Two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso is heading back to Renault for next season. The 26-year-old Spaniard announced his return to the French team yesterday 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. "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 would drive along with Nelson Piquet Jr.

"Fernando and Nelsinho will form one of the most exciting driver lineups 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."

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 on Friday when FIA decided against penalizing Renault for possessing confidential information about rival team McLaren.

"The truth is the first three weeks of November I took some holidays and enjoyed myself to no end, disconnecting from F1," Alonso wrote on his Website. "Deciding on (Renault) didn't take more than a week because myself, and the people who surround me, are all clear in what we want."

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

"We're talking about an important decision and I couldn't just return to any car by January ... logically, the pressure was zero," Alonso said.

Alonso finished third in the 2007 drivers' standings with 109 points.

Renault finished third in the constructors' championship.

Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher has advised his brother Ralf that it might be better to retire from Formula One rather than crawl around in an uncompetitive car.

Ralf, younger brother of the seven-time world champion, suggested this week that he could be about to leave the sport after an unsuccessful test with Force India in Spain.

Michael, who retired last year as Formula One's most successful driver after winning 91 grands prix, made clear he would support that decision.

"I don't know what his ambitions are, but crawling around in this car, I don't even know what it's called... He should not do that to himself," Michael Schumacher told Auto Motor und Sport magazine in Jerez, where he was testing for Ferrari last week.

"I've been saying to him for a long time that there are so many things in life you can do that are fun. He could still deliver good results but at the moment he doesn't have the right options."

Ralf Schumacher, winner of six grands prix with Williams from 2001 to 2003, left Toyota at the end of the season in October and has yet to find a drive for 2008. He said after his test on Friday that "it's possible that today was my last drive in a Formula One car."

Elsewhere, Nico Rosberg has agreed a new two-year contract with team Williams, ending speculation that he could move to McLaren as a replacement for Fernando Alonso.

Last month the Williams team confirmed that Japan's Kazuki Nakajima would race for them alongside Rosberg next season.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily December 11, 2007)