F1's Alonso to drive for Renault in 2008

Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso is heading back to Renault. The 26-year-old Spaniard announced his return to the French team Monday after a turbulent season at McLaren.

At Renault in 2005, Alonso became the youngest driver in F1 history to win the title. He repeated in 2006.

"I am delighted to be returning to Renault," Alonso said in a statement. "This is the team where I grew up as a driver in Formula One. Now it is time for us to begin a new chapter together."

Renault said that Alonso, who agreed to a two-year contract, would drive along with Nelson Piquet Jr. The duo will make their debut testing the new R28 car at Valencia from Jan. 22-24.

"Fernando and Nelsinho will form one of the most exciting driver lineup of 2008," Renault managing director Flavio Briatore said. "We are delighted to be welcoming Fernando back home to the team where he enjoyed his greatest success. His abilities as a driver and a team leader are well known, and we look forward to forging another strong partnership."

Spanish media reported that Alonso would earn $51.3 million per season, though Renault would not confirm the figure.

Alonso had been linked with a return to Renault ever since he was released from his three-year contract with McLaren in November. A move to the French team gained momentum Friday when FIA decided against penalizing Renault for possessing confidential information about rival team McLaren.

"To be honest, the first three weeks of November, I was on a much needed vacation and during which I disconnected from Formula One," Alonso said. "The decision to choose a team did not take more than a week, as me and the people close to me were clear about what we wanted."

Alonso dismissed talk that he could have taken a year off, preferring patience while analyzing all of the possible options.

"It would have never come to me not having a drive for next season," Alonso said. "We are talking about a very important decision and since I could not get back at the wheel of a car until January or February, there was no rush."

Alonso finished third in the 2007 drivers' standings with 109 points, though his season is better remembered by rocky relations with rookie driving partner Lewis Hamilton and a spy scandal that cost McLaren $100 million and all of its constructors' championship points.

Renault finished third in the constructors' championship in 2007 with 51 points, 153 behind champion Ferrari.

Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001 with Minardi and spent three years at Renault from 2003-06. In 105 races, he won 19 and finished on the podium 49 times.

Giancarlo Fisichella and Heiki Kovalainen drove for Renault in 2007.

"Renault had a difficult year in 2007, but I know that the team has real strength in depth," Alonso said. "I am confident they can produce a fast and competitive car and be back at the top in 2008."

No penalty for Renault

Renault was not penalized Thursday, despite being found guilty of having confidential information about Formula One rival McLaren.

In September, McLaren was fined $100 million for using confidential data from Ferrari.

In the latest allegations in F1's spy scandal, the World Motor Sport Council summoned Renault team officials to face accusations that the team had unauthorized access to details on McLaren's cars.

In a statement on its Web site, the sport's governing body said it "found Renault F1 to be in breach of article 151c of the International Sporting Code but imposed no penalty."

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore welcomed the decision with relief.

"I would like to thank Renault, our title sponsor ING and all our partners for their wholehearted support during this sensitive period," Briatore said in a statement. "I also wish to pay tribute to the team, which has handled the matter with integrity and dignity. We are pleased that we can now focus fully on our preparations for the 2008 championship."

Thursday's decision could make it easier for Fernando Alonso to return to Renault after quitting McLaren in the offseason. The Spanish driver won the F1 world title with Renault in 2005 and '06.

In this case, McLaren said Renault gained an unfair advantage last season from information about its fueling system, gear assembly, oil cooling system, hydraulic control system and suspension component.

Phil Mackereth, a former McLaren engineer, was alleged to have taken several CDs of data with him to Renault after he joined the team in September 2006. But the case was muddied when McLaren admitted to misinforming journalists over the scale of the allegations against Mackereth and Renault.

McLaren acknowledged there were 18 technical drawings of its cars on the 11 CDs not 780 outlining the entire blueprint as had been leaked to the press.

Renault has said it suspended Mackereth in September when it learned of his alleged actions, then alerted McLaren and Formula One's governing body.

Renault said the information it had covers only four "basic systems," one of which was obsolete, and denied it influenced the design of its racing car.

McLaren's punishment in its spying case was much more severe. As well as the record fine, the team also was kicked out of the manufacturers' championship, although Alonso and teammate Lewis Hamilton were not docked points.

Hamilton finished second and Alonso third in the drivers' championship.

Renault finished third in the manufacturers' championship with 51 points, and British newspapers had speculated the company could have pulled out of F1 had it been hit with a harsh penalty.

Following an examination of McLaren's computers, the FIA will rule Friday on whether any of Ferrari's ideas or components have been incorporated into McLaren's car for the 2008 season.

McLaren could be forced to remove any illegal parts, setting back the car's development by months and crippling Hamilton's hopes of winning next season's title.

Johnson collects big NASCAR money again

The only time the smile has left Jimmie Johnson's face this week is when somebody mentioned his upcoming appearance on stage Friday night at NASCAR's annual awards ceremony.

There hasn't been much else to frown about for Johnson in 2007, a season in which he improved on most of his 2006 numbers on the way to a second straight Nextel Cup championship.

"I've been having a great time since I crossed the finish line at Homestead (two weeks ago), knowing that we had the championship wrapped up," Johnson said. "But every time I think about making that speech, I get a little bit of nerves and wish that part was over. We're not trained for that kind of stuff."

