Here we go again; summer’s here, the temperatures are sky high, there’s a long three week gap between races and Max Mosley and FOTA have gone quiet.
If a vacuum is created something will come along to fill it and in this case it is the Spanish sports paper AS claiming that Ferrari is set to announce its deal with Fernando Alonso at the Italian Grand Prix in September.
According to AS, Monza is where important Ferrari announcements are made (true up to a point) and the traditional end of season Ferrari celebration has been booked in for November at the Valencia circuit (the permanent one, not the F1 street track) in order to celebrate the arrival of the Spanish driver many in the team feel they should have hired in 2006.
“We are not going to waste our time commenting on speculation. Everyone should remember that Massa and Raikkonen have contracts which include 2010,” team spokesman Luca Colajanni is quoted as saying to Gazzetta dello Sport.
I’ve posted on this before, if anyone wants to look back it was during Monaco weekend and just after Christmas last year. Alonso is a Ferrari driver, the deal is done and it is looking increasingly possible that he will drive in 2010 rather than 2011. Who knows whether they will announce it at Monza, but the story fills the news vacuum at the moment.
What I will say is that back in 1995 there were many rumours that Michael Schumacher was going to be announced as a Ferrari driver. The Ferrari press office issued a press release on 20th June which said,
“Ferrari would like to express, for the umpteenth time and with maximum clarity that all stories relating to negotiations with the driver Michael Schumacher are totally false.”
A few weeks later FIAT patriarch Gianni Agnelli announced the signing of Schumacher and new era began.
Fingers crossed, I’d love to see Alonso in a competitive car again. He drives the wheels off that Renault and deserves a shot in top team with backing from the team itself (i.e. not what he got at McLaren!).
so we have back to the future option 🙂
how many cars are ferrari going to have in 2010!? alonso, massa, kubica, vettel?
Don’t forget Raikkonen and Rossi. Half the grid will be red. I hope those Santander fellows have plenty of cash.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
First of all, James thanks for wonderful website and twitter!
You are now my practically prime source of info, as the websites mostly give loads of crap these days.
Going back to the topic of Ferrari and Alonso, I think he will replace Raikkonen in 2010 and I sincerely hope it will happen so. Ferrari needs Alonso, not only in terms of raw skill and ability but a little southern flair.
Fingers crossed then!
Interesting interview with Jean Alesi in this month’s F1 Racing about Schumacher in 1995.
Both Todt and Montezemolo told him twice that Schumacher wasn’t joining Ferrari in 96. It was only Flavio Briatore that told him the truth, which lead to him moving to Benetton the next year.
The last people to pay attention to are Ferrari themselves.
This also made me smile: “We are not going to waste our time commenting on speculation. Everyone should remember that Massa and Raikkonen have contracts which include 2010”
They don’t want to ‘waste time commenting’ but then go on to comment about KR and FM having 2010 contracts.
Contracts mean nothing if both parties are happy to end them early.
Bye bye Kimi.
What’s Italian for “umpteenth”?
“ennesima”
To state the obvious on the 2010 issue, it surely can’t be conicidental that Kimi’s entered into a fully fledged WRC round in Finland post Hungary…
Generally, Ferrari doesn’t dump drivers while contracts are valid. Are there any hidden criteria in the contracts !!!!!! Anyway, it looks like ALS0N0 will be there in 2011 at the farthest.
I’d imagine Alonso and his advisors\agent et al are trying to get him into the best seat possible asap… the Renault hasn’t been good this season *; frequently Alonso’s popped it into the top ten, only to find out he’s fuelled (very!) light.
* – or for that matter, last season and the one before, in fact Renault have struggled since the Mass Damper incident AND since Michelin left F1.
Alonso won’t return to Macca. Brawn might be feasible, taking Rubens age into consideration (sorry Rubens!), however, how good will they be next season – who knows!? BMW have struggled this year, as have Ferrari, however the scarlet cars seem to be improving (they should do, they have the clout!)… it makes perfect sense for Alonso to end up at Ferrari, but if he doesn’t do it soon, the likes of Kubica and Vettel will pinch his spot.
Id like to see him go there. Im not a great fan of Alonso but I think he is what they need at the moment.
Hi James
I cannot remember if it was you or one of the other more reliable, high profile journos who said this, but hasn’t Kimi signed up for Williams?
