Alonso pessimistic about winning in '09

Fernando Alonso believes Renault faces an uphill struggle to win a race before the end of the season with the team having now all-but switched development to its 2010 car.

The 2005-2006 world champion team has been hopeful of repeating its late-season surge from last year – when Alonso won back-to-back races and outscored every driver in the closing stages of the campaign – but despite a recent step forward in fine has still to finish higher than fifth all year.

But with technical director Bob Bell having confirmed on Wednesday that the team had shifted the baulk of its development time onto next season’s challenger, Alonso admits the team’s 2009 victory chances have diminished.

Asked if he thought a race win was still possible over the final six rounds, he said: “We will see.

“Obviously this year is a different thing and you never know what is going to happen.

“Last year it was difficult to predict our final part of the championship and this year it is going to be difficult to predict how it is going to be for us and the rest of the teams.

“Maybe last year we had a little bit better opportunity because the car was improving every race and this year it will be not the case.

“I think the 2009 Renault is already finished and the 2010 car started already, so there will be very little improvements from now on so maybe this is more difficult to win races.”

Nevertheless the double world champion reckons the R29 has been competitive enough in recent races to push for a podium finish – the Spaniard saying Renault must now make the most of any opportunities that come its way to ensure it at least returns to the top three.

“To be honest, in the last three [races] – Nurburgring, Hungary and Valencia – we were very competitive and if in one of those weekends you have luck and you are able to maximise the opportunities, maybe we would be talking about more podiums now – but we didn’t maximise the opportunities," ALonso conceded.

“So from now on we need to a little bit better to do perfect weekends.”

A late-season flourish would put an appropriate seal on what increasingly appears to be the final stages of the hugely successful Alonso/Renault partnership, with intense paddock speculation suggesting the Spanish superstar will join Ferrari in 2010.

Indeed while Alonso normally distances himself from the long-time speculation, the Spaniard dropped his most public hint yet that a move away from Renault was afoot, at Spa on Thursday – admitting he was “very active” in looking at his options for 2010.

He also reiterated his desire to win his third world championship with another team, having won both of his titles in his first spell at Renault.

“When I left Renault [for McLaren] in 2006 it was to find a different challenge, winning a world championship with a different team which remains one of my motivations and targets,” he said.

“To win another world championship with a different team will put my self confidence even higher and it will be great for me as a driver.

“The future, who knows? I think in Formula 1, as it is today, it is difficult to know which team has more future because we see every week rumours about teams coming in, teams going out and sometimes some surprises like BMW this year.

“So the future, you never know.”

Should Alonso have agreed to join Ferrari next season, then the tie-up is expected to be confirmed at the Maranello squad’s home Italian Grand Prix in two weeks time.

Asked if he thought he would have an announcement to make at Monza, the Spaniard remained coy, saying: “I am still thinking [about] and evaluating some possibilities, so we will see. Maybe it is too early next week.

Source: ITV