Raikkonen-Alonso driver swap

[rkn]

http://totalf1.com/view-article.php?newsid=183470

Nonsensical

09/11/2006

Renault has reacted to a report that it, along with McLaren, was considering a driver swap earlier in the season.

According to the British magazine Autosport, McLaren and Renault considered the idea of swapping Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, at a stage when the Spaniard was "unhappy with the way his relationship with (team boss) Flavio Briatore was developing".

The move would have seen Alonso take over Raikkonen's McLaren, with the Finn being placed in the championship winning R26.

Other than getting away from Briatore, one fails to see how Alonso would have benefited from such a move, especially when one considers that this is the first season since 1996 in which McLaren has failed to win a single race.

Raikkonen, on the other hand, would have benefited greatly, though it is unclear how such a move would have affected his long-term move to Ferrari.

Asked by Pitpass for a response to the Autosport claim, a Renault spokesman used the word "nonsensical", which is slightly different to the one-word response we expected, though it too began with a consonant... albeit ending with... ollocks

Source Pitpass.com

This cant be true or?
Has anybody heard of this before, and does anybody know when Kimi signed for Ferrari? By what Todt after Monza, said it seemed like the contract was signed quite some time ago... He said he had a laugh whenever he saw team executives accompaigning Kimi to private meetings. Would it even be possible for Renault to "rent" Kimi for the remainder of the season if he signed with Ferrari, say... in may?

[DaveKillens]

Back in the spring there were lots of different rumors. The only sure thing was that Alonso has signed with McLaren in '07. No one knew what Kimi would do, but it was obvious he was unhappy with his race car. There was a rumor that Shu would stay on in '07, Kimi was signed to Ferrari, but that he would be loaned to Renault in '07. But in hindsight, how funny they seem now.
Rumors, just unfounded speculation.

[Reca]

Has anybody heard of this before, and does anybody know when Kimi signed for Ferrari? By what Todt after Monza, said it seemed like the contract was signed quite some time ago... He said he had a laugh whenever he saw team executives accompaigning Kimi to private meetings. Would it even be possible for Renault to "rent" Kimi for the remainder of the season if he signed with Ferrari, say... in may?

AFAIK Kimi signed with Ferrari between August, after Hungary, and October.