Er no. Not me. I reckon Kimi will go rallying when he leaves F1. He won’t drive for another team after Ferrari.
Not that I know Mr Allen or wish to stick up for him (he can do that for himself!) but Mav, are you implying that James isn’t reliable or high profile?
Kimi signed up for Williams??? That’s the funniest thing I’ve read in a very, very long time…!!!
Lol!
No. Not at all. I only ever seriously consider the opinons of a select few. For example, Roebuck, Henry, Hamilton, and of course JA.
Maybe is was pissed!
If raikkonen makes space, fine, but if they fire Massa it would be a complete joke. if they do, i will personally go to maranello and tell stefeno domenicalli exactly what a fool he realy is.
Why? Kimi is much more exciting driver to follow, and I’d really like to see him and Alonso battle it out on equal equipment. Besides, although Massa leads Kimi in the points at the moment (though neither driver has enough points to brag about it), Kimi has, in my opinion, been the better driver (outqualifying Massa with a heavier car etc.), although his performance still lags way behind his best drives.
If he is unmotivated to drive in F1 anymore, then by all means, he should switch to rallying. However, if it comes down to just who needs to go in order to make room for Alonso, it’d be stupid to kick Kimi instead of Massa (again, just in my opinion). But perhaps Alonso doesn’t want to be compared to Kimi, and requires this as a condition in the contract….
Let’s be serious.
Since when is qualifying position more important than points in F1?!
jano:
“Let’s be serious.
Since when is qualifying position more important than points in F1?!”
These days, qualifying is crucial in getting those all important points. Like I said, Massa certainly has a few points more at the moment than Kimi, but in my opinion that’s more due to Felipe having better luck with strategy in the last couple of races. Kimi certainly has much to impŕove, don’t get me wrong, but Kimi even in his worst drives just about as well as Felipe at his best (as can be seen at the moment: everybody’s complaining how poor Kimi is and how much Felipe has improved, yet Kimi’s results have been just as good as Felipe’s if not better. The only podium and front row place for Ferrari this year have been driven by Kimi.)
However, my point simply is that Kimi is much more exciting driver to follow, at his best he can do magic with his car. I don’t think anyone in the present grid can match the amount of raw talent that guy has: he came straight from formula Renault (winning most of his races), and finished on points in his first ever F1 race with a Sauber! His mid-season last year was very disappointing (a lot of that due to car and people running into him in red lights), and this year Ferrari isn’t doing well, but that’s hardly reason enough to forget what he can do when things go right. Felipe on the other hand… he has never been able to truly impress, at least me.
Kimi & Alonso fighting it with Ferraris… that would be something to see!
agree. Raikkonen looks like work, because he must. in my opinion, totally lack of commitment. Maybe he`s already thinking about rallying ?
What ever you may believe, yes Raikkonen won in 2007, or did Hamilton loose. Ferrari were massivly dissapointed with Raikkonen since they signed him. Massa showed himself to be just as or quicker than him. Whatever you may think, Raikkonen would’nt even have a championship if it was’nt for Massa in Brazil 07.
You mention qualifying, well Massa has beaten him in qualifying in 2007 and 2008. The season is’nt over yet so 2009 is a no go.
Raikkonen has to leave, he simply is not good enough.
He was a joke last year.
Massa has proved himself to be better than Raikkonen, but seeing how Ferrari now operate, they may make another stupid decision and keep Kimi.
I feel like I’m getting deja vu here! I never even mentioned Hamilton in my post, someone else did and we get the full debate on what happened in 2007 all over again!
James,
the reason why 2007 has been brought up is because if Alonso goes to Ferrari in 2010 his likely teammate I believe will be Massa. It will be very interesting to see what happens there. It has many similar shades to McLaren and 2007.
and another thing…
Alonso can be as constructive for Ferrari, like Schumacher. he`s not only the driver, he almost manage the team. I memorised this in one of the races (i don`t remember where whas that , probably in monaco 2009, when he gave the instructions to mechanics about using of right tires.)
Driver is not for driving these days, he must manage the team, that`s why Alonso is most complete driver.
The truth is i would be happy to see anyone other than Alonso in a Ferrari. Its funny how people forgot that he used ferrari information to cheat and he tried to blackmail his team boss. The guy is a disgrace, Ferrari should have Massa and Hamilton.