At least this time, Johnson managed to prepare the speech early in the week. Last year, the then-new champion kept putting it off because, first, he couldn't figure out how to get started and, once he did get going, he couldn't figure out how to cram all the thank yous into the allotted time.

"That's the hardest part of it," Johnson said as he prepared to step onto the stage at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to collect another big payout. "You want to thank everybody who ever did anything to help you get to this point and, believe me, that's a lot of people."

Chandra Johnson, Jimmie's wife, understands her husband's nerves.

"He doesn't worry about driving a race car 200 miles an hour inches away from other drivers, but standing up there, in front of everybody, telling people how much they mean to him is tough.

"But you know, it means he's the champion, and he'll get through it just fine."

The banquet was highlighted by a tribute to Bill France Jr., the late NASCAR chairman who died in June at the age of 74.

There was a moving tribute by longtime TV anchorman and France friend Tom Brokaw, who said France, known to everyone as Bill Jr., was the "personification of the American dream."

Another special moment came when the Bill France Award Of Excellence, named after Bill Jr.'s father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., was given to longtime broadcaster Barney Hall.

Johnson will collect the winner's share of the huge season and points fund payout. He collected a record $15,770,125 last year and came up just a little short of that this year at $15,313,920, including $7,646,421 from the season points fund.

That brings Johnson's career earnings to $59,531,336.

There were plenty more big checks handed out Friday night, too, with the largest top 10 points fund payout in series history at $24,068,732.

Series runner-up Jeff Gordon collected $10,926,687, including $3,280,915 from the points fund, and raised his all-time leading earnings total to $93,300,213.

Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick, who finished 10th, took home $8,861,128.

The ceremony was the conclusion to a spectacular season for Johnson, who doubled his wins in his second championship season, jumping from five in 2006 to 10 this year. He had another 24 top-10 finishes, but raised his top-fives from 13 to 20.

And what NASCAR fan could forget Johnson's four straight victories during the 10-race Chase for the championship that all but buried the chances of his friend and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Gordon?

Gordon wound up second in the points despite a record-setting 30 top-10s in 36 races and an average finish of 5.1 in the Chase. Johnson beat him with an average finish of 5.0.

The four-time champion, who also is co-owner of Johnson's car, was almost as happy as if he had won another title.

"You know, it's just been an awesome week watching Jimmie enjoy this," Gordon said. "Last year, he was sort of overwhelmed, and I certainly understand that. But this time, Jimmie can appreciate everything about winning the championship."

The other 11 drivers in the Chase also were given big checks Friday night, along with 13th-place finisher Ryan Newman and rookie of the year Juan Pablo Montoya.

Johnson shared the stage Friday with crew chief Chad Knaus, who has been with him since he began his full-time Cup career in 2002, and team owner Rick Hendrick, who was celebrating his seventh Cup championship.

In his six seasons Johnson has never finished worse than fifth and, next season, he will try to match the record of three straight championships set by Cale Yarborough from 1976-78.

That record has people talking dynasty.

NASCAR chairman Brian France said he was particularly impressed with the way Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team keep improving.

"He is dominating and maybe (it is) a dynasty," France said.

Before the ceremony, Knaus reflected on last year's awards, when he said winning the championship was a dream come true.

"Sometimes your dreams come true, but there's nothing wrong with dreaming again," Knaus said. "Hope we see you back here again next year."

McLaren leaks charges against Renault

McLaren has raised the stakes in Formula One's latest spy scandal by releasing details of its allegations against rival Renault.

Renault has been summoned to a Dec. 6 hearing of the World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on charges of having "unauthorized possession of documents and confidential information" of McLaren cars between September 2006 and October 2007.

British newspapers on Friday quoted a memo leaked by McLaren's lawyers suggesting that Renault's activities were more serious than those that resulted in McLaren being fined a record $100 million for possessing Ferrari documents.

"It is clear that McLaren's confidential design information was knowingly, deliberately and widely disseminated and discussed within the Renault F1 design and engineering team," McLaren's law firm, Baker McKenzie, said in a submission to the World Motor Sport Council.

The actions provided Renault "with a clear benefit and unfair advantage," the memo said.

If Renault is found guilty and handed a penalty similar to McLaren's, it's uncertain whether the team would be able to continue in F1.

Renault allegedly possessed technical documents from McLaren that engineer Phil Mackereth brought to the French team when he moved from McLaren in September 2006.

Renault said it suspended Mackereth in September as soon as company officials learned of his actions and immediately alerted McLaren and governing body FIA.

The McLaren memo says that 33 files containing more than 780 individual drawings outlining the entire technical blueprint of the 2006 and 2007 McLaren F1 cars were copied onto 11 floppy disks in March 2006.

McLaren says the disks were loaded onto 11 Renault F1 computers in September 2006, when Mackereth joined Renault, and were discussed by up to 18 Renault F1 personnel, including a group of senior engineering chiefs and heads of department.

Renault has downplayed the importance of the technical information, saying it covered only four "basic systems," one of which was obsolete. Renault acknowledged Mackereth had shown the data to other engineers but denied any of the information had influenced the design of the Renault car.