Paddock Rumours Continue: Fernando Alonso Linked With BMW

With much of the Formula One world focusing on Lewis Hamilton's controversial penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix, one practically unnoticed news item also floated stealthily out of the F1 paddock at Spa-Francorchamps.

Fresh rumours have surfaced that Fernando Alonso, two-time world champion and Renault driver, has signed a three-year deal with BMW Sauber.

In recent weeks speculation has mounted as to where Alonso will be in 2009: it is believed that the Spaniard was seeking a one-year contract only, in order to leave himself a free agent for the 2010 season when Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari contract expires.

Recently, it has been hinted that Raikkonen may hang up his helmet as early as the end of this season, leaving Alonso free to take his seat this year, although the Finn and his employers have strenuously denied this.

One other potential option for the 2005 and 2006 world champion is Honda, with team principal Ross Brawn having made no secret of the fact that he wishes to lure Alonso to his team. Brawn apparently believes that the Japanese outfit are in need of a star driver if they wish to pull themselves up from their current position of lower-midfield obscurity, and that Alonso is the perfect man to fill this role.

It has also been mentioned that Alonso has been in talks with Red Bull Racing; this is unlikely, however, as Red Bull would be unlikely to offer Alonso a one-year contract, and in any case the Austrian-based team have already confirmed Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel as their drivers for 2009.

The other main possibility is that Alonso will remain at Renault for next season, using the French squad as a springboard to a potential Ferrari drive in 2010. By remaining at the same team next year Alonso will provide much-needed continuity to the team, as they attempt to recapture their title-winning form of 2005 and 2006.

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore recently mentioned in an interview with Autosport that Alonso's return to the team, after an unhappy year spent at McLaren, was a great morale boost for his workforce; after Alonso departed, the team slumped from first to third in the constructor's world championship, scoring only one podium in the whole of 2007.

But, with so many other potential options, it is beginning to look as though Renault need Alonso more than he needs them.

The recent rumours of a switch to BMW Sauber are the first indication that Alonso may have been forced to compromise on his wish for a one-year contract; BMW are a team with promise, having won their first Grand Prix this year, and it is not inconceivable that Alonso could now see them, rather than Ferrari, as the team with which he will win his next world championship.

BMW's team principal, Mario Thiessen, recently refused to confirm that they would be retaining their current driver line-up of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld for next season, leading to increasing speculation that Heidfeld, who has struggled to match his Polish teammate this season, will be dropped at the end of the year.

However, it is known that the Swiss-German squad have recently taken up their option on Kubica for 2009, a fact that Thiessen recently lamented on the basis that they could not persuade their star driver to sign for a longer period. All this indicates that Kubica has at least one eye on the potentially vacant Ferrari seat for 2010, and with the Pole's value in F1 rising all the time, Alonso could have some serious competition for that seat should he hold out and wait for a call from Maranello.

However, Thiessen's insistence that he prefers drivers to sign long-term contracts means that Alonso is highly unlikely to have signed with BMW for only a year; if the rumours are true, the Spaniard must have committed to the team for much longer than that.

Alongside all this speculation, of course, we must remember that these are only rumours, and according to the F1 rumour mill, Alonso has already signed with Ferrari for 2010. One thing is for certain, however: as happened last year, the F1 driver market will barely move at all until Alonso has revealed where he is going.