Thats a dream team.
yes, that`s true, but remember, that hes team was no 100 % fair with him. I would be mad on his position in 2007
I felt the same as Brundle when he said in the commentary “you tend to forget that Raikkonen’s still in Formula 1” and something about that he doesn’t figure.
Why is he seemingly lacking so much now? I thought he could have been the best driver in the world at one stage.
Ferrari problem it´s not their drivers , they´ve won several times in the last ten years. They didn´t won last year because of their lack of reability.
This year they built the best Kers car, but there are teams without kers that are faster.
Alonso would feet well at ferrari but i don´t see him going any faster then Massa or Raikkonen.
Let´s wait and see.
With Massa a title contender in 2007 and 2008 he’s hardly a man to be playing 2nd driver at Ferrari if Alonso does join.
We all know Alonso only works best when the whole team are behind him and the likes of Nelson “Barrier Boy” Piquet play second fiddle. Are ferrari really going to return to those days? I certainly hope not. I’ve never been the biggest Ferrari fan but have warmed to them in recent years with 2 great drivers battling for the championship.
Will Massa go somewhere else? Brawn maybe if Barichello goes. Would Vettel play second driver to Alonso? What if he wins more than Alonso does? More tantrums?
Actually that sounds quite exciting!
I’d like to see this happen for next season. Nothing against Kimi at all but I like to see how drivers compare against each other in the same car, so in my mind it’s time to shake it up (same thing with Jenson/Rubens and Lewis/Heikki). Best case scenario in my mind is a return to McLaren for Kimi (unlikely, I know) so we can compare the Finn to Hamilton. I’m also very curious to see how Fernando and Felipe would compare. Massa has fared much better compared to Raikkonen than I expected, but I’d still be suprised if he matched Alonso.
This signing seems like Ferrari wanting to go back to the team leader concept, rather than the relative equality Kimi and Massa share. This makes sense in so far as it worked for them before. As Fernando will command a hefty salary, it seems that dumping Kimi and his salary would make the most sense. However, I really think they’re missing the boat on Vettel. Vettel is younger and seemingly as quick as Alonso, but just doesn’t have the experience Fernando brings to the table. Yes, Fernando may be the better short term solution as far as developing the car (although that may be minimal with the loss of testing), but I would have preferred to seen Vettel signed to a long term contract. I wonder if Ferarri would entertain having both on the team some day.
Hi James,
First off thanks for picking this story up. I already saw that this had been published on one or two other sites, but none of them paid it anywhere near the same attention as you have.
I have a few of questions on this subject which you will hopefully be able to answer.
Is Alonso’s current Renault contract only for one year or does it have a performance clause which allows him to exit at the end of the season? Does the same apply for Ferrari with Raikkonen? If he fails to score “x” amount of points by the end of the year can Ferrari terminate his 2010 deal?
I think Raikkonen to the WRC seems about right. It would probably help their ailing sport, but in turn help Ferrari. The team is struggling and Raikkonen is not much help at all. There are no excuses this time. He just doesn’t seem bothered – the only time we ever really hear from Raikkonen in a race is when he pops in the fastest lap at the very end!
As an Alonso fan i’d be pumped to see my favourite driver in a Ferrari! it has the chance of being a great partnership and Ferrari need a man of Alonso’s genius to fight for the championships against the likes of Hamilton, Button, Vettel, Barrichello and Webber!
Ferrari should dump Massa not Raikonnen. Massa can’t overtake and only wins when he starts at the front. Raikonnen is a real racer, so is Alonso. They should put them together and have the dream team.
I wanted the dream team at McLaren when Alonso was announced in 2006 but Kimi was fed up then too. He was arguably the most talented ‘pure’ driver back then (i.e. not a master of car setup and team management like Alonso and Schumacher). But in ’05 and ’06 he was still driving the wheels off the McLaren despite its unreliability, and I was pleased he won a championship in 2007 even though it had to be in a Ferrari.
Now as Alonso looks to replace Kimi once more, Kimi looks like he’d rather be elsewhere. I’m not sure another change of team would fix it because he doesn’t have any of the PR requirements in his Ferrari contract that others would expect of him.
