Though
Fernando Alonso insists Renault are ‘moving forward', fellow former
Formula 1 World Champion John Surtees has insisted the Spaniard will not lift the laurels again in the top flight until he leaves the French outfit.
The 73-year-old – who claimed the trophy with
Ferrari back in 1964 – admitted in an interview with Spanish newspaper
Marca that he believes Alonso will triumph again to add to his 2005 and 2006 crowns achieved with the
Régie – but only if he moves teams.
“I think he will be champion again, but I do not know when,” the British racing legend confessed. “Not with
Renault, though. Why not BMW?”
The 26-year-old lived up to his pre-weekend expectations that the best Renault could hope for would be seventh spot in Istanbul, by qualifying precisely there – five positions below his startling front row showing in Barcelona two weeks' earlier. Not that he was particularly downcast with that performance, though.
“I have good feelings, similar to Barcelona,” he reflected, “but the sad thing is that the big three are in another world and we still cannot be aspiring beyond seventh place.
“We made it easily into Q3 and seventh place is more-or-less where we expected to be, although I think we could have done a little better. For tomorrow, the start of the race will be vital, but I think we should be able to fight for some points. It's important not to forget where we were just two races ago. We are moving forward – that is for certain.”
There was considerably less joy, however, for rookie team-mate
Nelsinho Piquet, as the Brazilian wound up as one of the higher-profile members of the Q1 ‘drop club', languishing down in 17th place as a result of a scrappy effort, more than seven tenths of a second adrift of Alonso in the first session.
“I am extremely disappointed today after my performance in qualifying,” the 22-year-old rued. “I finished in 17th while my team-mate progressed comfortably into Q3.
