Alonso left McLaren last year to return to Renault after a rocky partnership with Lewis Hamilton, but flirted with such teams as Ferrari and BMW Sauber during this season. However, he was persuaded to stay after a positive finish to the season when the Spaniard won two of the last four races.
"After a difficult start to the season we have overcome our difficulties and constantly improved our performances," Alonso said.
"My back-to-back wins in Singapore and Japan, and my recent second-place podium finish in Brazil have proved how competitive we can be."
Alonso won back-to-back championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006. Before Hamilton's victory at the Brazilian GP last Sunday, he was the youngest champion in F1 history. He finished the season with 61 points -- 37 behind champion Hamilton. Team principal Flavio Briatore hailed Alonso's "leadership" and "determination" after the 27-year-old's return started poorly, with Alonso regularly finishing out of the points. In the first 10 races, his best finish was fourth place in Australia. Renault stuck with Piquet Jr. despite an erratic season that saw the 23-year-old Brazilian finish second at Hockenheim but failing to finish 13 of the 18 races. [End of report]
This is obviously a great news for me. If you have been reading my previous post about Lewis Hamilton winning the driver's championship, you should know that I support both Alonso and Renault. I cant make up my mind which one of them I am supporting the most because Alonso was the main reason why I started to support Renault in the first place and when he was at Renault back in 2005 and 2006, I became a fan of their car as well. Alonso was then of course went to McLaren. When that happened, I didnt turn my back on Renault and support McLaren, Renault was still my choice of team. I didnt support Alonso as much then as I did when he was at Renault but I still wanted him to do well and I still kept a close following on his progress. As we all know, things didnt work out the way he wanted at McLaren which was why his time there was shortlived. I dont know whether it was the driver or the car, but Renault just wasn't the same team they once were when Alonso won the driver's championship consecutively, which also at the same time helped Renault in clinching the constructor's championship as well.
Therefore, when he left McLaren, I was really hoping he could come back to Renault and I think you should know how glad I was when I heard he was joining the team back. This year was the first season for him to drive in a Renault car again after leaving from McLaren two years ago and if youre been following F1 very closely this season which has just ended recently, you can see that it was another disappointing season for the Renault team especially during the early stages. I thought with Alonso coming back, the team could propelled to the same level as it did during their championship winning years, but that never happened. As we all know, Lewis Hamilton won the driver's championship and Ferrari won the constructor's championship respectively. Renault finished the season in fourth place while Alonso finished the season in fifth place. Well considering how the season started, I dont think that is actually a bad result. It could get a lot worse if it wasnt for Alonso. I think much of Renault's success this season was contributed by him. If you could remember, he had a mini-resurgence late in the season starting with the win that most of you should be familiar with, which is at the Singapore GP. I was delighted when he won that race in particular because it was the first ever night race and the win was a long time coming. As the season drag on, I was wondering whether we will win any race, so to do it in Singapore was just the icing on the cake. He then continued his good form by winning in Japan and finished second in Brazil.
If only all those things happened earlier in the season, then we would be talking about him with the likes of Hamilton and Massa. We had to wait for a very long time before he announced his decision to stay with Renault. I admit that I have some doubts about him staying here but after the late resurgence, all my doubts started to calm down a little bit and I just knew he would stay with us for at least one more season, much less two. If results were to be different in Singapore, Japan and Brazil, Im not sure if he would want to stay with us. We started the season in a bad way but end it with a high, so I cant wait for next season to start especially now knowing that Alonso would be leading the team once again. The likes of Hamilton and Massa should better watch out because we will even be a much stronger team for next season. On a smaller note, his teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. will also be staying with the team next season as you can read from the report. This season has been disasterous to say the least for him but he is still young and growing, so I expect a better performance for next season. Until then, drive safely.
*The report was taken from Associated Press.
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