Fernando Alonso is unlikely to get an early return to the F1 cockpit over a race weekend this season after team p🍨rincipal Cyril Abiteboul played down the prospect of💦 an FP1 outing.

Renault form🌸ally confirmed Alonso – its 2005 and 2006 F1 World Champion – will return to the team for the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship season in what will be his first outing in the top tier since he parted ways with McLaren at the end of 2018.

It marks his third stint with Renault, foll🥀owing his title-winning turns between 2003 and 2006, before winning two more races with the manufacturer between 2008 and ꦉ2009.

His ret꧙urn comes after much heated speculation in recent weeks prompted by Daniel Ricciardo’s decision to leave Renault at t🅰he end of the year.

However, while it means Renault’s line-up is set for 2021 and Alonso is not tied to any other team, he won’t take the opport𒊎unity to reacquaint himself with F1 machinery with an F1 outing because ‘he doesn’t need it’.

“I don’t think he needs an FP1 to get familiar with procedures in an F1 car,” Abiteboul said. “We ha🐎ve the possibility of running him in a 2018 car, to confirm we have no plans.

“He will at some point get to our factory and meet our🎐 team, he knows some members, some people are new and it is a great opportunity for him to spend some time in advance to get familiar with the team and the way we are working.”

The retu༺rn will be 16 years since Alonso lifted his second world title with Renault, with Abiteboul saying the Spaniard will be a huge boost for the younger members who would have been at school when he was first triumphing.

“It will be a boost for staff motivation and a lot of people will have joined who would have been at school when Fernando won his first 🎀title with us. We will try to take the opportunity of what he can bring to the team but I don’t think [practice] is necessary for him.”