Fri, Oct 02, 2009 page19

• Fernando Alonso hopes to finish career at Ferrari

  • REUTERS
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  Double world champion Fernando Alonso hopes to see out his Formula One career at Ferrari after he leaves Renault to join the Italian glamor team next season.

  Speaking a day after Ferrari announced the Spaniard had signed a three-year deal, Alonso told a scrum of reporters at the Japanese Grand Prix yesterday that he hoped to stay well beyond that.

  “I really think that Ferrari will be my last team,” he said.

  “Leaving Ferrari to change team is always a step backwards. It has to be a step backwards because Ferrari is more than a team and I want to finish my career with them,” the 28-year-old added.

  Alonso, who won his two titles with Renault under now banned team boss Flavio Briatore, said the move was a dream come true.

  “I am extremely happy and ready for the challenge in 2010,” Alonso said.

  “I think Ferrari and I share many things together, like the passion for competition, to give 100 percent every race and I think it was the best destination of my career,” he said.

  Alonso, who raced for Ferrari’s great rivals McLaren in 2007, rejected media reports that he wanted to take some mechanics and engineers with him.

  He added that he did not yet know who his race engineer would be or when he would start at Maranello. Even choosing which Ferrari road car to drive was far down his list of priorities.

  “I have no plan to bring anyone there. I think in Ferrari they are professional enough and have the best people in Formula One so they will be able to do the best car,” he said.

  Alonso, the first Spaniard to race for Ferrari since Alfonso de Portago in 1957, said he could already feel the emotion of driving for the sport’s oldest and most successful team and hoped to be able to bring them something as well.

  “Hopefully I can give to them the maximum performance in the car and outside the car I can be part of the team and be as professional as possible,” he said.

  The Spaniard replaces Kimi Raikkonen, Finland’s 2007 world champion, at Ferrari alongside Felipe Massa. He said his relationship with the Brazilian was very good and looked forward to working with him.

  “We are both Latin ... and I think this will be good,” he said. “Also Felipe has been in the team for many years now and he can help me a lot to adapt to the team as quick as possible.”

  Alonso said he had also kept in contact with Briatore, the Italian who guided his Formula One career until being handed a lifetime ban this month for his role in a race-fixing controversy.

  “I spoke with Flavio a couple of times and he was very happy for me,” he said. “He knows what Ferrari means and is extremely happy for my career now.”

  The Spaniard indicated that Briatore wasn’t suffering too much.

  “I spoke with him by telephone. He doesn’t seem too worried. Yesterday he was relaxing on the beach,” Alonso said.

  For your information

  Fernando Alonso

  • Began go-karting at age three and made F1 debut with Minardi in 2001. • Moved to Renault as test driver in 2002 and replaced Jenson Button at the team in 2003. • Became youngest driver to start a grand prix on pole position (in Malaysia 2003) and the youngest race winner (Hungary 2003). • Alonso won seven races in 2005 to become F1 champion, aged 24. • Won second successive F1 title in October 2006. • Left Renault for McLaren after 2006 season. • Relationship with McLaren suffered after he accused them of favoring rookie Lewis Hamilton. • Was barely on speaking terms with then McLaren boss Ron Dennis, with the Spaniard also contributing evidence to a spy hearing that fined McLaren US$100 million and stripped them of their constructors’ points. • Finished third in 2007 standings, level on points with Hamilton and one point behind champion Kimi Raikkonen. • Moved back to Renault for 2008 but the car was no longer competitive and he finished fifth in the standings. • Renault in headlines this year when news broke of race-fixing scandal at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. Alonso cleared of any involvement. SOURCE: REUTERS
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