Andretti says Renault needs Bourdais
"I think they underestimated how important the talent of the driver is, and when they lost a real talent – Alonso – they weren't able to replace him," Mario said. "Kovalainen is probably a good rookie, but he hasn't shown a hell of a lot yet, and Fisichella is … well, Fisichella! No matter what you put him in, he will not give you consistent performance."
This year one tire company – Bridgestone – has a monopoly in F1, and the suggestion is that Renault, with Michelin for many years, have found it more difficult than most to adjust to the new rubber.
"Well, I'll only buy that so much, to be honest with you," Andretti said. "I think it's a great excuse – I remember that's what Ferrari used to say all the time! I think if you put Alonso back in that car, he'd have it up to speed in no time. However, he's gone now, and if you ask me, the guy they need is Sebastien Bourdais. To me, he's a hell of a race driver. He ought to be in F1, and I think he would have been a perfect fit with Renault.
"Flavio Briatore's a guy who's proud of not paying superstar money to a driver, but I'm sure if they'd been paying Alonso what he deserved, he might well have stayed there. Maybe they thought they had such a good car that they could get by without a superstar driver, I don't know."