Alonso-Ferrari rumours resurface

Monday 29th December 2008

Rumours linking Fernando Alonso with Ferrari resurfaced on Sunday when the Italian newspaper, Gazetta dello Sport, published an article stating that the Spaniard has signed a four-year deal with the team from 2011.

Alonso was widely linked with Ferrari throughout last year after his future at Renault was in doubt but Kimi Raikkonen put a dampener on the speculation after electing to extend his current contract with the team.

Felipe Massa also secured his future with Ferrari and this left Alonso with no other choice than to continue with Renault after the team returned to their winning ways towards the end of the season.

But now, respected journalist Pino Allivei has reported that Alonso has agreed to a four-year deal as of 2011 with get-out clauses included for both sides.

It is also suggested that Alonso could possibly complete the move as early as 2010 if Raikkonen fails to improve his current form.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo did not shy away from his liking for Alonso and during a recent meeting with the press the Italian did little to try and hush the rumours.

When asked about the Spaniard, di Montezemolo said: "He's a fantastic driver, no question. I like him. Particularly in Japan he drove a great race. He's a champion and a team leader, but for the moment we don't have any problem with our current drivers.

"That is why we confirmed officially Massa and Kimi until the end of 2010. Life is long and in the future we will see. But for the moment we don't have any grey areas regarding drivers for the next two years."

A Ferrari spokesman declined to comment on the Gazzetta report, but told news agency Reuters: "We can only repeat that we have two drivers signed to the end of 2010."

Your Comments

robson

"alonso has incredible faith in ferrari also knowing full well the FIA have shown to be biased against ferrari on many occasions. best example was in 07 when mclaren cheated (so were rightly thrown out) but the FIA allowed the drivers to keep their points who got them in an illegal car. there is nothing so evil in sport as a bias to equal that one."

theyKilledKenny

"You're right sss2512 about your quote "This is in fact italian press you must understand. It's like the spanish press in many ways." But you forget to mention that the british press is about as bogus as they come; much like the National Inquirer. American Press is still the BEST by far aside from some of the hokie tabloids that congest the checkout stands with Rumor, and speculation much like the British press."

summerss

"TGovender you bring new meaning to the term "as thick as 2 short planks." Hamilton didn't win by default he won by scoring more points than every other driver. If you remove the pathetic attempts at sabotage by the stewards, he won by considerably more points and won 3 more races than anyone else. The likes of Prost, Senna and Schumacher didn't prove they were good enough by being mobile chicanes in underperforming cars, they proved they were good enough by winning consistently with what they had just like Hamilton is doing presently. You're parents obviously didn't buy you enough sweeties for christmas, you still have a sour taste in your mouth."