Ferrari to Confirm Alonso at Monza (2010 Silly Season)

[Mibz]

Still unsubstantiated but it's been rumoured for a while now, might as well have a thread.

http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,189...407349,00.html

Ferrari will reportedly confirm the signing of Fernando Alonso at their home race, the Italian Grand Prix.


Rumours of his pending move to Ferrari have dogged Alonso for the past three years, however, instead of joining the Italian marque he spent the 2007 season at McLaren before returning to Renault.


But his days at Renault are reportedly numbered.


Spanish daily Diario AS is claiming that on the Friday of the Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari will confirm that Alonso will be joining them next season, having signed a five-year contract.


It is not known, though, whether he'll be replacing Kimi Raikkonen or Felipe Massa, who have both had a trying start to this year's campaign.


But whoever stays, his days too could be numbered as AS speculates that Ferrari are also interested in signing Sebastian Vettel for the 2011 season.

[urban.one]

Too much up in the air right now to predict accurate driver lineups.

I think the Alonso move is very likely. Kimi will retire and Massa may have one more season with Ferrari before he gets the boot for a new kid.

[Mibz]

Since I posted this, the linked article has added a "?" to the title. Had I known it was a question and not a claim I wouldn't have posted it :P

[iceburns288]

Spanish newspaper...

I'd love to see Vettel in a red car once he learns that races are longer than a lap. Give him a long-term deal+ put Schumi on him = 4 WCCs

[Chris Elyea]

Alonso going to Ferrari makes sense on both sides of the deal. The difficulty will be finding a second driver, because Alonso will probably even have veto power written into his contract. He won't stand for competition within his team. I think he felt betrayed by McLaren and that's why he was so forthcoming during Spygate.

Massa leaving Ferrari doesn't make sense for either side. He's been quick, dependable, and most importantly, he's a low maintenance personality. Make him the #2 man (sorry, having an Austin Powers flashback now) and all he does is drive fast. If he ends up being better than #1, that's up to the team to deal with. From his point of view, even when they're awful they still give him a car he can score points with, and you know they're going to come back. He can't count on that consistency from anybody else - just ask Alonso.

Is Kimi ready to retire? I doubt it, unless he can't stay with a top team, in which case he'll go drive rallies and sports cars. He's the moodiest and unluckiest guy around, so I bet he can be tough to work with. He doesn't seem to adapt as well as Massa. If they give him a fast car, I still think he can win it all. You couldn't have Raikkonen and Alonso on the same team; that would not end well.

Assuming Massa leaves, which again I would not expect, they'll need somebody else. Now that Vettel has stood on the top step a couple of times, he's going to be too ambitious to team up with Alonso, from either's point of view. They need somebody for whom just being in a Ferrari is reward enough, say Sutil, Glock, or Bourdais. Or some new talent stolen from one of the lower budget teams after a season.

P.S. No, I am not willing to put 50 bucks on it.

[DJ Lazy]

At the British GP wasn't it Stefano Domenicalli (sp) that said Kimi will be with Ferarri next season? So maybe Massa would have to walk..

[DJ Lazy]

Originally posted by Chris Elyea
Alonso going to Ferrari makes sense on both sides of the deal. The difficulty will be finding a second driver, because Alonso will probably even have veto power written into his contract. He won't stand for competition within his team. I think he felt betrayed by McLaren and that's why he was so forthcoming during Spygate.

Massa leaving Ferrari doesn't make sense for either side. He's been quick, dependable, and most importantly, he's a low maintenance personality. Make him the #2 man (sorry, having an Austin Powers flashback now) and all he does is drive fast. If he ends up being better than #1, that's up to the team to deal with. From his point of view, even when they're awful they still give him a car he can score points with, and you know they're going to come back. He can't count on that consistency from anybody else - just ask Alonso.

Is Kimi ready to retire? I doubt it, unless he can't stay with a top team, in which case he'll go drive rallies and sports cars. He's the moodiest and unluckiest guy around, so I bet he can be tough to work with. He doesn't seem to adapt as well as Massa. If they give him a fast car, I still think he can win it all. You couldn't have Raikkonen and Alonso on the same team; that would not end well.

Assuming Massa leaves, which again I would not expect, they'll need somebody else. Now that Vettel has stood on the top step a couple of times, he's going to be too ambitious to team up with Alonso, from either's point of view. They need somebody for whom just being in a Ferrari is reward enough, say Sutil, Glock, or Bourdais. Or some new talent stolen from one of the lower budget teams after a season.

P.S. No, I am not willing to put 50 bucks on it.

