IGNITION
Can Alonso and Renault be successful again?
When Fernando Alonso gave us an exclusive interview last winter, to discuss his ‘unfinished business’ with Formula 1 and his plans to return to the championship he left, frustrated, at the end of 2018, he spoke of how this break from nearly two decades of racing year in, year out in F1 – “you need to eat, sleep, train – everything for F1” – finally allowed him some space to “breathe”.
He used his time off productively, discussing F1’s forthcoming (but now delayed) rules revolution in detail with Ross Brawn. Convinced F1 is shortly to become a better, more equitable category, Alonso opened talks with Renault at last year’s Abu Dhabi GP. Seven months or so later, they announced they were getting back together – for a third time.
When rumours began surfacing during 2019 that all was not well with Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari, and that Maranello might seek to replace him, my hunch was a reunion with Alonso – a driver still hugely respected by the rank and file, and someone well known (and liked) by current team principal Mattia Binotto. But the mega-deal agreed with Charles Leclerc last winter essentially turned that trail cold.
However, the chain of events sparked by the Scuderia replacing Vettel with Carlos Sainz, and Mclaren replacing Sainz with Daniel Ricciardo, has opened Enstone’s door yet again to Alonso. The reasons for this (re)arranged marriage of mutual convenience are explored in detail by Andrew
Benson (pp32). Renault/enstone is arguably the one team that really gets Alonso, and probably the only one that views him in an overwhelmingly positive light. Through good times, and bad, this combination always worked well together.
Taking a step back can often re-energise athletes who have been grinding away year after year – with or without success. Even Lewis Hamilton has spoken of his desire to take a break; always tempered by a fear of missing out in a sport that leaves drivers behind so quickly.
Alonso will use 2021 to shake the rust off in what will effectively be a slightly developed version of this year’s car, which is actually looking quite handy in 2020’s tight midfield battle. Crunch time will come in 2022, when – at Alonso’s insistence – Enstone’s entire kitchen sink is thrown at producing a worldbeating new car to take on the might of the current top teams, handicapped (hopefully, say all the rest) by a major technical rules reset combined with increasingly stringent new financial restrictions.
Christian Horner believes the current top outfits will remain on top regardless – but they will still need to go through some painful downsizing after this season. The teams whose structures arguably already most closely match the ideal for F1 from 2021 onwards are… Mclaren and Renault.
In that respect, perhaps third time really could be the charm for Alonso and his old flame.