NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Renault hopes FIA allows young driver test for Alonso

Cyril Abiteboul is hoping the FIA might step in to allow Fernando Alonso to take part in the end-of-season 'young driver test' in Abu Dhabi.

Cyril Abiteboul is hoping the FIA might step in to allow Fernando Alonso to take part in the end-of-season 'young driver test' in Abu Dhabi.

As a 39-year-old two-time world champion, the Spaniard is definitely not a 'young driver', but Renault was hoping the other teams would regard his two-year sabbatical as a good reason to allow Alonso to re-acclimatise to F1.

However, Renault boss Abiteboul this week outed Racing Point as a team opposed to allowing Alonso to test.

And now McLaren's Andreas Seidl has also revealed his opposition.

"I cannot speak about what has been discussed in the F1 Commission because everything there is confidential," the German said.

"I can only talk about how we see the young driver test," said the McLaren boss. "It is clear that we all voted for a rule change at the beginning of the year when this pandemic started, which said that these tests are clearly intended with the sole purpose of testing young drivers.

"It gives the FIA the opportunity to make exceptions, but I really can't see how he (Alonso) fits into this sole purpose of testing young drivers," Seidl added.

Abiteboul said at Imola: "Most teams are more pragmatic. We just have to hope that the FIA is too. Renault does a lot for young drivers."

(GMM)