20/02/2008
NEWS STORY
Talking to Germany's Sport Bild, Renault boss Flavio Briatore claims that as early as last March - long before anyone had any idea how good Lewis Hamilton would be 'out of the box', long before the spy saga, and long before the rift with his new employers (McLaren), Fernando Alonso was talking to his former team about a possible return.
"It is not a joke," said the Italian. "It was not difficult to get Alonso back, we know each other well and even though he was with McLaren we spoke about a possible return."
Briatore claims that at the season opener in Melbourne, he and Alonso were talking about a possible return to the team with which he won two titles.
The Italian who has been highly critical of the way McLaren handled its relationship with the back-to-back champion, says he is fully confident that Alonso will be back on form this season, and that there will be no problems between the Spaniard and his new teammate, Brazilian Nelson Piquet.
"I do not like it when team-mates fight amongst themselves," he said, "they both have to work for the team, but it should not be forgotten that Fernando won two world championships with us."