Renault want Alonso back

The world champion is frustrated at not being given preferential treatment over his rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton and could be looking for a quick exit strategy at the end of the season.

If he does leave the British team then Renault boss Flavio Briatore, who steered the 26-year-old Spaniard to successive world titles in 2005 and 2006 (pictured), would love to have him back.

"I told Fernando that the moment he is free from McLaren, we would be pleased to have him back," Briatore told Gazzetta dello Sport. "It would be stupid to deny that."

Briatore said that he would not make the same 'mistake' as McLaren chief Ron Dennis and would make it clear that Alonso would be the undisputed number one driver should he return.

"If before signing the contract they [McLaren] told Fernando: 'come with us but you won't have any sort of advantage', he wouldn't have gone.

"If you hire a world champion, then you must give him the number one status. Look at Michael Schumacher."

Briatore's comments came on the same day that Ferrari team chief Jean Todt publicly denied that he would be prepared to off-load Felipe Massa in a bid to get Alonso into the Italian team for next season.

He thinks that the Brazilian will be a much better team-mate for Kimi Raikkonen than Alonso would.

"I wonder: would it be positive to team up Alonso and Raikkonen? The time when you could have two strong drivers in the team are over.

"Now it's important that the roles, number one and two, are clear, otherwise you risk to destabilise the team."

Alonso's frustrations within McLaren became clear when he held up team-mate Hamilton in the pits during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, preventing the Brit from having a final lap while he took pole position.

The bad feeling that emanated from his five-place grid penalty and McLaren's banning from scoring constructors' points in that race soon manifested itself in an ugly episode as Formula One's spy scandal unfolded.

Dennis said that Alonso had tried to bribe him into giving him number one status by threatening to give emails that proved McLaren had knowledge of Ferrari technical secrets leaked to the team, to investigators the FIA.

Dennis did not budge and informed the FIA himself that the information existed, further straining relations between himself and the driver, who has won four races this year and trails Hamilton by 12 points in the championship.

Alonso continues to insist that he is happy to stay at McLaren next year even though Hamilton has publicly said: "It would be better if he left."

Any move for the world champion would mean either Giancarlo Fisichella or Heikki Kovalainen leaving the team.