Fernando Alonso is ready to return to Formula One, with the former double world champion understood to have had talks with Renault regarding taking a seat in 2021. Alonso left F1 in 2018 but his manager, Flavio Briatore, said the Spaniard’s time away has left him motivated to make a comeback. Moves in the drivers’ market last week, specifically Daniel Ricciardo switching to McLaren from Renault, have left the French manufacturer with an open seat. Alonso won both his titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006 while Briatore was the team principal. “Fernando is motivated,” Briatore told Gazzetta dello Sport. “A year out of Formula One has done him good. He has detoxed himself and I see him more serene and ready to return.” McLaren’s chief executive, Zak Brown, believes that Renault should snap up their former driver. “I think he’s undecided, and if I was running Renault, that’s who I’d put in the car,” he said. “Big name, fast as anyone, won two championships with them, so he’s got history. From a Renault perspective I think he’s a bit of a no-brainer to put in.” Alonso left F1 disillusioned after four years in an uncompetitive McLaren but has enjoyed success away from the sport. In 2018 he won Le Mans at his first attempt and repeated the feat a year later. He won the Daytona 24 hours last year and led at the Indy 500 in 2017 before suffering a mechanical failure. He is eager to win at Indy, to add to his victories at Le Mans and Monaco and complete motor racing’s triple crown. He is due to race at the Brickyard this year for McLaren’s Arrow McLaren SP team. Any comeback at Renault would represent a major commitment for Alonso. The team have been targeting a return to challenging ‘the big three’ but have made slow progress. Alonso is also 38 and a return with Renault would likely take at last two or three years to show results. Jenson Button drove alongside Alonso at McLaren in 2015 and 2016 and was doubtful the Spaniard would want to return to the sport for a team that is currently firmly placed in the midfield. “If Renault were close to the front and he could see the chance of podiums, wins in 2021 and 2022 he would jump at the chance,” he said. “But it is going to be a longer process than that if they do get to the front. It will be four-plus years and he doesn’t have that time and I don’t think he is willing to put in that time.”