Alonso back to Renault

[AzShadow]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64336

So Alonso is going to drive for Renault again, at least for 2008. Some reports say that he will be the highest earner ever in F1 (http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/n ... 3848.shtml), but Renault hasn't had that kind of money in the past so I wonder where they've got it now?

Alonso will also get a number one status, which makes it interesting to see how Piquet Jr. reacts to that.

Anyway, this means that we can probably stop Alonso's Ferrari rumors and Kovalainen will probably be announced to be driving for Toyota soon.

So will Alonso continue in Renault for the rest of his career (he did say some bad words about the team in 2006..) or will he still try to get to Ferrari later on? What do you think?

-

Kovalainen has said to our press that he still has 2 better options left than Renault, whatever they are.

Interview with Alonso: http://en.blog.ing-renaultf1.com/en/ind ... at-Renault

[Silver Shadow]

It had to happen...

[metalhead188]

well 70 million is enough to convince anyone...lol

plus ferrari doesnt have an open seat until 2009.......... at the earliest

[iceman1]

No surprise Alonso has returned to Renault and I expect Flav would have agreed to the #1 status demand
The poll over at ITV, 64% reckons the Alonso-Renault partnership won't be as successful this time around
It'll be interesting to see Piquet vs Alonso :@:2

[HandoZiZle]

Hmmmmm, i wonder where Kovalainen will go now

[Lilellatho]

Well, at least this one's over and I didn't doubt it for a second that he would return to Renault.

But how on earth did they manage to get all that load of cash for him? Did they rob a bank or sth.? Weren't they the team with the reasonable-but-not-so-high budget?

And I'm a bit confused: how come Renault agreed to a one year contract or two as some other sources would say when they were the ones with ultimatums such as: "three years or nothing"?

I'm sure Renault will be far more competitive than they were this year, but not so much because of Nandito, cause he has come in the team far too late, but because they have been working on the new car ever since, what, the whole '07 season? :roll:

Anyway, good luck to Fernando in 2008 and here's to some other great battles on track !grin! @Beer

[maltafan]

It was inevitable.

[AzShadow]

Many people speculate about the length of the contract, but Renault's PR person says here in the comments that it's a two years contract:
http://en.blog.ing-renaultf1.com/en/ind ... at-Renault

[R . E . O .]

Alonso in Renault again... H-m-m... Lewis, where're you???))) Mclaren isn't your team! Your team is Renault... with Fernando! What a lovely couple! @Hug

[maltafan]

this must be the joke of the day

[iceman1]

this must be the joke of the day

Nah The Joke of the Month osweat:

anyway, what's your opinions about Alonso & Renault in 2008?

[maltafan]

well, I'm sure that they will improve last year's performance, although they have changed both drivers from last year. Fisi is out of the picture and Nando is back. Piquet still has to show his worth imo, but he is a very promising driver.

[Suntrek]

this must be the joke of the day

Nah The Joke of the Month osweat:

anyway, what's your opinions about Alonso & Renault in 2008?

Renault have hopefully got over the weight distribution, wind tunnel, and Bridgestone tyre problems of 2007 and built a better car.

HOW much better remains to be seen.

Alonso can be counted on getting absolutely the best out of the car, however good or bad it is.

And I hope it's GOOD. @Hug

[iceman1]

ING are unhappy with Renault

The Dutch bank ING, title sponsor of the Renault F1 team, has said it is unhappy with the team's performance in 2007. The company started its three-year-deal with Renault in 2007 and is investing around 65 million euro per year in Formula 1.

ING's Formula 1 coordinator Isabell Connor told Dutch newspaper Parool: "We signed a contract with Renault that includes a performance clause where Renault is being seen as a top three team."
The Renault F1 team though finished just once on the podium in 2007 when Heikki Kovalainen finished second in the Japanese Grand Prix.

ING is happy though about the results of the bank's sponsorship exposure.

Pressure on the team for 2008?

[raikks]

Well, what about Toyota? They have probebly invested $2 bln
since they came to Formula 1 in 2001. Can't see Renault on
top 3 in 2008. Maybe top 6 -- in 6th place

!cool!!!!