Fernando Alonso currently is one of the most talked about racers in all of motorsport, and is set to become the most sought after Formula One driver at the end of 2017. But there’s one team that apparently won’t be vying for Alonso’s signature.
Alain Prost, Renault Sport F1 Team’s special adviser, told Sky Sports on Tuesday that the French manufacturer still is rebuilding, and won’t be in the championship fight next year. The team finished ninth out of 10 teams in the 2016 season, which was its first year back in F1 as a works team since 2010.
Many speculated Alonso might return to Renault after his contract at McLaren-Honda expires, but Prost’s admission all but eliminates that possibility.
“Fernando wants to win races or championships,” Prost told Sky Sports. “I don’t think we can offer him a car to be world champion next year — and also maybe in two years.”
Alonso signed with McLaren ahead of the 2015 F1 campaign, which was the first year of McLaren’s renewed partnership with Honda, and was promised by then CEO Ron Dennis that he would be fighting for championships by 2017. But with Honda’s redesigned power unit taking a step backward in terms of both reliability and performance, finishing in the points is considered a good race for McLaren.
Renault seemingly has learned from Dennis’ mistakes, however.
“We have to be really careful about that,” Prost said, via Sky Sports. “We want to progress but we cannot have stupid objectives only because Fernando would be there.”
Thumbnail photo via Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports Images
