Alonso to join Ferrari in 2011 - report

Eurosport - Mon, 29 Dec 16:46:00 2008

Fernando Alonso has a secret agreement to join Ferrari for four years from 2011, according to Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

2008 Brazilian GP Renault Alonso - 0

The twice Formula One world champion has never hidden his desire to go to the Italian team and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo recently fuelled the ongoing speculation by refusing to rule out the Spaniard's future arrival.

The newspaper said the deal had several get-out clauses for both sides but added that Alonso could join Ferrari even earlier, in 2010, if 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen follows this year's disappointing season with another bad campaign.

By contrast, Alonso was in impressive form after returning to Renault following a difficult season at McLaren, despite not having a car competitive enough to challenge for the title.

The 27-year-old won two races, in Singapore and Japan, and finished fifth in the standings for Renault, with whom he won the 2005 and 2006 world championships.

Ferrari have Raikkonen and this year's title runner-up Felipe Massa under contract until the end of 2010, while Alonso's current deal with Renault also runs for two more seasons.

A Ferrari spokesman would not comment on the reports, apart from saying: "We can only repeat that we have two drivers signed to the end of 2010".

Reuters

Comment 148 - 167 of 187

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  1. 4 years champ Alonso 2011 onwards

    no doubts with­ proposed changes

    From pam_wallis60, on Tue 30 Dec 9:07PM
  2. I likie the Idea of Alonso as Ferrari Champion, becouse­ after Shumi was gone is nathing there, and Alonso­ hasdemostrate that he can be so good as Shumi, with the­ best car in F-1 for decades, (FERRARI). I hopethat will­ be a reality.

    From mixcoac, on Tue 30 Dec 9:00PM
  3. Let’s meet La Gazzeta. This is Wikipedia’s description,­ besides the pink (yes, pink) paper it’s printed­ on:
    "Although a wide range of sports are covered­ in the newspaper, football is given by far the majority­ of the coverage. With some 24-28 pages out of 40­ devoted to the sport on a daily basis, much of the­ journalism is speculative and sensationalist rather­ than the pure reporting of matches"
    Do you still­ believe this news are for real?

    From Officeboy, on Tue 30 Dec 8:07PM
  4. Since when are secret agreements known by just about­ everybody? Looks like this Italian sports journalists­ have nothing to do but writing science fiction. Ferrari­ has said no to Alonso at least twice. Once when he left­ Minardi and had to go as a test pilot to Renault, and­ again last season. Now they have Kimi and Massa for the­ next 2 years. So, there are not Alonsos in their way.­ Sometimes when there are no news, you have to invent­ them.

    From Officeboy, on Tue 30 Dec 7:34PM
  5. Well Mike it should be easy to find out who this fake­ mouron is:
    a) Recently escaped from a mental­ institution, and
    b) Such a coward that even online he­ has to pose as someone else.

    From BigBill, on Tue 30 Dec 6:58PM
  6. What you mean there's one that isn't?

    From Mike, on Tue 30 Dec 6:08PM
  7. MikeQ this is not the Mouron, this is someone­ impersonating the brain-dead one.

    From BigBill, on Tue 30 Dec 6:05PM
  8. So mouron Bill Mac & I are 3 months behind ? ­ Behind what exactly.
    Irrespective of his point of­ view, Bills comments are lucid, rational and contain­ substance. Yours on the other hand are vague,­ incoherent and insulting. Who do you think people are­ listening to ?

    From Mike, on Tue 30 Dec 5:53PM
  9. CATALIN, mikeq, doesn't make sense any time . what­ planet does this guy thinks he is on, he is three­ months behind.

    From touronroute, on Tue 30 Dec 5:23PM
  10. BILL MAC, once again you are three months behind what­ is allready signed, what a idiot you are, dont say what­ the media tell you to say , say what you think , dont­ quote rubbish.

    From touronroute, on Tue 30 Dec 5:18PM
  11. aperos I like your comments about Colin Chapman he­ truly was a great designer and as you say his only­ yardstick was to make the new car go faster than the­ old car - simple really.

    From BigBill, on Tue 30 Dec 4:47PM
  12. Good point Forza, can you imagine the affect this will­ have on Kimi and Filipe? Unless of course one of these­ two drivers has made a decision about his future and­ it's not at Ferrari.
    What we need to know about the­ Santander deal is how much it is worth to Ferrari­ because if it's enough and Santander want Alonso to­ drive next year for Ferrari then that is what will­ happen.

    From BigBill, on Tue 30 Dec 4:43PM
  13. Oh no!!! Not again!!

    From Forza Ferrari, on Tue 30 Dec 4:29PM
  14. I really have mixed feelings about Alonso possibly­ joining Ferrari. There's no denying that he­ probably is the most "complete" driver in F1,­ but he comes with a lot of baggage. Personally, I would­ rather see Ferrari go after Vettel or Hamilton. Before­ you crucify me for mentioning Lewis, and regardless of­ what he said, if McLaren stops producing a winning car,­ Lewis will be looking for another team. These guys want­ to win. However, I don't really expect that to­ happen.

    In any case, Ferrari would do well to focus­ on their current drivers. One is a former world­ champion and the other missed the title by 1 point. I­ fully expect Kimi to come back strong this year and­ give Lewis a good fight for the title.

    From Forza Ferrari, on Tue 30 Dec 4:23PM
  15. patriciajones46, SPOT ON COMMENT

    From I TYSON, on Tue 30 Dec 4:03PM
  16. BY BY MASSA

    From I TYSON, on Tue 30 Dec 4:00PM
  17. aperos marnio from peru knows about as much as a dead­ rat about anything in life!!

    From f1junky1000, on Tue 30 Dec 3:26PM
  18. Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicalli has stated­ recently that Schumachers "contract" at­ Ferrari is under revision!!!! Ferrari have decided in­ the credit crunch to re-assess all their outgoing­ payments due to "financial concerns in this­ uncertain future, and all contracts have to be reviewed­ to see what they bring to the team"....(not quite­ verbatim, but close enough from how i read­ it!)...Schumacher was a major stumbling block for di­ Montezemolo when it came to signing Alonso over­ Raikkonen, but with Schumacher and Todt both wanting­ Raikkonen, di Montezemolo found himself between a rock­ and a hard place when Alonso said he was going to­ Mclaren in December 2005!!! read all the books ­ :)

    From tEQUILLA sLAMMER, on Tue 30 Dec 3:20PM
  19. marnio from peru...........you are a nice person, but­ you dont really know much about cars and racing do you?­ :) Colin Chapman, look him up on Wikipedia, only­ made cars to go faster than his last one!!! He is­ like the Godfather of Formula 1, so find out more about­ him.......he was nice man and i think i hear he was­ very friendly......:) he was a great innovative­ designer of F1 cars, and everyone who remembers the­ great Ayrton in a 98T will tell you that too! :)

    From tEQUILLA sLAMMER, on Tue 30 Dec 3:05PM
  20. Isn't it great without the nutter copying and­ pasting the same old @#$% everyday? Looks like Yahoo­ has banned him and his MANY different alias's.­ Unfortunatley, he'll be back (unless he's been­ thrown in the loony assylum).
    Apart from a certain @#$%­ from Peru (which I doubt), we can enjoy a sensible F1­ debate while it lasts.

    From crispyduck, on Tue 30 Dec 12:45PM
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