Alonso: Renault my 'first priority'

Eurosport - Tue, 30 Sep 10:26:00 2008

Fernando Alonso's surprise victory in Singapore has put Renault in pole position to retain the double world champion's services next season, even if he said afterwards that it had changed nothing.

FORMULA 1 2008 Singapore GP The Race (61 Laps) Alonso (Renault) - 0

"I didn't say that," the Spaniard replied when asked whether it could now be assumed he would be staying with the French manufacturer.

"This victory is also thanks to the massive effort they are making with this year's car and next year's but it's not changing the decision for next year.

"Renault will be my first priority because I feel I'm at home in this team," added the 27-year-old, who had said before Sunday's race that he needed a miracle to win after qualifying in 15th place.

Alonso rejoined Renault this season after an ill-fated year with McLaren, where he won four races but fell out with management and team mate Lewis Hamilton.

Sunday's victory in Formula One's inaugural night race, with Alonso gaining a big advantage through pitting before a safety car stint, was his first in more than a year and

Renault's first since the Spaniard won his second title with them in 2006.

The manufacturer struggled last year and, languishing in fifth place overall before Sunday's astonishing turnaround, had not looked like returning to the top step of the podium this season either.

Alonso's future has been the talk of the paddock and the key to the driver market, with both Honda and BMW-Sauber waiting for him to decide before announcing their own 2009 line-ups.

Ferrari would have been his first choice but the Italian team closed the door by announcing earlier this month that 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen would be staying with Brazilian Felipe Massa through to the end of 2010.

The Spaniard said Singapore, with Ferrari failing to score a point and McLaren's championship leader Hamilton finishing only third, had been a big boost for Renault who moved up to fourth place.

"We started the season quite far away from pole position and from the top teams and now we are much closer," he said.

"So we are definitely one of the teams who have most improved their car but maybe it was not difficult because at the beginning of the season we were not at the right level."

Reuters

Comment 1 - 19 of 79

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  1. An exciting race, I think we can all agree on that?
    Say­ what you like about Alonso but he is a great driver and­ I am not one of his fans btw, so this is a comment from­ a neutral.

    Massa can't take the­ pressure.

    Hamilton had a so-so race, great pass of DC­ but it did look to me that it was a nitghmare of a­ track to overtake on. I think when Hamilton got up to­ 3rd and there was another safety car on track he­ decided to settle for what he had +6 on Massa and who­ could blame him.

    Kimi - well what can you say?

    What I­ found difficult to understand was that Massa got a­ drive-through for an offence that clearly was not his­ fault and was not going to affect his points position. ­ The TV coverage clearly showed the green light coming­ on, so Ferrari's system does not work. But for­ exactly the same offence in Valencia he got a silly­ fine which did not affect any points won. In both­ instances he gained no advantage, which was the excuse­ the FIA used in Valencia for not taking any further­ action. But in Valencia Massa was partially to blame­ because he tried to race in the pit lane. FIA please­ explain.
    There may or may not be a plot by the FIA to­ try and award Ferrari the championship but some of the­ FIA's inconsistent decisions really make you­ think!
    One other point I would like to make is that I­ am getting absolutely sick of reading comments on these­ bulletin boards that a particular driver is rubbish­ etc. Some of the snide comments are terrible, eg­ obviously racist comments about Hamilton. These guys­ are all heros in my eyes, they all have great car­ control and they would not have their current jobs­ otherwise. So lay off.

    From BigBill, on Mon 29 Sep 6:44PM

  2. An exciting race, I think we can all agree on that?
    Say­ what you like about Alonso but he is a great driver and­ I am not one of his fans btw, so this is a comment from­ a neutral.

    Massa can't take the­ pressure.

    Hamilton had a so-so race, great pass of DC­ but it did look to me that it was a nitghmare of a­ track to overtake on. I think when Hamilton got up to­ 3rd and there was another safety car on track he­ decided to settle for what he had +6 on Massa and who­ could blame him.

    Kimi - well what can you say?

    What I­ found difficult to understand was that Massa got a­ drive-through for an offence that clearly was not his­ fault and was not going to affect his points position. ­ The TV coverage clearly showed the green light coming­ on, so Ferrari's system does not work. But for­ exactly the same offence in Valencia he got a silly­ fine which did not affect any points won. In both­ instances he gained no advantage, which was the excuse­ the FIA used in Valencia for not taking any further­ action. But in Valencia Massa was partially to blame­ because he tried to race in the pit lane. FIA please­ explain.
    There may or may not be a plot by the FIA to­ try and award Ferrari the championship but some of the­ FIA's inconsistent decisions really make you­ think!
    One other point I would like to make is that I­ am getting absolutely sick of reading comments on these­ bulletin boards that a particular driver is rubbish­ etc. Some of the snide comments are terrible, eg­ obviously racist comments about Hamilton. These guys­ are all heros in my eyes, they all have great car­ control and they would not have their current jobs­ otherwise. So lay off.

    From BigBill, on Mon 29 Sep 6:44PM

  3. congratulations cliffe lucky 13
    did you think of that­ all by yourself ,,?

