Renault Won't Pay 'Big Money' for a Driver

Team boss Flavio Briatore has made it clear that his team will not break the bank to keep hold of Alonso after his contract with the outfit expires at the end of next year.

"Formula One is not a one-man band," said Briatore to British reporters at the Belgian Grand Prix. "We would never pay a driver big money to come to us.

"We don't pay $20 million or $30 million for one man. There are 800 people in this company and everything they do is important to the result we get on a Sunday afternoon.

"Always I try to create a driver for this team, this business, and at the moment we have the best driver for less money."

Alonso will likely be hot property for the 2007 season - although Briatore has said that he has no shortage of talented drivers ready to be slotted in if the Spaniard is tempted to switch outfits.

"If Fernando were to go, I bring in [Heikki] Kovalainen," he explained. "As I say, it is not just about the driver. Look at what Michael [Schumacher] has done this year. As good as he is, he has not been able to make a difference to Ferrari.

"I would not pay £25 million for another driver. We are very modest in that respect. Besides we are not like other teams. We do not take from them. We create.

"When I arrived in 2000/2001 everybody was disappearing. We had to put together a team, develop everything from nothing. People forget in our first race in Australia, our cars were the last on the grid, behind the Minardis.

"It was even more difficult at Benetton. What we achieved there was a miracle. This is a second miracle."