Flavio Briatore thinks that World champion Fernando Alonso’s move to McLaren in 2007 could provide Renault with a motivational boost and will have a fresh motivation for 2007, to make sure Renault is beating McLaren and Alonso. Alonso announced in December that even though he’d just won the title with Renault he would be leaving the team at the end of this year’s Championship.

The seven time World Champion, Michael Schumacher who dominated the Monaco Grand Prix between 1994 and 2001, winning five times, has only two podium finishes to show for the last four years was cautiously optimistic for this weekends race. Schumacher is currently 15 points adrift of championship leader Fernando Alonso and a strong qualifying position is vital for the former champion if he is to make a dent in the Renault driver’s lead, on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. However since the qualifying format was changed in 2003 and cars were made to qualify with race fuel, Ferrari has tended to fuel Schumacher heavier than some of his rivals in a bid to be on the optimum strategy for the race. (more…)