His departure though does leave a lucrative seat available at
McLaren for 2007 too, although its availability really depends on
Kimi Raikkonen's whereabouts. If he does make the rumoured move to either
Ferrari or
Renault, either
Lewis Hamilton or Gary Paffett are tipped to take his place alongside
Fernando Alonso, if not later in the year. It is a no doubt going to be a focal point for the driver market over the next few months.
Plans for the 2007 season look to be underway, with the
FIA intending to drop third cars on the Friday in favour of a more 'fan friendly' day, aimed at luring spectators to the circuits on a day when they usually stay away as teams get down to work on set-up.
Not so far away though are changes to the qualifying system, with Magny-Cours possibly seeing slight alterations to the format. Although knockout qualifying
has been largely hailed a success, the final 20-minute fuel burning session has come into criticism, to the point that five minutes have been knocked off the time before a possible further change next year.
Finally,
Bridgestone have been confirmed as the sole tyre supplier until at 2010 when Michelin leaves the sport at the end of the year.
NEWS FROM THE TEAMS:
Renault - Fernando Alonso (#1), Giancarlo Fisichella (#2):
Having proved so consistent since the beginning of 2005, it was a surprise to find Renault on the back foot during the United States Grand Prix weekend, with Alonso's fifth place proving his worst result since last year's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Nonetheless, Alonso, who had not finished outside the top two this season before Indianapolis, is confident that he will be the man to beat once again at Magny-Cours, a circuit he won on in 2005 from lights-to-flag.