    From startoratora, on Mon 29 Sep 6:43PM

  4. don't you boys realise the refuler was paid­ 10,000/- euros to fumble the pit stop

    From startoratora, on Mon 29 Sep 6:41PM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I think the FIA should think about the rules for the­ safety car cause its becoming a great circus. And in­ response to the @#$% that "Cliffe" wrote may­ be they should dismiss everyone so that Hamilton can­ win

    From mauricechlela, on Mon 29 Sep 6:35PM

  6. Well Chris - seems like the same applies to LH. 2nd­ rate driver in the best car n'est pas??!

    From Vigilara, on Mon 29 Sep 5:58PM

  7. Alonso has at lest achieve something useful this year­ in the French Noddy Car, Briatore gambled bigtime and­ won the SAFETY CAR LOTTERY. But ten points is ten­ Points even though it doesn't get him any closer­ to the top 2 (well slightly) but at the risk of sound­ like a harbinger of Doom

    I made a couple of­ observations and some of you may have come to the same­ conclussion or not as the case maybe..

    1)Replays of­ the first lap,showed that Alonso gained a speed­ advantage by cutting the chicane and not funnelling­ through the turn with Jenson Button.

    2) Did he refuel­ when the safety car was on the Track?

    3) why did it­ take the Stewards take so long to acess Rosbergs­ penalty entering the pit under safety car is a10sec­ drive through penalty nothing to acess. this allowed­ him to build up a lead and get back in second place.­ This doesn't change the Leaders but rules is rules­ after all.

    4) Massa unsafe release in the pitlane an­ immediate drive through penalty.Of course he's at­ the back of the grid and 10 sec means nothing

    5)Massa­ unsafe release in the pitlane in Valencia, accessed­ AFTER the race cos he's leadingthe race so its only­ worth a lousy 10 grand

    The only consistent thing about­ the MA-FIA is their inconsistency

    From Cliffe, on Mon 29 Sep 5:50PM

  8. Agree that Ferrari made a total mess of this one and­ are just throwing away their season. Being honest, they­ have no chance.

    I disagree with comment no. 9. How­ many cars did Hamilton overtake in Italy? He drove a­ great race there and wasn't afraid of apparent­ sanctions. I was surprised that he couldn;t overtake­ Coulthard sooner.

    Great race by Alonso. About no. 3­ here, I also disagree. Didn't he pull away quite­ easily from the others after the safety car? Yes, he­ did. He also drove wonderfully in Friday practice and­ could have qualified higher if it weren't for the­ misfortune in qualifying.

    From ibasiram, on Mon 29 Sep 5:34PM

  9. Why havn't the FIA told ferrari to sort out and­ test there "system" before using it and­ getting people injured or possibly killed, surely 3­ times is eneough for the FIA now to put a block on this­ until it is proven to be safe???

    From bob, on Mon 29 Sep 5:20PM

  10. Yet again a discrepancy on PENALTIES !!!!!
    PITTING­ WHILST PIT LANE CLOSED ( minor rule infringment) 30­ SEC

    EXIT PIT LANE IN PATH OF ANOTHER CAR ( highly­ dangerous, especially with a fuel pipe attatched.) ­ 20sec

    How do the FIA decide what action to take, do­ they put them all in a hat and draw them out raffle­ style or are they so blase about safety?

    From bob, on Mon 29 Sep 5:12PM

  11. Did anyone notice that the Spa fiasco has taken the­ sting out of Hamilton's tail? FIA have killed­ racing. Without the apparent bias against McLaren and­ the previous anti McLaren / anti Hamilton sanctions, I­ am almost certain that Lewis would have attacked DC­ after the first safety car, overtake him and probably­ win the race. Instead, he appeared to be maintaining­ position behind DC and Rosberg, rather than risk­ further sanctions. FIA HAVE SIMPLY KILLED RACING.­ Congratulations to the organisers of Singapore GP, this­ is simply awesome.

    From olawale, on Mon 29 Sep 4:46PM

  12. What on earth do ferrari think they are playing at?­ Everyone maintains that they are the most professional­ team in F1 but if the last few races are anything to go­ by they are the most disorganised, disjointed and­ incompetent team in the pitlane - they need to get­ themselves sorted out before one of their pit lane @#$%­ ups kills someone.

    From Nick B, on Mon 29 Sep 4:41PM

  13. WORST F1 RACE CIRCUIT EVER SEEN but TV only showed a­ small part of the circus

    From tiptoptoe77, on Mon 29 Sep 4:41PM

  14. WOT A CIRCUS FIASCO ALL WITHIN DOUBLE BANKED CAGED­ FENCING 10M HIGH

    From tiptoptoe77, on Mon 29 Sep 4:37PM

  15. CONGRATULATIONS RENOLT

    From tiptoptoe77, on Mon 29 Sep 4:36PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Alonso will go to the team who offers him the biggist­ contract- not the best team or a team with potential-­ GLORY GLORY GLORY hunter- i bet he supports Man U as­ well!- thats why he is so cagey about saying where he­ is going or staying- he a 2nd rate driver who won two­ championships in the best car- not coz he's the­ best driver!!!

    From chris c, on Mon 29 Sep 4:35PM

  17. Alonson claiming a wonderful victory.....If he hadnt­ pitted before the safety car he would have finished­ where he deserved. He started 15th !!!! and would­ probably have finished 15 th.
    Still the best news is­ that he finished in front of those (FIA friends)­ Ferrari. Not much bull**** comming from the Ferrari­ team at the moment is there ??????
    Ferrari fans ( and­ there are lots of you) crying at the moment don't­ waste your time telling me about last year OR next­ year, I don't read rubbish.

    From PETER W, on Mon 29 Sep 4:22PM

  18. Alonso will need more than 1 win to get to the top!....­ Enjoy the moment!!

    From Kamal A, on Mon 29 Sep 4:15PM

  19. Alonso will need more than 1 win to get to the top!....­ Enjoy the moment!!

    From Kamal A, on Mon 29 Sep 4:15PM
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