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As Nakajima and Rosberg are confirmed at Williams, rumours continue to go round that Renault are close to a deal with Fernando Alonso, with suggestions that a new consortium of sponsors will secure the cash required to lure Alonso to the team.

The big question is how to keep him there for a second year, as these sponsors will not be happy to put the money together and then have him disappear off to Ferrari 12 months later. There are rumours of a performance clause in Alonso’s contract with Renault which will force the Spaniard to stay with the team if they deliver but will allow him to leave after a year if they don’t. Renault are confident they can come back after their scrappy 2007 season. They admit in this week’s Autosport that ‘the evaluation and development time of the R27 was squeezed because it spent too long focused on its ‘06 campaign’ and that they know how to put right the mistakes of last year.

Such a performance clause is the most sensible option for both sides, but it doesn’t stop Alonso throwing his toys out of the pram again and signing for Ferrari the moment the opportunity arises. No doubt the mechanics at Renault, though pleased at the thought of getting a proven winner back in the car, are probably still reeling from the way Fernando treated them a little over a year ago. Alonso has proven at two consecutive teams that he can be a bit of a prima donna and there is no reason why he would change next year.

Which makes it even more surprising that the most likely driver to partner Alonso is said to be Nelson Piquet Jr. He’s an outspoken, fiery lad who was making proclamations a year ago that he was going to have a race seat in 2008 at the expense of Giancarlo Fisichella. Though his contract will subdue him into a number two role at Renault, such contractual arrangement don’t cover qualifying performances (how could they?) and we can expect some interesting headlines if Piquet starts beating Alonso and then is forced to allow the two-times champion past.

Next year will be the toughest of Alonso’s career. He has a reputation to save, both on and off the track: not only must he beat his team mate, he also has to elevate Renault (if that is the team he chooses) after their year in the doldrums and prove to his team and the rest of the paddock that he is someone who can knuckle down and do his work without complaining.

Heikki Kovalainen is now expected to go to McLaren, giving the Mercedes-powered team a driver partnership with just 34 races between them. Giancarlo Fisichella will almost certainly retire from F1.

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The word ‘rumour’ used to mean “a piece of unverified information of uncertain origin”, though when journalists are clutching at straws in a bid for that exclusive story, even the most off-the-cuff comment from a very certain origin (Patrick Head) can be turned into hot story.

The ‘rumour’, ridiculed in on this site yesterday, has now also been described as ‘absurd’ by Schumacher’s manager, Willi Weber.

So let that be the end of it.

Meanwhile, take a look at today’s best F1 news stories:

• Did McLaren fire Alonso? Norbert Haug makes some revealing comments
• McLaren driver speculation from Grandprix.com
• Fact and Fiction about Fernando Alonso The latest rumours given the Joe Saward analysis

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It is well known that the only true yardstick in F1 is your team-mate. Which means partnering the guy who beat the reigning world champion in his first season would not be high on an F1 driver’s list of priorities.

In which case, despite McLaren being one of the two top teams in F1 and in theory in the enviable position of being able to choose any driver they want as partner to Lewis Hamilton, their options are actually quite limited.

We can probably rule out another complete rookie, so instead McLaren are likely to either go for a young driver eager to take a step up to a top team, such as Adrian Sutil, or an aging driver eager to just stay in F1, such as Pedro de la Rosa… or Ralf Schumacher.

To plum for another young driver would almost certainly give McLaren their youngest partnership ever and probably the most inexperienced pairing ever in a front-line team. There is little substitute for experience in F1 and Ralf Schumacher would have had that on his mind when he approached Ron Dennis about a possible drive next year.

Unfortunately for Ralf, Ron declined his offer.

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Missed some important F1 stories this week? Not got enough time to scan the net for the best F1 features? Then get the cream of the week’s F1 press right here! It’s been a busy weekend, especially regarding ludicrous Fernando Alonso rumours.

Sunday 4 November 2007

Alonso and Brawn set to join Red Bull dream team Rumours on Fernando Alonso’s future from The Guardian that looks like it was plucked out of thin air, relying on unnamed ‘informed sources’.

Michael Schumacher to McLaren? A throwaway comment by Patrick Head to the Mail on Sunday is turned into a headline story by Pitpass.com. Read the quote in its proper context in this Metro article: Hands off Rosberg, McLaren told

Red Bull have ruled out signing Alonso for 2008 More rumours about Fernando Alonso are apparently laid to rest. But few have commented on Dietrich Mateschitz’s mid-sentence U-turn, where he announces that, though “[David] Coulthard and [Mark] Webber are 100% our drivers for 2008″, he admits that “there’s nothing certain in F1, only things that are very probable.”

Williams warn McLaren off Rosberg Unsurprisingly, Nico is not for sale.

Saturday 3 November 2007

From the F1 news archive A reminder of what Alonso said about the Renault team last year.

A feeling of déjà vu This Alonso situation is reminiscent of another we had not so long ago…

As one door closes Excellent feature from Planet F1 that echoes many points made on this site!

