Spy-gate has Alonso in spin and out of a job

The unthinkable may be looming closer for Lewis Hamilton’s former McLaren team-mate. Fernando Alonso, twice the world champion and the young man once said to be the natural successor to Michael Schumacher, is out of work.

Word is that he is refusing to commit his future to Renault, with whom he won his titles, until yet another round of the so-called “spy-gate" scandals has been sorted out tomorrow. Renault are in the dock in front of the FIA, the sport’s governing body, accused of stealing secrets from McLaren, the team fined £50 million in the summer for taking confidential information from Ferrari.

McLaren took the fine on the chin, but all the signs are that if Renault take a similar hit, Carlos Ghosn, the company’s no-nonsense chief executive, would not be so accepting, putting the future of the team in doubt. Not exactly a welcoming proposition for Alonso and one reason why he cannot agree to do a deal with the team.

The upshot is that the Spaniard could find himself in the world’s most expensive dole queue tomorrow night.

Sacked by McLaren from a contract worth £12 million a year, unable to agree with Renault and unwanted by anyone else in the paddock, Alonso may be forced to take an unwelcome sabbatical because there is nowhere for him to go. Quite a fall from grace. London Times Online