Alonso’s contract was finalized ‘well before’ its announcement

The boss of the Renault team, Flavio Briatore, is adamant that his team is, once again, at its best after an impressive end to the 2008 season.

Renault, world champion in 2005 and 2006, experienced dark times in 2007 and early 2008 despite the return of Fernando Alonso.

However, the Spaniard won two races at the end of the season and was the only one to score so many points between the Belgian Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix.

This resurgence in performance convinced Alonso to stay with the French team in 2009 and 2010. Briatore claims that Renault will be strong next season: « I really think so. We have everything we need, every improvement is immediately felt on the car. »

« To change the order of things, we had to find new people, young and competent. The secret is to first understand what is wrong, and then start working, » stated the Italian.

Otherwise, you get a car without a solid foundation. Last year, we lost five months before understanding where the problem was. We had to redesign the aerodynamics 100%. It took time, but we are ready now.

Briatore and Alonso talked about a contract extension throughout the year even though the announcement was only made once the season was over: « Fernando and I talked every weekend, but we had agreed not to say anything before the end of the year. »

« In any case, if you want to win titles, you need to build a personal relationship with your driver. That’s what we did with Fernando and what McLaren did with Hamilton, » he concluded.