Will Alonso demand Fisichella as 2008 Renault Team-mate???

[mervyn charter]

If Alonso joins Renault next year his team-mate should in my opinion be one of the two promising young drivers Kovalenien or Piquet Jr, who lets not forget gave Lewis Hamilton all he could handle in the Tremendous GP2 Championship last year, however I have a strong feeling that Alonso will demand having the veteran Fisichella as a team-mate in 2008,as a condition for his Renault return, as he knows he could comfortably beat him.

Alonso would not want to be challenged by another young team-mate like he has this year. In my view this will be rather sad as Renault should be looking for their strongest possible line-up, and give Alonso a team-mate that will push him like Hamilton has done this year.

[Cozzie]

If Alonso does demand Fisichella the best thing Flavio could do would be arrange a swap between him and Kovalainen, it just comes down to who Flavio favours more...

[Roamy]

fish is done - move on

[jas123f1]

fish is done - move on

I'm not that sure he is done - and Heikki doesn't like play second fiddle.. So my tip is that Heikki is going to Toyota or McLaren if Alonso will return to Renault and Fisi will continue as a second driver in his team.. ;)

[raikk]

If Alonso joins Renault next year his team-mate should in my opinion be one of the two promising young drivers Kovalenien or Piquet Jr, who lets not forget gave Lewis Hamilton all he could handle in the Tremendous GP2 Championship last year, however I have a strong feeling that Alonso will demand having the veteran Fisichella as a team-mate in 2008,as a condition for his Renault return, as he knows he could comfortably beat him.

Alonso would not want to be challenged by another young team-mate like he has this year. In my view this will be rather sad as Renault should be looking for their strongest possible line-up, and give Alonso a team-mate that will push him like Hamilton has done this year.

If that happen's It's Mclaren's/Renault's gain/loss Hamilton and Kovy or Nico sounds alright to me! :D

[ioan]

Alonso will be happy that Renault wants him back and will agree to any team mate.

[Mintexmemory]

Alonso is gonna be thankful to Renault for 0.5 secs and then the tantrums start. I hope for HK's sake that he gets a swap move to Mclaren cos he won't win a GP at Renault.

[leopard]

No tantrum, as long as his teammate 0.5 secs slower than him. :)

[rohanweb]

No tantrum, as long as his teammate 0.5 secs slower than him. :)


lol..

[keysersoze]

The latest reports is that Fisi is on hold, though it's difficult to imagine a scenario where he will stay. I think it hinges on whether Kova can be swapped with Alonso.

If Alonso goes back to Renault, I think Kova goes to McLaren as a co-#1 and Giancarlo gets to stay. But what about Piquet, who seems to think he's racing next year.

If Rosberg goes to McLaren and Alonso returns, then I can't imagine Fisi staying, but it seems to make sense to Alonso. The problem is what to do with Heike, who is hot property right now, and Piquet. Would Heike go to Toyota?

And to make matters more complicated, Ralf claims he has a seat for '08.

[ioan]

And to make matters more complicated, Ralf claims he has a seat for '08.

Ralf will go to Spyker, or in the very best case to Williams.

[BDunnell]

Has he said that he has an F1 seat, though? He could mean in the DTM, which would surely love to have a Schumacher in it.

[Kevincal]

This thread is ridiculous. Obviously the thread creator doesn't like Alonso and is trying to make him look like a baby.

[rabf1]

"Obviously the thread creator doesn't like Alonso and is trying to make him look like a baby."

I can't tell if you are serious or not. Alonso is a baby and there is every reason to suggest he would demand a patsy teamate.

[Lalo]

Heikki has earned his seat for next year. I believe Fisi is now good to leave.. Maybe to Toyota, but definitly not to Renault if Fernando is making a comeback there next season.

[jens]

My wish is to see Alonso and Kovalainen at Renault racing on equal terms. And it would be even sweeter if Heikki beats 'Nando. :p : But alas it's not going to happen.

