Posted 09 September 2008 - 06:55 PM
Honda happy to wait for Alonso
Monday, 08 September 2008 07:35
Honda boss Ross Brawn says his team's 2009 driver decision remains up in the air while the squad pursues Fernando Alonso.
Brawn believes Alonso is the best driver on the grid and is content to wait for the double world champion to decide where he wants to race next season.
The team is understood to be working hard to entice Alonso for 2009, and has not yet confirmed either of its current drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, despite Brawn indicating earlier this season that both would stay on.
"We are just waiting," Brawn was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"My view is that he's the best driver in Formula 1 at the moment and we're happy to wait and hope that he makes a positive decision for us."
Brawn reckons Alonso still has the edge on current title contenders Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, and would be the best choice for Honda.
"The reason I think he's the best driver in Formula 1 is balance of experience and ability," said Brawn.
"To me there are three very quick drivers who have established themselves so far in Formula 1.
"There's Lewis, there's Kimi and Fernando.
"And Felipe is coming up very quickly and closely behind.
"If you look at those three drivers for a team in our position, where we have a strong rebuilding process going on, then we need a driver with strong development capacity, experience and absolute speed.
"For me, Fernando has all of those things.
"Lewis is clearly very quick, a super guy but doesn't have the experience yet.
"Kimi doesn't have the reputation of being a person who can develop a car strongly but is very quick."
Alonso has had a frustrating time since returning to Renault following his unhappy season at McLaren, but could yet opt to remain with the French manufacturer.
Honda has now languished at the back of the grid for nearly two years, but chose to throw all its resources into preparing for 2009 earlier this year, so is tipped to start recovering next season - especially with the extremely highly-rated Brawn now at the helm.
However Alonso could yet have other options at Ferrari if Raikkonen decides to retire, or BMW if the German squad drops Nick Heidfeld.
Many in the paddock are convinced that Ferrari has already signed Alonso to replace Raikkonen when the reigning champion steps down - most likely at the end of 2009.
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