Renault to Raise Funds for $20m Alonso Deal

Fernando Alonso was last night close to finalizing a $20m-a-year (£9.6m) deal to rejoin the Renault formula one team less than a week after leaving McLaren. Sources suggested that Flavio Briatore, the Renault team principal, was close to securing a sponsorship deal - with a consortium including Telefónica, the mobile phone network - that might persuade Alonso to sign a contract for more than a single year, something the twice world champion had originally been against.

If Alonso signs he will be partnered by Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault's current test driver who will be promoted to the race team. Piquet's father, Nelson Sr, was a three-times world champion in the 1980s and later drove for Briatore at Benetton. Renault's current driver Giancarlo Fisichella has been told there is no place for him next year; the Italian, a 34-year-old veteran of 194 grand prix starts, may have reached the end of his formula one career, which began in a Minardi 11 years ago.

If Alonso decides against returning to Renault, Piquet Jr will be paired with the current team driver Heikki Kovalainen. Otherwise the Finn is seen as the most likely candidate to fill Alonso's vacated seat at McLaren next season.

Alonso needs to be convinced that Renault can transform their 2007 form, because they failed to win a race after he drove their cars to the world championship in 2005 and 2006. "Our primary objective is to go out and win races and one can never be satisfied with a season like we've had," said Pat Symonds, their executive director of engineering. "We've been rigorous, we've been honest with ourselves, we've done everything in very logical steps, so that we now approach building a 2008 car with a certain knowledge of what went wrong in 2007 - and therefore high in confidence that we can get back challenging at the front again."

There are two ostensibly richer teams who might be expected to bid for Alonso's services but both have problems which conspire to undermine the prediction of Luis García, Alonso's manager, that "teams would be queuing" to secure his client's services.

One is Dietrich Mateschitz's Red Bull team, who have this year fielded Renault-powered cars for David Coulthard and Mark Webber. Gossip this week suggested that the former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn might like the challenge of helping Alonso craft them into a winning team but Red Bull already look top-heavy in terms of technical talent, with the former McLaren man Adrian Newey working alongside the former Williams and BAR chief designer Geoff Willis.

"I don't think they're yet ready or good enough for somebody of Alonso's caliber," said one rival team director. "They need at least another couple of years before they can expect to be in with a chance of winning."

The other possible team are Toyota but the same caveats apply to them as to Red Bull. "I'm not sure we're yet ready to offer Fernando the sort of package he's looking for," said the team principal, John Howett, at the height of speculation about Alonso's future at the recent Spanish grand prix.

The options

Renault

Positives He knows the personnel and will feel at home. A committed team with strong track record

Negatives Team principal Briatore will not settle for a one-year contract with the Spaniard

Red Bull

Positives Have the benefit of a Renault V8 engine and the highly regarded former McLaren technical director Adrian Newey

Negatives They would have to fire David Coulthard or Mark Webber to make room for him

Toyota

Positives Bags of cash. Biggest budget in the pit lane at about $600m (£288m) a year

Negatives Bags of cash. No wins in six years suggests they don't know how to spend it effectively