Sauber tips Alonso to defend F1 crowns
Two of his former drivers appear to also be in the title hunt, but Sauber reckons the Spaniard is already ahead of the game at the wheel of a new McLaren.
"Alonso could be the key to success for McLaren," the Swiss, who at the end of 2005 sold his Hinwil based squad to BMW, told Motorsport Aktuell.
"The last question mark is whether they can get their reliability right."
In 2001, Sauber gave Kimi Raikkonen his debut, while in 2004 the dwindling career of Giancarlo Fisichella was rescued with a seat for the Swiss team.
But Sauber said: "Alonso has not only the speed of a Raikkonen, but the completeness and race intelligence of a Schumacher. I don't really see that with Kimi."
Finn Raikkonen, 27, has switched from McLaren after five fruitless seasons to fill Schumacher's vacant post.
Sauber's observations also seem to be borne out in the winter time sheets so far, after the new McLaren MP4-22 appeared more competitive than Ferrari's F2007 car.
He also thinks Renault will miss the departed Alonso, after the French squad emerged from Valencia apparently lacking the performance of their big-two rivals.
Sauber admitted that he has been "disappointed" in the last two seasons with Fisichella's performance. The Roman's teammate in 2007 will be rookie Heikki Kovalainen.