LMAO... Massa consistent? I think not, He can be fast though... BUT, (i can't believe I'm gonna say this)... I like Massa more than Kimi, so I'd like to see him stay... however, based on your hunch that Alonso would have veto power and zero competition in the team, massa is BIG competition for him... He might as well stay at Renault with Piquet as his wingman..


And seriously... Bourdais in a Ferrari??? IMO, he doesn't even belong in F1 anymore.. (same with Piquet)

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by DJ Lazy


\

And seriously... Bourdais in a Ferrari??? IMO, he doesn't even belong in F1 anymore.. (same with Piquet)

anymore? did he ever belong there? along with Piquet...

[Team_Mclaren]

Originally posted by DJ Lazy


LMAO... Massa consistent? I think not, He can be fast though... BUT, (i can't believe I'm gonna say this)... I like Massa more than Kimi, so I'd like to see him stay... however, based on your hunch that Alonso would have veto power and zero competition in the team, massa is BIG competition for him... He might as well stay at Renault with Piquet as his wingman..

He's definitely more consistent than Kimi. Massa has evolved into a much better driver this past year or so. Just look at Silverstone, qualified 11th and took 4th on a track that he never had any success in. Alonso in Ferrari makes alot of sense. I would love to see him getting fucked over by Massa again.

Kimi is going to retire soon. He wants to drive rally and there's nothing left for him in F1. which is unfortunate because he's a great driver when he cares

[Chris Elyea]

Originally posted by DJ Lazy
LMAO... Massa consistent? I think not, He can be fast though...

So far with Ferrari (since 2006), he's been on pole 9 times, won 11 races, and finished on the podium 16 other times. He's finished 3rd, 4th, and 2nd in the championship. Remember last year he lost the championship by a point after Hamilton made a pass on the last corner of the last race? He beat Raikkonen last year and he's ahead again this year. I consider that pretty damn consistent, yeah.

Originally posted by DJ Lazy
And seriously... Bourdais in a Ferrari??? IMO, he doesn't even belong in F1 anymore.. (same with Piquet)

That's exactly my point, isn't it? If Alonso is #1, #2 is going to be a seat-filler, not a championship contender. The primary skill required for the job will be to do a convincing job of slowing down and pulling over whenever Alonso is behind him.

[DJ Lazy]

Originally posted by Chris Elyea

That's exactly my point, isn't it? If Alonso is #1, #2 is going to be a seat-filler, not a championship contender. The primary skill required for the job will be to do a convincing job of slowing down and pulling over whenever Alonso is behind him.

haha... That's exactly my point... Bourdais would have to be at the front end of the grid to do anything useful to help.... The car wouldn't make THAT much of a difference... look at Vettel, won a race in the rain last year in a Toro Rosso car, and has won 2/8 races this year in a Red Bull (much improved)... Ferrari wouldn't want their 2nd car at the bottom of the time sheets just to appease alonso... IMO

And Massa isn't going anywhere soon that I can see... So Alonso will HAVE to deal with him somehow, some way.... Hopefully not the same way he dealt with Hamilton...

[DJ Lazy]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren


anymore? did he ever belong there? along with Piquet...

haha... touche.. I didn't mean to type anymore..

[That.Guy.S30]

i actually cant wait.. what he does with that renault is impressive.

[Mibz]

Since this posting Ferrari has denied the claim twice and pointed out that both Kimi and Massa have contracts until 2010. I knew Massa had the extra year but thought Kimi's expired this year.

Maybe we can revive this thread next year when it has a chance of being true :P

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Ferrari vehemently denied that they were signing Schumacher as well.

[iceburns288]

Yeah, don't really listen to anything Ferrari says. You'll probably get 11 different answers if you ask 10 people the same question at the factory :p.

[ryanallan]

Originally posted by Mibz
Since this posting Ferrari has denied the claim twice and pointed out that both Kimi and Massa have contracts until 2010. I knew Massa had the extra year but thought Kimi's expired this year.

Maybe we can revive this thread next year when it has a chance of being true :P

i just noticed this in the member registration section.
haha

[Mibz]

Originally posted by ryanallan


i just noticed this in the member registration section.
haha

Check that IP and I guarantee you'll find Vagabond142 at the other end of it

[Inzane]

The recent events over the last 5-6 days sure puts a different spin on the comments and speculation in this thread, eh.

[Chris Elyea]

They have a hard enough time finding two drivers who'll tolerate each other and now they're suggesting three cars per team? (Hard to see any cost cutting in that!)

Mark Martin has shown you can be 50 and still fast. F1 is not NASCAR. Schumacher is exceptional, but surely he can only be a short term fix, right? Many former F1 drivers are still racing, just not in F1. I believe that's because they are too old to handle the physical demands of an F1 car.