McLaren Sign Kovalainen
Finnish Driver Kovalainen Partners Hamilton As Renault Sign Alonso
McLaren sign 2007's other super-rookie to partner Lewis Hamilton in 2008 as Renault sign Nelson Piquet Jr. to partner Fernando Alonso.
It was probably the worst kept secret in Formula One since the last one, which is to say that Fernando Alonso’s signing this week with his former team Renault came as much of a surprise to the world of Formula One as his announcement last year to join the McLaren team for 2007 did.
The Spaniard signed to drive for McLaren this season even before the 2005 season had ended and, despite his and Ron Dennis’s attempts to keep the new contract under wraps, media speculation was eventually proven correct when the driver and team finally put the rumours to rest and announced their partnership.
But, when their turbulent relationship came to an end after the Brazilian Grand Prix this year, fresh speculation mounted that the two-time World Champion would return to the team that had taken him to greatness. On Monday this week Renault confirmed that Fernando Alonso would drive for them in 2008, although the full details of the contract have not been outlined and it is widely believed that Alonso may already have signed to drive for Ferrari in 2009.
Indeed, it is the rumour about Ferrari – along with team bosses being reluctant to take on a driver with the obstreperous reputation he has made for himself this year – that has dogged Alonso’s attempts to find a seat for 2008, with some drivers speculating that he might even take a sabbatical next year. Alain Prost took a sabbatical in 1992 and returned in ‘93 with the Williams F1 team to win the championship for a fourth time.
It was the signing of Alonso’s team-mate that left the F1 pundits speculating further, however. Nelson Piquet Jr, son of the three-time F1 World Champion, has been signed to partner Fernando at Renault and you can rest assured that, for next year’s competition, Alonso’s contract will grant him undisputed number one status in the team. The signing of these two drivers leaves long-term Renault driver Giancarlo Fissichella and another ’07 rookie, Heikki Kovalainen, without drives for 2008.
Fissichella has been linked with the rebranded Spyker team. Force India, the new name for the team, were pleased with several tests the Italian did for them once the post-season testing ban was lifted, although no official announcement has been made.
Kovalainen, however, has long been linked to a driver-swap deal between McLaren and Renault, allowing Alonso to return to the team he blossomed in. Although the announcement today that Kovalainen will, indeed, be driving for McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton next year does not credit a driver-swap agreement in their decision to sign the Finn, it puts to rest one of the biggest rumours floating around the paddock.
Alonso’s contract - which came after the World Motor Sports Council cleared Renault of cheating - along with Piquet Jr’s, allows several other drivers to make their moves. With Nico Rosberg, confirmed with the Williams team for the foreseeable future, and both McLaren seats now taken, the drivers and teams without solid commitments can now make their moves in this over-complicated game of chess.
And, in a slap-in-the-face statement surely aimed at the banished Alonso, McLaren’s CEO announced last week that the team might move away from their position of giving both their drivers equal status within the team to put more weight behind Lewis Hamilton’s title chances next year. It was the team’s unwavering stance on driver parity that caused the rift between Hamilton and Alonso this year, not to mention the company’s ultimate exclusion from the Constructor’s Championship, and in an attempt to ensure they don’t lose the titles again next year, Martin Whitmarsh told Autosport magazine that “Lewis is now an absolutely proven product. He can lead a team and he can be the talisman that takes us to the championship.”
