He won two championships with the Renault team and finished only second with McLaren in the driver’s championship. McLaren, a team accused and convicted of racing espionage this past year; a team with a very young hot-shot driver; a team with a hot-headed boss, was apparently not the team for Fernando Alonso.
So Fernando is back at Renault. He’ll be paid handsomely. $50,000,000 per year is rumoured, just below the price Ferrari pays for current world champ Kimi Raikkonen. Curiously, but not surprisingly, Fernando’s deal with Renault has an out-clause and a low level of obligation toward sponsors. He did, after all, prove to be a bit of a recluse this past year, struggling even to speak to teammate Lewis Hamilton.
After Alonso’s Renault departure, the team struggled but did come on a little stronger at the end of the ’07 season. Fernando will be driving alongside Nelson Piquet Jr. Recognize the name? Nelson Sr. is a three-time world champ. His last race win was in 1991 in Canada.