James Allen’s verdict The ITV-F1 commentator gives us his point of view on the Alonso situation, from his privileged position of having followed the former champion around the world all year.

Alonso free to sign for any team Rumours that Alonso cannot drive for another manufacturer are laid to rest by his manager.

Mika Hakkinen retires The two-times champion calls time on his racing career.

Renault makes its play for Alonso But with conditions…

Lewis predicts potential team-mates And they’re all young and up and coming. Just not as up and coming as he is!

Friday 2 November 2007

The Spanish Problem How McLaren can satisfy their Spanish contingent - and why they have little other option.

Alonso is no longer a McLaren driver A look at all the options available to Fernando Alonso.

What next for Alonso? A good article from ITV-F1, though it erroneously says that Alonso is still managed by Briatore.

Thursday 1 November 2007

From the other side of the fence Footage from Spanish TV showing Hamilton’s retirement from the Chinese Grand Prix. And you thought the British press was partisan.

The kettle calling the pot black A look at another F1 site’s obsession with an obsession.

Papering over the cracks Alonso and Hamilton appear to pave the way for Alonso to stay at McLaren.

Wednesday 31 October 2007

“It’s about time he retired, isn’t it?” A mechanic reveals his opinion of his driver. But it could apply to so many!

Max Mosley admits defeat A surprise quasi-admission of his own failings over the past ten years.

Alonso to give Red Bull 0.6 seconds? What Alonso could do for Red Bull, if we believed his own hype.

There are few problems in F1 that can’t be sorted out with a large wad of cash and the threat of legal action. And so as Fernando Alonso’s management affirms that his driver will not be forced out of McLaren, we also have Hamilton insisting that he and Alonso are friends.

No one wants Alonso to leave McLaren. McLaren want two of the three fastest drivers in F1 (if Raikkonen wanted to be a test driver for McLaren, they’d accept all three). Alonso wants to be in the fastest team in F1: as Ferrari won’t have him, he’ll settle for McLaren. Hamilton enjoyed beating Alonso in 2007 and will happily do it again.

Hence the reason why PR machine is suddenly going into overdrive.

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An F1 mechanic has spoken out about one of his team’s drivers and has been quoted as saying: “It’s about time he retired, isn’t it?”

So who might this be?

Was it Ralf Schumacher? He’s an obvious choice. Thoroughly outclassed by Jarno Trulli all season, his sacking (sorry, ‘departure’) from the Toyota team should spell the end of his career.

How about Giancarlo Fisichella? Renault has an abundance of drivers looking for a berth at the French marque, with Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet Jnr and Fernando Alonso all hoping to get a seat. There is speculation that Fisichella’s willingness to roll over and die for the team is what may save him in the face of faster, younger opposition. If you heard that was all that was keeping you in a seat, would you want to carry on?

Or maybe it’s David Coulthard, the eternal number two and the man that Ron Dennis forgot he could sack. Resoundedly beaten by Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen, the Red Bull retirement home gave him some respite - but what is he trying to prove by beating Christian Klien and the unluckiest man in F1 (since Johnny Herbert), Mark Webber?

Unlikely, but it could even be Fernando Alonso. Forget the fact the points tally says they tied the season, Alonso was beaten convincingly by Lewis Hamilton. Formula One champions aren’t supposed to be beaten by their team-mates and certainly not by rookies. Though no doubt Alonso will race on, he’ll be the first F1 champion to be beaten by his team-mate and still be racing at the beginning of the next season since Ayrton Senna was beaten by Alain Prost in 1989. The last three F1 champs to be beaten by their team mates, Mika Hakkinen (by, shockingly, David Coulthard), Jacques Villeneuve (by Jenson Button) and Damon Hill (by Ralf Schumacher) all retired at the end of that season. I hear NASCAR is a popular option, these days.

In fact, the driver who his own mechanic wants to retire is Rubens Barrichello. There is even talk that Barrichello may join Honda’s other reject, Takuma Sato, at Super Aguri next year, surely a pretty big hint that he isn’t welcome anymore.

It is a little unfair to condemn Barrichello’s driving this year, considering driving the 2007 Honda must have been like running a marathon with a stone in your shoe. And he certainly isn’t the only one who should consider calling time on his F1 career, is he?

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The latest Fernando Alonso rumours suggest that the Spaniard may be going to Red Bull Racing next year - providing he can get the contract he wants.

It seems the stumbling block is the fact that Alonso wants a one-year contract and Red Bull wants to tie him in for longer.

So why would Alonso be worried about staying at Red Bull Racing for longer than a year? Money and a fast car is all a driver wants (hey, don’t we all?) and Red Bull are not short of cash. So Alonso must be expecting that the Red Bull won’t be fast enough for him.

So let’s take a look at Red Bull’s performance at the last race of the year, the Brazilian GP. In qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, Alonso qualified fourth, while Mark Webber, in the Red Bull, was fifth. The gap between them was six tenths of a second.

Well, that’s a relief. Because we all know Fernando Alonso gave McLaren six tenths of a second last season, so he’ll have no problem making the Red Bull just as competitive.

Expect Fernando to sign a five-year contract today.

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