Andretti says Renault need Bourdais

That is the view of former world champion Mario Andretti, who thinks the team are suffering from the loss of Fernando Alonso and should now seek out a superstar replacement.

"I think they underestimated how important the talent of the driver is, and when they lost a real talent - Alonso - they weren't able to replace him," said Andretti in an interview with Autosport's Nigel Roebuck on the United States Grand Prix website.

"(Heikki) Kovalainen is probably a good rookie, but he hasn't shown a hell of a lot yet, and Fisichella is ... well, Fisichella! No matter what you put him in, he will not give you consistent performance."

Andretti does not believe that all of Renault's current difficulties are the result of the team's switch to Bridgestone, and thinks that the signing of Bourdais would be perfect for their circumstances.

"Well, I'll only buy that so much, to be honest with you," Andretti said about the theory that Renault have lost form by the move away from Michelin. "I think it's a great excuse - I remember that's what Ferrari used to say all the time.

"I think if you put Alonso back in that car, he'd have it up to speed in no time. However, he's gone now, and if you ask me, the guy they need is Sebastien Bourdais. To me, he's a hell of a race driver. He ought to be in F1, and I think he would have been a perfect fit with Renault.

"Flavio Briatore's a guy who's proud of not paying superstar money to a driver, but I'm sure if they'd been paying Alonso what he deserved, he might well have stayed there. Maybe they thought they had such a good car that they could get by without a superstar driver, I don't know."