Flavio states 60% Alonso to Renault

I was seriously thinking that he would go to Williams, but since the drivers were both confirmed I don't know now.

 

Must be down to a 40% chance that trouble awaits Renault.

 

Fred will either sign or he won't.

The deal is not done until the deal is done.

Flavio is trying to make press with a story that isn't a story.

BTW it doesn't matter what Flavio thinks...he's already offered Fred the job. the ball is now in Fred's court 100%. All that matters is what Fred thinks. Period.

Nice try, Flavio. Nice try.

Fred will probably wait to see what Renault's penalty is for having McL's secrets. $100m fine may put a big hole in Renault boat. Fred probably doesn't want to be chaned to a sinking ship or a team that kind fund a winneng season IMVHO.

Interesting to note that the Fchat poll on this subject shows 60% of us say that Fred will go to Renault. So we know as much as Flavio, right?

 

has already signed a letter of intent to Ferrari for 2009. Kimi isn't planning on going anywhere at all according to his website which means Massa get's to test cars...

 

unfortunately not, lets hope it's true and we have Alonso @ Ferrari in 2009!!!....

 

Renault has money and wants Alonso and Alonso is free to go where he wants. The only reason the deal wasn´t made the minute Alonso severed his ties with McLaren is that Alonso apperantly doesn´t want to go to Renault. Not if there is any other reasonable option open to him. The only other reasonable option, is Ferrari.

Ferrari is said to have signed Massa and Raikkonen for 2008 and beyond, but that was all Todt´s doing. It seems as if Montezemolo didn´t have any say in it. Perhaps Montezemolo isn´t in the position to name Ferrari´s drivers (I don´t know) but it sure looks like Luca isn´t all to pleased with the way Todt handled things in this occassion. Is it really a big coincidence that Todt was pulled from the Gestione Sportive once Brawn opted for Honda in stead of for Ferrari? Is it really surprising that Luca had very high words for Alonso after Brazil?

It think Alonso wants to drive for Ferrari in 2008 and I think Ferrari wants Alonso rather sooner than later. Chances are, lawyes are tumbling over eachother to fabricate some deal in which both parties can get what they want. Even Renault could benefit with a multiple racewinner and polesitter in the form of Massa. Lets not forget that Massa´s ties with Ferrari are via Jean and Nicolas Todt. With Jean away from the raceteam, those ties probably aren´t as strong as they were two months ago.

Remember back in 1995? Ferrari looked set to sign Barrichello, but opted for Irvine instead who had signed a Jordan deal just weeks before. Ferrari had to buy him out, and they did. Same story with Alesi who had signed for Williams (poor guy, if he only knew back then...) but got out in favour of Ferrari and the only thing Ferrari had to do was hand a Ferrari 641 over to Frank Williams, for him to put in his museum.

Ferrari tend to get what they want and with Todt out of the way it is likely Ferrari want Alonso now he is a free agent.

 

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19880.html

The Spanish media is hungry for news about Fernando Alonso's future and is busy running stories on an almost daily basis about the various permutations possible, the sponsors who would be involved and so on. The instant copying services provided by a number of Internet sites means that there is always something that seems to need to be reported. What is very clear is that whatever is going on, is going on as secretly as possible and that it is not easy for Fernando to find a deal that he wants. If it was this would have been sorted out weeks ago and Alonso would be in a car and getting to know his new team. What is very clear now is that Alonso did not have a set plan when he departed McLaren. Since then there has been the obvious speculation that he would go to Renault, Toyota or Red Bull. Toyota has now dropped out of the running. Red Bull has two drivers and uses Renault engines so a deal with Alonso is not going to be easy to negotiate so that would seem to indicate that there is a lot more to this than meets the eye. There continues to be talk that Ferrari has some kind of arrangement with the Spaniard for 2009 but no-one is willing to confirm that although this may be one of the reasons that Fernando is having such trouble. It makes no sense in the modern world to have a driver for a one-year deal, even if it is a double World Champion. However, Alonso's trump card is that he is a big name and there are several teams that could use that status in the short-term, not least Renault which is hardly going to impress its sponsors by going into next year with Heikki Kovalainen and Nelson Piquet Jr, who between them have less than 20 races in F1. And Giancarlo Fisichella while very experienced has really lost his glitter in the last two years. So the pressure is on Renault as much as the pressure is on Alonso. Both sides can posture as much as they like. Renault boss Flavio Briatore has been playing the media of late saying that there is a 60% chance that Fernando Alonso will drive for the team next year. This may have been a message to someone - Alonso or a sponsor - but when one boils it all down this means nothing. Sixty percent of nothing, as any mathemician will tell you, is nothing.

 

Sounds a lot like the Kimi situation back in 2005, there were all sorts of rumors of him having signed a letter of intent with Ferrari way back then. A lot of folks dismissed those rumors too.

 

So, Flavio is crawling way out on a limb to state that the odds of Alonso returning to Renault are slightly better than the flip of a coin. When Flavio retires he can move to San Diego and become a weatherman.

 

why are you so sure? Todt is (or at least was) the big boss at Ferrari, both the roadcar devision and the racecar devision. Why would FIAT have the last word on whoever Ferrari highers as an employee? A signature from Todt counts as a signature from Ferrari, and the contract would be between Massa and Ferrari, not between Massa and Fiat. I doubt Montezemolo's go-ahead would really be necessary to constitute a valid contract between Ferrari and an employee, but I can understand Montezemolo at least wanting some say in the matter and wasn't too pleased when Todt went on behind is back and signed Massa while Alonso was up for grabs.

And isn't it remarkable that Massa gets his contract when it was clear for everybody that Alonso would be free on the market, looking for the best possible non-McLaren drive? Who decided that Todt would be out at the Gestione not long after Massa's renewal? I can imagine FIAT having a big say in who is managing Ferrari and -more importantly- who doesn't.

 

i thought it was Luca who personally signed Massa..

 

According to Autosport this week, few in the paddock expect Massa to see his contract out to the end.