Did you watch the Canadian GP last year? i don’t remember somebody overtaking two cars at once. Also did you watch the Japanese GP in 2007, i think you should…
Massa can’t overtake, maybe he was too much at the front last year…
In Canada, Massa should have been at the front, not have to overtake two (slower) cars to get a few points. Kimi would have won that race anyway. I’m not saying Massa can’t overtake but Kimi is a better driver.
Kimi will most likely go, even if he is better. What would be good is Alonso and Vettel both signing for Ferrari, that would be a dream team.
I also feel Kimi will complete his contract at Ferrari and Alonso the same. Kimi nearly always stays for the full length and he has said he will. What if the racing next year is really good and Ferrari is fighting for wins (which is unlikly)…Kimi wouldn’t walk away from that.
All the talk about Kimi having “no motivation” is wrong, he is motivated in his own way. He loves racing, he gets paid to race and he does it well. Kimi doesn’t do all the fancy stuff and PR stuff beacuse he is a RACER. In Malaysia, Kimi has an ice cream, big deal…he retired because his car was not working fully, after that whenever he goes anywhere people will be saying “maybe he is getting an ice cream”. It’s just stupid, i’m sure all the drivers have had an ice cream before, but they don’t apparently have them all the time. It’s ridiculous thst Kimi had to put up with all of this, having said that he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks and thats why I like him. Why should he care?
So anyway back to the point, IF it happens it will be next year.
Well, if you followed F1 closely you would have known that in 2007 and 2008 Massa has made more overtaking moves than Raikkonen.
Hi James,
So with Alonso making the switch and bringing .6/sec more to Ferrari, where is Massa in all of this? still #2? Alonso doesn’t want the #2 seat, this is going to turn out to be 2007 all over again. Massa has grown quite a bit these past two seasons and has really shined for the reds. I don’t think he’ll want to continue being #2. Any news on him looking elsewhere when Alonso shows up?
I hadn’t even thought about Jeremys point. I can imagine Raikkonen not being bothered about status within a team, but not Alonso. I think that there is a potential for problems and conflict with either of the current Ferrari drivers, in a similar way to what happened at Mclaren, although less so with Kimi.
To be honest I have always questioned Massa’s position ot Ferrari. I sense that there is a move by Luca DM to rebuild Ferrari as an Italian team, and part of this is by removing the order that Jean Todt put in place. Since Massa was always a favourite of Todt, and managed by his son, I always thought his position was tenuous.
Alonso is considered to be the best driver out there and I would not disagree with that statement but would add that in time both Hamilton and Vettel have the potential to surpass him. Lets not forget that Alonso has much more experience than Hamilton and Vettel at the moment.
What will be interesting is to see how Alonso compares against Massa (likely to be driver staying at Ferrari I believe). Against Hamilton Alonso’s reputation took a bit of a dive. I know there are many factors that worked against Alonso that season but the fact of the matter was that the rookie just about beat him. Mention has been made of team’s support being behind Hamilton but the only team orders I was aware of was at the Monaco GP when it would appear that Hamilton was faster than Alonso but was not given the opportunity to race him.
At Renault Alonso has not had to worry about a teammate but against Massa who will be very motivated and is well eastablished at Ferrari the task will be harder and we have seen that Alonso does not react well to pressure. Also don’t forget his spat with Massa at Nurburgring in 2007. Expect more of the same.
Of course we could be about to endure a period of domination like Ferrari had with Schumacher at the start of the century. This could especially be so if Jean Todt takes over from Max Mosely. However, this time around Alonso will be facing better drivers than Schumacher did and Ross Brawn is a huge loss to Ferrari.
I don’t think the rookie “beat” Alonso, 109 points and 4 wins a piece.. plus if you consider 3 of Alonso’s wins (Malaysia, Monaco, and Italy) were head-to-heads against Hamilton where they finished one and two, though I acknowledge Hamilton did the same at Indy.
I also think it’s a myth that Hamilton was faster than Alonso at Monaco. I understand Lewis was compromised on his strategy but here are the facts:
– Alonso fastest in 2 of the 3 FP sessions.
– Alonso fastest in low-fuel quali.
– Alonso fastest in Q3 (albeit with less fuel).
– Alonso opened out a 9 second lead in the first stint of the race before traffic reduced it to 5-6 seconds (may still have been enough to counter Hamilton’s “5 laps” more of fuel).
– Alonso opened out the gap to 10 seconds in the second stint.
– Alonso made fastest race lap (1:15.284).
