Renault to change both Formula One drivers; Alonso a possibility to join
Mon, Nov 19, 2007
AP (Associated Press)
>MILAN, Italy (AP) - Formula One team Renault will reportedly change its drivers for next season, one of whom could be two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.
"Renault will certainly have different drivers next year," Renault boss Flavio Briatore was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency Monday. "Alonso has a 60 percent chance of coming to us."
The futures of current Renault drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen were thrown into doubt earlier this month when Alonso quit F1 rival McLaren after only one season.
A move to Renault would see Alonso rejoin the team where he won the 2005 and '06 world championships, but the Spaniard has also been linked to Toyota and Red Bull.
"We have an advantage because we know him. He will decide between today and tomorrow," Briatore said. "When you get married, you break up and you get back together again, it's not easy."
Briatore also described the FIA's decision to summon Renault officials to a Dec. 6 hearing of the World Motor Sport Council to answer charges of obtaining confidential technical data on McLaren cars last season as "a vendetta by McLaren."
Renault, which denies the charges, suspended the engineer who acquired the information from McLaren earlier this month.
"When we discovered everything, we informed McLaren and the FIA," Briatore said. "When you have a thousand employees, it is difficult to be aware of what's going on."
McLaren was fined a record US$100 million by the World Motor Sport Council on Sept. 13 after FIA found the team guilty of using leaked secret data from Ferrari.
Briatore also suggested that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who retired at the end of the 2006 season, could stage a comeback after testing for Ferrari last week.
"It's one thing to do some tests and another to drive a two-hour grand prix," Briatore said. "If he had a car that could win, he could return to racing, in my opinion."
