Formula One: Renault Scrutinised Fernando Alonso Over Being Opinionated Before Deal Signing

Fernando Alonso's return to F1 with Renault might see a different driver from what he used to be as the racing team revealed they discussed with him before a deal was signed his past records of being very opinionated. 

Renault principal Cyril Abiteboul revealed the discussion with the two-time champion was necessary for him to know that F1 can sometimes be "ruthless" and acknowledging that will be good for his return to the grid after a two-season hiatus following his retirement declaration in 2018. 

"We've taken the time to be clear...about where we stand today and where we will stand in 2021 and 2022," Abiteboul to BBC Sport in an exclusive interview.

"We discussed that. It is also one of the reasons why it was important for him to take a year off, to walk away from the sport."

The 39-year-old has been critical of the sport in his career and had described once McLaren's Honda engine as "embarrassing" calling its car engine a "GP2 engine". 

"You know, let's not underestimate how ruthless, how toxic F1 can be," he added. "No matter how hard you work, how hard you try, how good you think you are, sometimes it is just not possible."

Speaking on F1 racing rules, Alonso yet had an opinion about racing rules for 2020 and 2021 season but hopes 2022 rules will be different because he believed some teams have undue advantage over others. 

He explained that the 2022 rules will bring "some fairness and some close action with teams more level and less scope to invent something that has a large performance advantage. "