Fernando Alonso's year away from Formula 1 has "detoxed" the Spaniard who is now ready to return to Grand Prix racing according to his manager Flavio Briatore.
Alonso recently said that he was in the process of defining his 2021 schedule, insisting that F1 was not among his plans.
But last week's raft of announcements, which included the news of Daniel Ricciardo moving from Renault to McLaren, has opened up an unexpected opportunity for Alonso to return to the French outfit with which he conquered his two world titles in 2005 and 2006.
Briatore, who still looks after Alonso's interests, made no specific mention of the 38-year-old racing for Renault next season, but the flamboyant Italian did reveal that the 32-time F1 winner is ready to return to the fray in case anyone is interested in his services.
"Fernando is motivated. A year out of Formula 1 has done him good. He has detoxed himself and I see him more serene and ready to return," Briatore told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
We'll remind Briatore that when it comes to talking up the Spaniard's prospects, we've been here before, multiple times, and that a return to Enstone for Alonso, the only realistic proposition out there, it's hard to imagine the two-time world champion fighting any other than 'best of the rest' bragging rights.
Queried on Ferrari and Vettel's decision to part ways at the end of 2020, Briatore believes Charles Leclerc's performances last season decided the Scuderia to relegate Vettel to a number two role which the German was not willing to accept.
"In F1 it has always been about having the winning recipe," he said. "You must have one driver who is focused on the world championship and the other who collects big points, snatching them from rivals.
"Vettel paid for the fact that a very fast boy arrived at the team. It surprised him and the team, as happened at McLaren with [Lewis] Hamilton [in 2007].
"Two drivers at the same level in a team eventually risk taking points off each other."
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Briatore says that Ferrari's decision to hire Carlos Sainz only strengthens his belief that the Italian squad's future is being shaped around Leclerc.
"He is a good driver, and he had a good championship in 2019 if we consider the car he had available," said the Italian, commenting on Sainz.
"The situation seems clear to me: Ferrari is betting everything on Leclerc and it is good because, as I had the opportunity to say last year, he is a future star.
"Similarities with Alonso and Schumacher? You can see the good drivers right away.
"I remember well the numbers that Michael did, even if he was still very young, with Benetton.
"There were also the calls from Giancarlo Minardi to tell me about the young Alonso. You understand immediately if one is special, and Charles is."
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