Alonso back in F1; Renault is working hard on a test program

Alonso needs to get used to it

Alonso has of course been out for a while and from a regulatory point of view the team is limited in testing possibilities with the current car. This mainly comes down to the winter test early next year or else a movie day, which can help Alonso get back in a bit. In order to find a good solution to this problem sooner, they are now making a program.

This said team boss Cyril Abiteboul in conversation with Sky Sports F1. "We are in a process of building his programme. We know that it would be in the second part of the season so we didn't rush anything. He also had his IndyCar programme to do." But the second half of the season has started now, so Alonso will be in action pretty soon.

"So we are building the programme which is a programme that could be composed of some 2018 cars that we could do. He'd like to do between two and four days and we are looking into that. That car will be in the Middle East later this year for our young drivers. There could be some filming day that we have not used yet and Renault Corporate is also keen to do a bit of filming as long as we are Renault."

The latter refers to the rebranding of Renault F1 Team to Alpine F1 Team with effect from 2021.

Find the right balance

With a pool of young drivers who should also be given the opportunity to test in a real Formula 1 car, they are looking for the right balance. The December test in Abu Dhabi is mainly for the young drivers, but there is some limited capacity. Abiteboul: "So we are trying to keep a good balance between Fernando, who wants to be back at the best possible level, but also our academy drivers."

In any case, Alonso is motivated, Abiteboul said that the two-time champion is available for everything. The plan is that Alonso will also be back in the pit lane at the Grand Prix at Imola later this season. He will also - of course - be present at the last Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.