– Alonso made no mistakes, Hamilton hit the barriers a couple of times.
PaulL,
don’t forget Lewis Hamilton beat Fernando Alonso at Spain (2 – 3). Did Alonso not make a mistake at turn one? Hamilton destroyed Alonso at Canada (1 – 7). In Japan Hamilton won whilst Alonso crashed. Yes there was very little in it in 2007 but the rookie did beat his double world championship teammate. However, I accept that Alonso is the better of the two drivers but Hamilton has the potential to surpass in time.
With regards to the possibilty of Alonso going to Ferrari for 2010 there could well be shades of 2007 again. If Massa stays at Ferrari he will be highly motivated to prove his worth against Alonso and will be very familiar with the environment. Ultimately Alonso may come out on top but Massa will do enough to dent Alonso’s world championship chances (unless Ferrari are vastly superior). As a consequence of this Alonso once again will not react positively.
Hmm not sure which drivers you are referring to but one of the biggest challenges Alonso will face is Massa.
The same good qualifying driver that Schumacher out-qualified most of the time with heavier fuel load.
And I don’t see Alonso doing the same.
Agree with Paul.
Lewis did not beat Alonso in 2007, but Alonso did not beat Lewis either. They were both beat by the driver with the most wins, Kimi Raikkonen.
Hmmm, according to the FIA Lewis did beat him.
Renault are screwed when Alonso leaves, I have a bad feeling if he goes to Ferrari he could win the championship blindfolded though.
Also have to feel a bit sorry for Massa, he’s always been the second driver at Ferrari, now he’s got a two-time champion to contend with.
Excuse me? Did you not watch the 2007/2008 and current season?
He was given equal opportunity as along as he can match his teammate and in late 2008 Kimi had to support him.
If you meant Massa was always been an underdog, yes I agree but then he has the opportunity to outshine a double world champion. The pressure is on Alonso, not him.
Alonso is the best and needs to be in a good car. Renault is a good team but can’t give him the car he deserves. Alonso in a Ferrari against Lewis in a McLaren, this can only be good for us!
I want to see Alonso in the Ferrari if McLaren have a competitive car as well. The HAM/ALO fire needs to be reignited for some exciting racing. This season has been too boring.
I love Formula 1, Im going Uni to study a degree in Aerodynamics in September, hopefully get a job in one of the teams, that’s how passionate I am about the sport.
But I have to agree with Jason, I am finding this season extremely boring. Just thinking back to last year, I would never miss a live qualifying session or race, even if it was on the middle of the night or if I had an exam the next Monday morning. All my plans would have to be arranged around Formula one I just couldn’t miss a session. However this season its just too boring, we don’t have any fierce battles between drivers, I mean we have Vettel vs Button this season but personally I wouldn’t call that a battle between the drivers. Anyways thank God or whoever created Moto Gp, anyone who doesn’t follow Moto Gp I would advice them to give it try, you wont be disappointed.
By the way Im a McLaren fun and I just wish we could have Alonso back that would be fantastic, why can’t McLaren just kiss and make up with Alonso?
Ace,
For Alonso to go to McLaren I would assume that he would want those demands met that he made to Ron Dennis: to be made clear number one. Given what the reluctance to accede to these demands costs McLaren I think it unlikely that they’ll agree now.
For McLaren to accept Alonso, well there’s a lot of history to overcome first. At the Stepneygate punishment the fact that Pedro de la Rosa and Alonso conspired with others to obtain Ferrari information was not the issue: they both said that they did and McLaren did not contest it. The only point in issue was how far into McLaren the information went. Despite P. d. l. Rosa’s contention that it went little further than him and Alonso, the panel, for whatever reason, decided that despite any evidence to the contrary they could not accept what he alone said. All it needed was a statement from Alonso agreeing with his countryman.
I would assume that this omission would take a lot to forgive.
So with McLaren’s reluctance to go for a one-man team and Alonso’s reluctance to accept the need for some degree of loyalty, I think the alliance is doomed.
And that doesn’t take into consideration Santander’s nationalistic streak.
