F1 | ALONSO TOWARDS RENAULT. MINARDI “COPPIA INTERESTING PAIR WITH OCON”

An official announcement is expected from Renault from Renault from Renault tomorrow that it will bring back to Formula 1 the two times world champion, in 2005 and 2006, with the French team, Fernando Alonso.

Two years after his last grand prix with McLaren and after his win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the experience in the Dakar Rally and in the 500 Miles of Indianapolis, Alonso is ready to re-enter the Circus beside Ocon who performed well last weekend.

At the present time Renault is a team that is difficult to interpret, even if, compared to last season, it is in line with the improvements and they are working only on the chassis and engine which were left unchanged by the regulations, as were the mixes. After the loss of Ricciardo (destination McLaren alongside Norris) they needed a point of reference and with Ocon this will be a great challenge.

Fernando’s arrival makes me think that Mercedes has already renewed both Bottas and Hamilton since the Finn’s name had often been linked to Renault. At this point, for Vettel there is the prospect of at least a year of sabbatical.

However, I do not exclude the possibility of seeing changes already this year. In Austria I noticed some “abnormal” strategies towards the drivers with their suitcases ready and this could create some discontent and upset some equilibriums.

We are faced with a new season under the sign of Mercedes that in Austria showed overwhelming power. Only the five safety cars did not let it lap practically everybody. I am more and more convinced that they are working on something exceptional in the rear, such as steerable wheels.

Unfortunately, we could not fully appreciate Red Bull’s real potential, Despite the yellow mixes (Hamilton and Bottas had the reds) they behaved well but were betrayed by reliability. Albon however, without the collision with Hamilton could have given Bottas some bother. It had an important pace, also helped by an excellent strategy. At the moment they are the only ones that can annoy Mercedes.

We are waiting for the second and third grands prix to see how Ferrari will react, especially in Hungary where a new car with some new features is expected. To date, it is the only car that did not have reliability problems but at the same time, the only car to have worsened compared to last season…

Gian Carlo Minardi