Hmm. I wonder what kind of demands does Piquet Jr have. Is there any chance of having a pairing like Alonso-Piquet Jr? Nelsinho looks like a very proud and even arrogant (like FA!) guy and therefore I somewhat doubt he would agree to become #2. And is Alonso seriously afraid of another unknown quantity of a rookie again? Piquet should have a contract with Renault for next year, so to who will he be loaned? To who? There are so many drivers, who want a drive for next year - all of them can't get the opportunity.

[airshifter]

Renault would be fools to take him back as a second driver, much less as a first driver. It wouldn't bother me to see him disappear from Formula 1.

[Dzeidzei]

My wish is to see Alonso and Kovalainen at Renault racing on equal terms. And it would be even sweeter if Heikki beats 'Nando. :p : But alas it's not going to happen.

Hmm. I wonder what kind of demands does Piquet Jr have. Is there any chance of having a pairing like Alonso-Piquet Jr? Nelsinho looks like a very proud and even arrogant (like FA!) guy and therefore I somewhat doubt he would agree to become #2. And is Alonso seriously afraid of another unknown quantity of a rookie again? Piquet should have a contract with Renault for next year, so to who will he be loaned? To who? There are so many drivers, who want a drive for next year - all of them can't get the opportunity.

If you look at this all with logic, you will end up with the right pairing for Renault on ´08.

1. FA only wants to drive in 3 cars (McL, Ferrari and Renault).
2. Out of these McL and Ferrari are not options anymore (Mercedes have reportedly given Dennis permission to release FA from his contract for a pricetag of 50M usd).
3. FA will drive Renault. Briatore will find the needed cash for both his contract and his salary.
4. Is FA in a position to dictate his teammate? With Briatore he is.
5. FA wont want Heikki as he has seen how Heikki has been beating Fisico so comfortably (after his slow start that is).
6. This leaves 2 possible teammates. Fisico and Piquet Jr.
7. Piquet Jr is a risk as he is very fast also. He does make a lot more errors than LH or HK, so FA would have no probs with him (except maybe occasionally).
8. Fisico is hoping to get the 2nd seat behind Alonso, but that wont happen. He is off to Toyota, "the graveyard of drivers that once showed some potential".

So: Renault 08 will be driven by FA and Piquet Jr. Heikki will switch to McL. Fisico to Toyota unless Toyota manages to snatch Rosberg with all those yens. In that case Fisico will be forced to retire.

Elementary, dear Watson.

[keysersoze]

Kovalainen has had the measure of Giancarlo in the last half of the season, but it hasn't been dominant. Fisi is more likely to go to Williams than Toyota.

[jens]

Fisichella to Toyota? :o

I can't see Toyota giving a drive for two Italians. I think marketing is too important for them to make such choice. Therefore I think that also Liuzzi's chances of moving to Toyota are practically zero. And arguably the deal with Glock is practically done, Toyota is simply waiting for a miracle regarding Alonso...

[ArrowsFA1]

I can't see Toyota giving a drive for two Italians.
According to Autosport (http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/63373) Trulli's place may not be secure just yet :eek:

[jens]

According to Autosport (http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/63373) Trulli's place may not be secure just yet :eek:

They consider sacking Trulli only if they can hire two young great drivers. To sack Trulli in order to get Fisichella doesn't make any sense, does it? :laugh:

But Toyota has proved already in the past that contracts mean nothing for them... :( Howett's words are a clear example, how they simply don't care:

"Jarno has a contract for next year," Howett told Autosport. "Is his 2008 seat secure? That's a difficult question to answer. I guess if his performance is good enough he'll be in the car."

Aaahh...

[slinkster]

I was actually disappointed to hear that Alonso might be going back to Renault. I'll be sorry to see either one of Fisi or Heikki go to another team. I hope Heikki gets a good seat, and if he is to partner Alonso then I'll have very split loyalties.