Formula 1

Alonso ready for F1 return – Briatore

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Credit: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

Fernando Alonso is ready for a return to Formula 1, having “detoxed” himself after spending a year out of the sport, according to his manager, Flavio Briatore.

There has been a lot of speculation about Alonso making a return to F1 in 2021, and there would potentially be the opportunity to fill the vacant seat with Renault F1 Team, after outgoing Daniel Ricciardo has signed with the McLaren F1 Team.

While there is uncertainty about which teams will be on the grid in future due to the on-going coronavirus crisis, Renault would likely want to take on an experienced driver.

“Fernando is motivated. A year out of Formula 1 has done him good. He has detoxed himself and I see him more serene and ready to return,” said Briatore, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Speaking about Sebastian Vettel’s surprise announcement to leave Scuderia Ferrari at the end of this season, he summarises that it is part of the decision the team had to make because of Charles Leclerc‘s competitiveness.

“In F1 it has always been about having the winning recipe.

“You must have one driver who is focused on the world championship and the other who collects big points, snatching them from rivals.

“Vettel paid for the fact that a very fast boy arrived at the team. It surprised him and the team, as happened at McLaren with [Lewis] Hamilton [in 2007].

Two drivers at the same level in a team eventually risk taking points off each other.”

Commenting on changes to other driver line-ups up and down the paddock, Briatore said that Ferrari’s decision to take on Carlos Sainz Jr., rather than extend Vettel’s contract, was proof that their focus is on Leclerc.

“He [Sainz] is a good driver, and he had a good championship in 2019 if we consider the car he had available.

“The situation seems clear to me: Ferrari is betting everything on Leclerc and it is good because, as I had the opportunity to say last year, he is a future star,” he said.

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F1 reporter for The Checkered Flag. Also a second year Journalism student at Robert Gordon University. Feel free to follow me on Twitter at @findlaygrant5.
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