Flav: 60% chance Alonso will race for Renault
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There is a “60 percent chance” that Fernando Alonso will race for Renault next season, according to team boss Flavio Briatore.
Having recently confirmed his split with McLaren, Alonso is currently a free agent and is thought most likely to return to the team with which he won his two world titles.
Briatore has made no secret of his desire to lure Alonso back, and believes he is now closing in on a deal to secure the Spaniard’s services.
“Renault will certainly have different drivers next year,” Briatore was quoted as saying by Italy’s ANSA news agency.
“There is a 60% chance Alonso will be with us.”
Toyota, one of the teams believed to have stirred Alonso’s interest, announced on Monday that it had signed GP2 champion Timo Glock.
While some doubts have been raised about how watertight Jarno Trulli’s contract is, on the face of it the Glock signing narrows Alonso’s options to Red Bull or Renault – and Red Bull boss Christian Horner predicted earlier this week that the double world champion would return to the Anglo-French team.
“Toyota and Red Bull are also in the race for [Alonso’s services],” Briatore said.
“We have an advantage because we know him.”
Alonso is widely expected to delay his decision until he knows the outcome of the World Motor Sport Council hearing on December 6, where Renault will face charges of illegally possessing confidential McLaren information.
But Briatore claims the team will finalise its 2008 driver line-up imminently.
“It will be decided between today and the day after tomorrow,” he said.
Instead he gave a different reason why a deal has not yet been struck: “When you marry, split up and get back together it is not easy.”