Alonso possibly to join Formula One team Renault

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso could be one of the new drivers of Formula One team Renault, as the team will reportedly change its drivers for next season.

Photo: Alonso possibly to join Formula One team Renault

"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."