Alonso denies escape clause in Renault contract

By Alan Baldwin

MANAMA (Reuters) - Fernando Alonso denied on Thursday that he had an escape clause in his contract with Renault that might allow him to leave for Ferrari at the end of the Formula One season.

"I don't remember that clause and I signed for two years with Renault," Spain's double world champion told reporters at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"But as we saw last year, the contracts are always very flexible."

Pressed again on whether there was any clause allowing him to leave early, he replied: "No."

Reports from Spain last week quoted Alonso, who left McLaren at the end of last year after just one season of a multi-year contract with the Mercedes-powered team, suggesting he had an option to leave.

However the 26-year-old said on Thursday he was not giving up on Renault, the team with which he won his titles in 2005 and 2006, despite them being off the leaders' pace in the opening races.

"We are disappointed about our performance in the first two races, but it is not the time to give up at the moment, we keep working as hard as we can and then we see at the middle of the season, or the end of the season, where we are," he said.

"For next year there is a big change of rules it seems.