Did Alonso turn McLaren in to get out of contract?
The Berlin based daily newspaper Die Welt reiterated on Friday that the Spaniard's current contract includes an exit clause that will have been triggered due to McLaren's exclusion from the constructors' championship.
"A return to Renault for Alonso is considered very probable," the newspaper contended.
The reigning world champion's relationship with team boss Ron Dennis was already strained, and Alonso is believed to have been calculatingly excluded from McLaren's Paris delegation on Thursday despite his leading role in the evidence that incriminated the team.
Indeed, the FIA's 15-page evidence dossier released at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday acknowledged that Lewis Hamilton – who, like Pedro de la Rosa, attended the hearing – had "no information" about the spy saga, while Alonso provided by email information that the World Motor Sport Council found "highly relevant".
09/14/07 It is also rumored that the FIA sanction might nullify the drivers' contracts, with Fernando Alonso obviously unhappy in 2007 and this may be his way out of his contract. McLaren might also be keen to offset the huge fine by employing a cheaper driver in 2008 and beyond.
09/14/07 Our spies in the FIA World Council meeting have revealed that there are going to be some surprises when the details come to light next week. We understand that the most extraordinary revelation will be in relation to the identity of the man who tipped off the FIA that there was additional evidence against McLaren: it was none other than Ron Dennis.
It appears that this strange turn of affairs came about because Dennis and Fernando Alonso argued about the details of the Spaniard's contract. Alonso seems to have mentioned that he was in possession of information that might be of interest to the FIA. In order to deprive Alonso of this rather unsavory negotiating tool and negate the possibility of anyone else using it against McLaren and because it was the right thing to do Dennis reported the information to the FIA in the hope that his display of good faith would underline the fact that the team has been honest throughout the investigation. More at Grandprix.com