Where next for alonso?

[cougarracing]

ok so we know alonso is at renault for 2008, but where will he be in 2009? we all presume that he will head off to ferrari, but hes already shown that he cant race against a competative team mate, so that means raikennen has to go, but can you really see raikionnen going anywhere or retiring?...i cant, he wouldnt go abck to mclaren, renault is an option but i see him more of a ferrari man....so if he stays at ferrari where exactly will alonso go?....

[rubystone]

He seems to have done very well out of this. He signed a letter of intent back in October which stated that he would be a Renault driver from 1st January 2008. The sticking point was not the money, but his desire for just a one year contract. Briatore was also faced with having to provide a race drive for Piquet as a condition of his contract and I am sure tried to place either he or Kovalainen elsewhere for 2008.

Alonso clearly has an option with Ferrari for 2009 and has negotiated a break clause with Renault after year 1. I presume that is based on performance and is one-sided. If the car comes good, he may elect to stay at Renault for year 2 and to then sign the option for year 3. That also covers him if Ferrari choose to retain one or both of their drivers once their contracts come up for renewal in 2009. I believe Massa is contracted for 2008 and 2009, but I bet there's a clause there that allows Ferrari to show him the door at the end of 2008. There have been rumours that Raikkonen may even retire from F1 in 2009 - he doesn't seem to want to try to eclipse Schumacher...