The Renault Formula 1 team has just announced its driver lineup for the 2008 season. Double world champion Fernando Alonso is back to Renault. His team mate will be Nelson Piquet Jr.

Renault's sponsor ING looks quite happy with this. The company's Head of Group Marketing, Isabelle M. Conner said:

"With a successful first year sponsorship behind us, we're very much looking forward to the new season and welcome Fernando and Nelson as the 2008 drivers. Their combination of talent and experience will help the resurgent ING Renault F1 Team through 2008, as ING drives its own sponsorship activity, both on and off the track".

It's really interesting to see Fernando's performance in Renault. After all, Renault is the team where Spaniard was grown and has become the world's one of the best drivers.

These were the words that the Ferrari lawyer Nigel Tozzi told a hearing of the governing FIA's independent International Court of Appeal.

Would McLaren have appealed if the two drivers' (Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica) disqualification had not been a title decider? I don't think so. Therefore, McLaren does not care at all whether the fuel in Nico's and Robert's tanks were cool or not.

I have repeated many times that we, Formula One fans, want to see the battle on the race track and not in courtrooms. It's far more interesting to observe a battle between McLaren and Ferrari drivers rather than the battle between their lawyers.

I don't think Hamilton deserves the title. How is he supposed to take the title when for one thing his team has sabotaged Fernando Alonso and now pushes it hard with legal tricks to get the title? Even if the title goes to Hamilton (which in my opinion is very unlikely) it will have worse impact on his future career. Hamilton (as he has once mentioned) is young enough to prove that he can win the title (I do believe he has everything to win it. Maybe next time?). So, McLaren, please leave this dirty game alone.

Formula One 2007 championship season had everything. Scandals, spy case, intense battles on the track and in the court rooms, a rookie doing miracles and an experienced driver making maximum from his slim chances. But the question still remains open: Who won the title?

As of now, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen is a winner but there is a chance, at least theoretic, that the title will go to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. The young Briton has declared that he doesn't want a title won as a result of protest. His teammate Alonso has supported the same pathos.

The date for McLaren's appeal has been set. It will be on the 15th of November. If McLaren's protest is satisfied and both Williams and BMW-Sauber get punished, this will automatically push up Lewis Hamilton to the title. In this case I am sure Ferrari will protest the decision and the question who won the 2007th title will remain open for the next few months.

However, I don't believe things will get that far. Max Mosley, president of the FIA said: "For us, the world championship is over, the result is what it is. A team presented an appeal; at the moment, this doesn't change anything - it's up to them to prove they are right."

Thank you Mr. Mosley. The scandals in this season must be over and the sooner they are the better for the sport, drivers, fans and everyone else involved.

The ITV-F1.com website published Niki Lauda's interview today. Three-times world champion claims that McLaren should sue Alonso for the damages that the Spanish driver has caused to the team. According to the Austrian driver, Mercedes is losing sales because of Alonso's recent misbehaviour.

I don't think such extreme measures are justified, however it is a fact that there is no healthy atmosphere in the McLaren's headquarters. Blaming either one side (the team) or another (Alonso) won't be correct. Dennis is not an easy man. The same can be said about Alonso. It is a situation when two inherently non-compatible people are in the same team. It is a fact that Dennis is favoring Lewis Hamilton. This has become especially visible after McLaren has been taken away all points in the constructors' battle. Simply, Alonso's "help" is not necessary anymore. Moreover, if Alonso does not get a title, he may do everything to prevent Hamilton from getting the title as well and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen can take advantage and grab the championship title.

It is difficult to argue with Lauda when he criticizes Alonso's attitude and mental state. Alonso's behaviour is totally unacceptable to many people and it's not how gentlemen in Formula 1 must behave. Formula 1 must be a sport of people with high morale and high spirit.

As you may have noticed I am not a big fan of Alonso. However, after the Japanese Grand Prix I had a feeling that the Spanish driver has been sabotaged. The race (dubious pit stop, pressure in tyres to mention some) has clearly showed this and no deep analysis is required to notice signs of sabotage. The feeling is further strengthened by the fact that McLaren's boss Ron Dennis does not like the Spanish driver. As for his teammate Lewis Hamilton, his opinion is widely known as well - McLaren must sack Alonso.

Right from the start of this season it was clear that the rookie Hamilton had pretty good chances for winning the title. At the same time, Alonso's performance was quite impressive. Thus, the two drivers were giving a clear lead to the McLaren team. However, now, when the team has no points in the constructors' championship, Alonso's "value" to the team has become zero and Ron Denis is clearly biased to Hamilton.

One way or another, the prestige of sport is getting damaged and the key Formula One players must think twice before making decisions.

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa denied rumours about his leaving Ferrari by the end of the season. The Brazilian driver said that his contract with Scuderia is valid up to the end of 2008 season. Moreover, Massa is negotiating prolongation of the contract till beyond 2009.

According to the rumours, the Brazilian driver would move to Japanese team Toyota next year, leaving room for Spanish two season world champion Fernando Alonso to move over to Ferrari from arch rivals MacLaren.

Will Alonso join Scuderia Ferrari by the end of the season?

There are rumours out there that the two-time world champion Alonso has already accepted a $40 million per year contract from the Maranello team. According to the sources, Fernando will replace Felipe Massa who in turn will be heading to Toyota.

To admit, I have not idea whether Alonso will join Ferrari or not, but one thing is for sure that he's stay at the British-German team will not last long.

Ron Dennis, McLaren team boss has extremely cold relationship with Alonso. According to Dennis, he and the driver are not "on speaking terms".

$100 million in fines and 0 points in the 2007 season's constructors' championship is FIA World Motor Sport Council's final verdict for the McLaren-Mercedes team. McLaren-Mercedes drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have not been penalized and are free to continue their fight for the drivers' title.

We expect the FIA to explain the reasons behind the Council's decision today. This should be followed by McLaren's decision to appeal or not.

On the Formula1.com website there is a poll about the verdict. It seems that the public opinion is divided evenly with a slight advantage to those who think that the decision was fair.

The 26 year old Spanish driver has become a national hero. The reigning double World Champion has accumulated some impressive statistics over his career.

The 2007 Turkish Grand Prix marks the 100th Formula 1 race for Alonso.

At the 2005 Brazilian Grand Prix he became the youngest driver to ever win a Formula 1 World Championship. He was 24 years and 59 days old.

In 2006 he became the youngest ever driver to win double World Championship title in a row.

The record for the youngest driver to win a race goes to Alonso as well. When he won the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2003 it was 26 days after his 22 Birthday.

Alonso has stood on the top step of the podium a total of 18 times in his Formula 1 career to date and he has finished on the podium on 44 separate occasions.

He has scored a total of 16 Pole Positions and 454 points in his 99 Grands Prix to date. Easy calculation shows that his average score is 4.58 per race. With Vodafone McLaren Mercedes his average score is 6.63 so far.

Over the five and a half seasons that he has competed in Formula 1 Alonso has been leading a race for a total of 4,938 kms.

But the most important contribution he has made is that his success has had a major impact on the popularity of Formula 1 in Spain. I believe many teenagers dream of following his steps.

Photo source www.grandprix.com