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

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  1. If Alonso's joining Ferrari is a secret, how is it­ that we all know about it? DON'T BELIEVE IT!­ Ferrari (or any other team, for that matter), would­ never sign a deal with a driver two years ahead of a­ season. Like Beast (comment #126) said, "this­ article means nothing"!

    From Rich L, on Mon 29 Dec 7:12PM

  2. So many new names have joined in . Have to wonder­ who's taken a second name other then ( Bernard ,­ Marion )

    From slimj, on Mon 29 Dec 7:11PM

  3. I'm amazed at how many Alonso fans think this will­ give him the opportunity to prove he's the best,­ they had the same car for a season and there was no­ better opportunity to prove it, instead Lewis proved he­ was just as good as the Spaniard. As for him winning­ the next two titles, 2009 is an unknown. If the car­ Honda was making is as good as Ross Brawn says and­ someone grabs that team then Mclaren and Ferrari could­ be almost runs. Who knows, Force India could hit the­ aerodynamic rules with pin point precision and be at­ the other end of the field to last year.

    From ginger_gitt, on Mon 29 Dec 6:31PM

  4. all in the effort to beat the great LH................I­ HOPE HE DRIVES WITH MASSA .BOTH WILL BE BEATEN BY LEWIS­ ANYTIME, ANYDAY

    From jasmin_baeni, on Mon 29 Dec 6:10PM

  5. This article means nothing

    From Beast, on Mon 29 Dec 6:09PM

  6. why not before 2011
    anyway double world champ Alonso­ can add 4 more world titles after this change
    meanwhile­ he could win again 2009/2010 if Renault improve enough

    From tttobyjug, on Mon 29 Dec 5:18PM

  7. vampirivm, Schumi could have stayed, Ferrari would have­ dropped Massa, but Kimi didn't have a must defer to­ MS clause in his contract, so Schumi had a choice­ retire or race his team mate on equal terms !

    From Mike, on Mon 29 Dec 5:01PM

  8. For the first time ever, Golf in the Kingdom has said­ something I can agree with.

    I'm a bit shocked.

    I­ do think Alonso is the best driver, with plenty of­ 'non driving' related faults, but to win 2­ titles with Renault was a huge achievement.

    I do­ think Ferrari make the best cars, having been either­ 1st or 2nd in the constructors for over a decade,­ I'm sure the extra money received helped, but they­ are usually the team to beat.

    I'm keen for the­ best drivers to be in the best cars, but we really need­ other teams to compete regularly so that Kubica, Vettel­ etc. can join Hamilton, Raikonnen, Massa and Alonso in­ competing for titles, I'd love to see a 6-way­ championship battle.

    From Scottish C, on Mon 29 Dec 2:25PM

  9. i wont be surprised ferrari are so lame they try to­ secure drivers sometimes 2 or 3 years before. thats­ what hapenned with kimi. theats why schumacher could­ not continue because they had another driver ready­ already on a pre contract.

    From vampirivm, on Mon 29 Dec 2:18PM

  10. Marion, your spelling and grammar are both terrible. ­ Nowhere in your endless tirade did you come close to an­ intelligent or sensible point.

    Go defile some other­ message board with your rants you @#$%.

    From Michael, on Mon 29 Dec 2:14PM

  11. yeah it might be an italian report and it might just be­ sensationalism, but Alonso not going to Ferrari? those­ who dont think it will happen really should think­ again. Alonso is a world champion, there are only two­ teams that will ever provide us with a world champion­ consistently and those teams are Ferrari or Mclaren.­ Alonso burnt his bridges at Mclaren. He will be going­ to Ferrari at some point. i'd put my grannies life­ on it.

    From Tom, on Mon 29 Dec 2:08PM

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    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP
    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: ­ PREMIER LEAGUE, LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA AND CHAMPIONS­ LEAGUE - UEFA CUP
    ALL THE HIGH-LIGHTS OF PREMIER­ LEAGUE MATCHES

    From , on Mon 29 Dec 1:52PM

  13. FANTASTIC !
    THE BEST CAR AND THE BEST DRIVER...!!!
    and­ maybe Vettel instead of Massa...

    From golf in the kingdom, on Mon 29 Dec 1:52PM

  14. This may be untrue, but who cares, there may well not­ be a Formula One Championship by 2011!

    From , on Mon 29 Dec 1:48PM

  15. MARION...........fxxk off back to the hole u crawled­ out of and learn correct english u silly little ugly­ twxt

    From fencer229009, on Mon 29 Dec 12:28PM

  16. For giving evidence against McLaren in the so called­ spy row, his reward is a drive with Ferrari!!!!
    It is­ all gonna come out soon and believe you me Ron Dennis­ for some reason is going to end up the good guy in all­ this JA JA JA.
    VI VA WILLIAMS F1

    From f1junky1000, on Mon 29 Dec 11:32AM

  17. Stick Alonso in a Red Pram and wheel him into­ retirement in a corner on the Dark side of the Moon­ where he cannot be a pain in the @#$%?

    From hanniballookalike, on Mon 29 Dec 11:21AM

  18. I wouldn't count on it working out between him and­ Massa. I think we all know that Fernando is all about­ Fernando. If a teammate starts competing with him in­ earnest then the tempers will flare, and the­ backstabbing will commence.

    I wouldn't say...­ Other than Hungarian GP controversion, I hadn't­ seen any. Small reminder: no1 knows 4 sure who started­ it 1.

    From kralj_glupana, on Mon 29 Dec 11:15AM

  19. double world champion ALONSO destined for yet more­ titles 2011 onwards == sure bet

    From fototedlondona4, on Mon 29 Dec 10:25AM

  20. Lets hope Massa wins the title before then ,should make­ things lively

    From ANDREW G, on Mon 29 Dec 10:12AM
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