MADRID (AFP) — Renault are hammering out the terms of a new contract to offer their former driver Fernando Alonso, Spanish sports dailies reported on Saturday.
Alonso joined the ranks of the unemployed this week when reaching agreement to leave McLaren after just one turbulent season.
And all the signs are that the 26-year-old Spaniard is being wooed heavily by Renault with whom he won his two world titles in 2005 and 2006 before switching to McLaren.
Renault boss Flavio Briatore told Marca newspaper that he was meeting with the team's lawyers to thrash out a deal that would offer Alonso a contract of at least two seasons.
"We'll see what happens between now and Tuesday. I've presented a project for the future of Fernando. If his ambitions coincide with ours it can be done. I know how much he can still contribute to Renault.
"But a deal for (just) one year...that doesn't make any sense," he added.
Marca said that Alonso, who finished second, level on points with McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton in the 2007 drivers' championship, had already rejected a lucrative offer from Japanese carmakers Toyota.
Also in the hunt for the driver, who left McLaren on Friday after completing just one year of a three-year contract, were BMW, Red Bull and Williams, the paper said.
Marca speculated that Alonso would likely opt to join one of the smaller teams on the Formula One circuit, in a transitional phase before eventually securing a move to Ferrari.
The AS sports daily speculated that the favourites to sign up Alonso on a one-year deal was Red Bull.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