I like the idea of Kimi to McLaren alongside Hamilton. That should be a pairing worth watching. We’d soon see then if the latter has, as he suggests, grown up.
probably alonso kicking his ass would give kimi the motivation he needs! and we will have a great fight between them…
i dont understand why all the journos and everyone has a negative opinion about kimi..that he has lost motivation n stuff..
in this season so far kimi has been the faster driver than massa
if you are to dump one person to vacate a place for alonso
why not dump massa
if you compare both the drivers in the pass 3-4 years
you know which guy won the championship and which guy crumbled under pressure at crucial times to lose it by 1 point
i hope 2010 is not the end of f1 career for kimi even it is i hope he wins and leave the f1 world
Alonso will have no problem to beat Massa. The only question I have is whether the Ferrarri can return to their razor-sharpe race management under Ross Brawn. To me, that has been the major factor contributed to underperformance in 08 and 09. Alonso will definitely handle that situation both than Kimi and Massa.
The best places for Kimi to go is Brawn GP. Also he may return to McLaren. I wish he can find his somewhat lost speed in a good team.
James,
You wake up to find that you’ve won the majority shareholding of FIAT in the Italian lottery, and Domenicali is on the phone urgently asking which of the two current Ferrari drivers to retain next year. He needs your decision immediately.
It’s a poor line from Italy, the signal’s about to die and you’ve got only a few seconds to make the choice.
Which one would you fire?
Everyone seems to have forgotten that next year Ross and Button will still be at Brawn, and Newey and Vettel will still be at Red Bull. What indication is there that Ferrari will magically appear at the front of the grid, even with Alonso? The way things stand now, a move by Alonso to Ferrari would be a move from one midfield team to another. Why should he bother?
Ferrari is the only team on the grid that has built a consistently quick car that has challanged for the title. Apart from this season and 05 with stupid tyre rules.
Brawns car is one in a million, and he will never be able to replicate it. The facts are brawn was built with 5 windtunnels and had a 1 year head start on the competition.
Redbull, is quick, but not consistent.
Ross Brawn is perfectly capable of replicating this year’s success. With decent sponsorship (which must come) and backing from Mercedes (which is coming) his team will be well placed next year.
As to Red Bull, consistency goes hand in hand with success…nothing wrong with their consistency so far this year. Why would that change?
No doubt, Ferrari will improve, as they always do. But, they have such a long way to go, that a jump all the way to front of the grid next year seems unlikely to me. And, the caliber of team management is definitely not what it used to be.
I think Ferrari has a strong relationship with Massa he has been part of Ferrari since 2003, as tester and since 2006 as a full driver. Since them he has developed very well and last year was the most improved driver of all the field. He realy put in his place all the press corps, after tons of criticism, he lost the championship on for Ferraris fault, just 2 races were lost by engine failure and the refueling disaster.
Kimi did very well in 2007 and he fought hard in the last stages of the championship, but since them he has been behind Massa.
Ferrari will keep Massa for sure
Y’know, until last year, I had Massa down as being Alesi 2.0
Now I’m not sure I was wrong.
Interesting opinions, but let’s not forget, Banco Santander is moving to sponsorship Ferrari, as it did in 2007 going to McLaren with Alonso, money is the key….
Banco Santander in a team = Alonso in this Team.
Cheers.
Yes that is correct!
I think it would be a shame if Raikkonen were to leave now. I feel he has got more out of the car than Massa this year – ouqualifying him by a considerable margin in more races than not and finishing on the podium at Monaco – and his qualifying speed hasn’t translated to the race because of bad luck as much as anything – Turkey, he was heavier than Massa but still ahead on the grid yet had an appalling start from the dirty side of the grid and finished out of the points. At Silverstone he lost out heavily because of strategy (ironically because he made it to Q3), finishing way behind Massa, not because of a lack of speed.
Maybe his motivation has dwindled slightly – who knows? – but he is not crumbling and being destroyed by Massa as some sensationalists might claim. I believe he’s still got the speed and deserves to be in F1 next year, and I don’t see Alonso being significantly faster than Massa, if at all.
I totally agree with that comment! I think they will announce Alonso for Ferrari at Monza, But for 2011 not 10! Hopefully Kimi can have a turn around in form, at the second half of the year, But with Ferrari basically admitting they are giving up on this years car, This will be hard! Next up is the Nurburgring Kimi has always liked this place, So hopefully we can see a solid top 5 position.
Renault Team Radio after Alonso crossed the line, Brazil 2006.
Pat Symonds: “I hope if you are not in a position to win in the future, that you will support us.”
