Fisichella to join Renault in 2005?

Giancarlo Fisichella will return to the Renault team to replace the departing Jarno Trulli in 2005, according to reports in the British media.

The reports say that the 31 year old, who spent four years with the team under its previous name Benetton, will leave the Sauber team to partner Fernando Alonso - although the team has not yet made any official announcment over it's line-up for next season.

According to the BBC, Fisichella's manager Enrico Zanarini says that the deal to take Fisichella to the team has been agreed, but the driver has yet to sign a contract.

"The signature is not yet down so you can never say it is sure in this sport," he said. "When it is going to be official I don't know, but it is up to the team to announce.

"The contract has to be signed and certified and option dates have to be matched and so on, but in general we have been offered deals that are absolutely fine with what we wanted."

Fisichella's decision to return to Renault also reduces the number of possibilities for the BMW Williams team who are on the lookout for replacements for Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher.

A source close to the team told the Guardian newspaper that the team have now got a limited choice to chose from to partner Mark Webber, who is expected to leave Jaguar to become the teams new number one driver.

"Williams look as though they have misjudged things badly," the source is quoted as saying. "Instead of getting on and closing a deal with Fisichella, they have been dithering around wondering whether they might try Mika Hakkinen or Jacques Villeneuve when in they needed to move quickly. They're now in the position where they've got a limited choice available to them."