possible car, and it is clear Ferrari is one of the best."
The Spaniard's statement created an assumption that he could join the Scuderia after a season at Renault. However, his attempts to distance himself from the rumor coupled with highlighted errors made at Melbourne and Sepang by Ferrari's Felipe Massa made the assumption even stronger.
"It's early to talk about moves and rumors, but Massa has had two bad races with mistakes and that has kicked off speculation about me," Alonso added. "It's logical, but it's too early."
Flavio Briatore, Renault managing director, was quoted as saying it was a "waste of time to get involved in hypothetical daydreams." He added: "Fernando is a great sportsman who will always give his best and rumors I never comment on."
Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari team principal, defended the Brazilian driver: "We must not over-dramatize: the points table is close after two Grands Prix. I'm convinced that from Felipe's and our point of view, a response won't go amiss in Bahrain. Felipe has all the qualities and the capabilities to do well. The championship is long and the team are united, so I see no worries from this aspect."
"In Barcelona we will have some improvements for the car, (but) the same ones all teams will have, so the championship is going to stay more or less the same. We saw it last year and we see it every year. The cars that win the first two or three races stay on top. We are not going to see big surprises during the year," Alonso told the Telegraph.
Briatore, on the other hand, remained optimistic about Alonso and that made up the race car. "It does not make sense to judge a car after one or two races. Of course, McLaren and Ferrari have a fast car, but look what happened to Ferrari in Australia," Briatore concluded. "So we will have to wait and see how it will be at the next couple of races."