Fernando Alonso: “I will, as long as you don’t paint your cars in red.”
And now Alonso has signed with Ferrari and doing everything to get there as soon as possible.
He might be a 2 time WDC. But he isn’t worth a penny.
The least of Ferrari’s problems are their drivers. Fernando wouldn’t be doing any better than Massa or Kimi in that car.
This is very interesting: which driver would make way for Alonso?
On the face of it you would have to say Raikkonen, but then again, I don’t think Massa and Alonso really get along very well at all do they? remembering back to Germany 2007, that was pretty ugly and I don’t think they have really buried the hatchet have they?
This may be just like 1995/6 with both drivers leaving the team.
tarun – I am not a massive Massa fan, but to say he crumbled to loose the championship by 1 point? He had to win the last race – He won it ; he couldn’t have done any more – after that it was out of his hands!
don’t forget that Man & machine made a F1 champion… both compliment each other and to be world champion with 2nd best car on the grid underneath him, at a last race with single point separate him and Lewis in 2007 prove that Kimi is the best.
however should he choose to switch to rally I will always support him and always know that he will give the maximum… I’m not suprised if one day he will become the only driver with both F1 and rally champion in his resume…
Alonso + Kimi = good team because they do respect each other and both was F1 champion. as we always know Kimi always support equal treatment be given to him and his team mate, and I believe Alonso will not request to became 1st. driver if Kimi is his team mate because he do respect kimi.
Alonso + Massa = repetition of schumacher era in Ferrari with Massa will become 2nd driver, do he become world champion again? time will tell, with Red bull still have andrian newey and vettel with them or Brawn under Ross Brawn …
Kimi + Vettel + best car on the grid = dream team, they’re good fren on & off track. Nobody will be able to beat them.
Given that there’s clear evidence that Alonso can’t handle racing alongside a competitive team mate, (Hamilton), there must be a fair chance of it all ending in tears unless Ferrari also replace Massa with someone like Piquet.
Or Alonso will have ensured that his contract says that he will be the clear No 1 driver and will always have a better car – new updates going on his car first, first choice of strategy etc..
Either way, Massa will lose out, unfairly in my view.
Perhaps he is going to be the reserve driver for 2010 and sit it out on the pit wall all year like Brendan Hartley has been doing for the first half of this year for Red Bull/Toro Rosso (and Jaime Alguersuari will be doing for the second half of the season) not being able to get any time in in the cars due to the stupid restrictions on testing time!
Massa in his best form can match Kimi in his worst form….Fernando and Kimi would be a dream for Ferrari, 2 years ago Luca had already expressed the fact that he wants to see them in one team. We will see. Kimi is bored of not being in the front and not winning…
Yes – one of the worst kept secrets in F1: Alonso to Ferrari
Santander moving sponsorship to Ferrari next year only seeks to guarantee the move in 2010 (Spanish sponsorship – Spanish driver)
It is clear that it’s Kimi who will leave at the end of this season… lack of consistency and wayward commitment is now an issue when the scarlet cars are not performing (maybe it was more tolerable when the cars were leading the pack)
I agree with James that he will not race in F1 again and this will be his last season in the sport
The intersting situation though, will be Massa.
Will Massa really want to be in the same team as Alonso. He surely saw the effects of Lewis in 2007. Fernando likes sub standard no.2 drivers. I am not sure Massa is now in that category and if Massa is given a good car will beat Alonso some of the time – how frequently remain to be seen but that was the one of the causes of problems in 2007.
The other problem at McClaren in 2007 was that the team had a strong Lewis core. I would now argue Massa has achieved major follwoing and respect from the Ferrari garage also.
I cannot see Massa staying if Alonso joins – or if he does stay prepare for major fireworks next year to rival the McClaren year.
Ironic how Kimi is going to the WRC in Finland after Hungary. It was in Hungary where Lewis and Fernando kicked off – and doors were ripped off by Alonso in Ron’s office.
Wonder if any kick off reaction will happen this year…?
For someone who thinks to know a lot about what happened between Alonso and Hamilton in 2007, is bizzare you don’t even spell the team’s name correctly.
Bad news for me. I’ve never liked Alonso and always been massively fond of Ferrari. If this deal happens from 2011 (or 2010) I will only be supporting one Ferrari car. Sad days 😦
Kimi is clearly not interested in F1… Massa seems much more committed to the team… Alonso and Massa would be a great driver team for 2010… Kimi and Alonso… another year of Kimi and Massa… I just can’t see it.
