Dassas admits life after Alonso will be toughRenault's F1 President Alain Dassas has admitted that winning a third successive world championship in 2007 is going to be "difficult".
The Frenchman, however, told Spanish newspaper Marca that the goal for next year is
to keep winning, despite the fact that double World Champion
Fernando Alonso has switched to McLaren.
Dassas said: "It is a fact that we are going to miss Fernando because he contributed a lot to help Renault to win these two titles (in 2005 and 2006)."
He described the 25-year-old Spaniard as an 'incredible driver', but did not have the same superlatives for Renault's 2007 driver line-up comprising
Giancarlo Fisichella and rookie Heikki Kovalainen.
"We will have to see how the championship develops," Dassas continued. "Both drivers are very good - they are not Alonso, but they are great drivers.
"The biggest uncertainty is Kovalainen," he said, referring to the Finn who - like Alonso - is 25.
He said of Kovalainen, Renault's test driver in 2006: "He knows what it feels like to win but he is still very young."
Alain Dassas concludes that Ferrari is therefore the favourite to win its first titles for two seasons in 2007.
Agreeing with the interviewer, Dassas answered: "Yes, without a doubt Ferrari start off as the favourite for next year. They have worked with Bridgestone for years, they know their working processes and that is an obvious advantage for them."
The Diario As, meanwhile, asked Renault Team Principal Flavio Briatore which challenge he saw as most difficult - succeeding in politics, or winning the 2007 title with
Giancarlo Fisichella.
"I am not involved in politics," he answered, "but I do believe it will be difficult to win the title with Giancarlo."
Source GMM