Alonso still has years left in his career and is one of the best drivers on the grid – let’s see him equal Prost and approach Shcumacher’s record of WCs…
keep kimi raikkonen and let Massa to Mclaren. Kimi and Alonso would be one hell of a team, like Senna and Prost.
I think Kimi is bored, he knows he can’t win or come anywhere near the front, why should he bother trying when there is no hope!
It’s a trudge going round and round at the same speed same corner each time.
Conversely WRC offers possible near, or actual, death every few seconds, you don’t know the course, your navigator is shouting the next but one bend in your ear, you are in the air half the time and rarely have more than 60% traction. A totally different skill set which depends heavily upon your car control, concentration and luck in missing roadside hazards like milestones and trees. Its the sort of thing to get a Kimi excited. F1, in fact all circuit racing, obtains its speed by the drivers learning the circuit millimetre perfect. Highly skilful and far far more difficult than it looks but still repetitive a spectator sport for us fans; whereas to watch rallying, you need to trek for miles into the wilds and stand with one leg longer than the other in the rain or snow for hours to see cars in one small section. If its not raining the dust will make it impossible to see anything.
So how much do Ferrari still get from Marlborough? I thought it had been banned, but the red barcode is still very evident as a logo even if the wordmark is not shown. Also I noticed they are still in MotoGP.
Lets not make assumptions about a miraculous recovery next year by Ferrari, it took several years for them to recover last time; but Alonso is not Schumacher.
Partially disagree with the last point Rpaco. He’s not Schumacher in a team building and motivating sense, but he’s on his level as a driver and a getter of results and that inspires the blokes on the shop floor and in the drawing office
Have to agree to disagree then James, because while we do agree that Schumi has/had leadership and team building qualities that Fernando lacks; I don’t agree that Alonso is on a par with Michael as a driver.
Schumi is/was a better developer of a car in terms of feedback to the team. (OK I have to concede that it may have been Ross that was part of the magic ingredient there)
Well we shall see.
I can’t see Kimi going to the WRC given the state it is in. Everyone else seems to be going the other way.
I thought possibly WTC but since that crossed my mind it seems to be about to implode (WRC, not my mind). The FiA GT series is about as healthy as my dog Sirius, and he’s been dead some 17 years.
Kimi could leave the confines of the FiA and join the ACO of course. There aren’t so many LMS races and the 24 Hour has enough of the press present for him to patronise. Or even ALMS. That would increase its drawing power. But not WRC as gainful employment: I just can’t see it. Mind you, nor will any of us the way the FiA is treating it.
Three cars please
Hmmm….
And here we are again….
Alonso getting on with a team mate on equal terms?… don’t see it myself….
So that means losing Felipe for sure…
And as for the Kimster…. there is one sure thing that Kimi doesn’t give a toss about, and that’s who his team mate is… although he’d never agree to be formally the number 2 driver….
I think Alonso and Kimi could live together (although I am not sure that Fernie would want that) but I am really not sure about Alonso and Massa….
As for the idea that Alonso and Vettel will end up in the same team…. dream on guys…. Alonso won’t get into a car anywhere near “young Seb”….
Hi James,
Love your blog! How do you figure that Alonso may be driving at Ferrari next year? Both Kimi and Felipe have contracts. I would assume that if Alonso goes to Ferrari next year, then Kimi would have to be dropped as I can’t imagine Ferrari paying two mega salaries. Or perhaps they can?
But you know, Kimi gets a lot of slack and while I think that some of it is deserved, I don’t really think that Ferrari has produced a championship car. It is my opinion, that if they would have concentrated all their resources with one driver (a la schumacher), Kimi would have won the title last year if not come close to it. But they chose equal status and as a consequence developed a car that did not suit Kimi’s driving style. This year the car is crap, and therefore not much to do.
We should take note that both Alonso and Hamilton are also driving crap cars! My point here being that there just so much a driver can do; if the car is bad then the car is bad. Perhaps it’s the same with Kimi. But I guess he makes an easier target as he has that ” I don’t give a damn” attitude.
So, if you are correct and Alonso drives a Ferrari nextseason, who in your opinion should go? Massa or Raikkonen