Alonso: ‘I want to end my career at Ferrari’

2011 F1 season

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Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Istanbul, 2011

Fernando Alonso says he wants to stay with Ferrari after signing a new contract with them.

Under the deal announced today he will drive for them for the next five years.

Alonso said: “I always said it was my intention to end my career at Ferrari, as I felt at home here since day one.

“By the end of 2016, I will have been with Ferrari for seven years and maybe for 2017 I can sign another contract with Ferrari if I am not too old and if they are still happy with me!”

He added a key part of the attraction of driving for Ferrari was that they are consistently competitive: “It is impossible to predict what will happen in Formula 1 and therefore I don’t know how many I can win.

“My intention is to keep on enjoying my racing and this is the best team to be with, because with other teams, their form can go up and down a lot, but with Ferrari, a bad year can mean finishing second or third in the championship.”

He said agreeing the new deal was “Very easy, very simple

“I guess we began talking one or two weeks ago about the future. I am very happy at the team and they seem happy with me and from there we had discussions and decided on 2016.

“There was never any doubt in my mind, but the confirmation makes it clear for everyone and those in the team.”

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Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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57 comments on “Alonso: ‘I want to end my career at Ferrari’”

  1. with Ferrari, a bad year can mean finishing second or third in the championship

    Chris Dyer is well aware of this – as is Kimi Raikkonen and even Alain Prost (you don’t get away with calling a Ferrari “a truck”, as Ferrari themselves found out a few months go).

    I couldn’t be happier for Fernando, genuinely so. Although I find these stable driver line-ups quite boring ;)

    1. with Ferrari, a bad year can mean finishing second or third in the championship.

      That’s not true as 2009 demonstrated, but it’s true that after a bad year Ferrari returned very strong (1997, 2006, 2010).

      1. Commendatore
        19th May 2011, 18:27

        In 2009 Ferrari would’ve taken the third place in the constructor standings if it wasn’t for Massa’s horrific incident in Hungary.

        That’s why for 3 races Ferrari had effectively only 1 driver to score them points – Kimi. And later on even the active Fisichella failed to score a point for the team. And at the end Ferrari lost the place to McLaren by only 1 point. And that says it all! ;)

        1. Of course, McLaren also effectively only had one driver that really seemed able to do the job and get good results, but I guess they fixed that by getting Button now.

          1. Commendatore
            19th May 2011, 20:03

            Kovalainen in those 3 races (HUN, EUR, BEL) scored 12 pts against Hamilton’s 18 pts. And we know that Heiki played second fiddle to L.H. during his McLaren years, so his performances imho has always been unrealistic i.e. compromised by his: inferior strategies made by his team; by obeying team orders to let Hamilton pass him on number of occasiaons; by usually getting the upgrades of the car after Lewis etc etc).

            So we can conclude that both teams had capable drivers of scoring point AND winning. However, in the those 3 races, it was Kimi alone that scored the 24 pts for Ferrari, while the 30 pts for McM were score by both L.H. & H.K.

            After this it’s really quite simple to do the math and see who should’ve gotten the 3rd place in the constructor standings in 2009. ;)

          2. Considering McLaren started the season waaaaay behind Ferrari (Massa got a podium in the same race Hamilton was fighting over craps) I’m not really sure where this idea of “should” comes from.

            And yeh, McLaren knowingly compromising their WCC standing when they weren’t in the fight for the WDC when it’s always mattered to them more than Ferrari.

            At Monza in 2008 Hamilton would have won had it rained again, erasing his low grid position after his bad qualifying. So the car had the pace. Meanwhile Kovalainen in 2nd couldn’t beat Vettel. Heikki is a great guy but he was so out of his depth when he went to McLaren. I fancy he’d do better now he’s got some more experience.

          3. Commendatore
            19th May 2011, 23:40

            @Icthyes
            F1Fanatic:”…Without Massa’s injury, Ferrari would probably be home and dry in third place already…”

            http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Two+points+in+it+with+two+to+go%3A+It%27s+Ferrari+vs+McLaren

          4. At the end of the day, Ferrari “should” have got someone capable of scoring points in place of Massa in 2009, and Hamilton “should”n’t have screwed up qualifying in Monza in the first place, which Kovalainen didn’t (for once).

        2. I meant it by the driver’s point of view, as it was Alonso talking and not Ferrari, but you have a valid point there.

        3. UKfanatic (@)
          19th May 2011, 20:56

          thats true heikki is a slow driver and he score few point anyway ferrari should had indeed finished 3rd

  2. Hopefully all goes well for Alonso at Ferrari, he deserves to win a few more championships.

  3. Tired of the “I want to End my Carrer with XXX team” slogan from the F1 drivers. Not sure if this is the new way to show the loyalty or everybody has a crystal ball with them.

    1. “Tired of the “I want to End my Carrer with XXX team” slogan from the F1 drivers. Not sure if this is the new way to show the loyalty or everybody has a crystal ball with them.”

      It is a compliment for the team. Its a nice way of saying that he has joined the best possible team and so he has no reason to ever leave.

      Unfortunately drivers who are nearing the end of their careers normally say this. I cant believe the time is almost upon us with Alonso. I’m not sure if there is currently any other driver who I could truly and passionately support besides Alonso. You become so attached to a driver that when they leave you are left with a very empty or lost feeling.

      I could be a sheep and support Lewis because the BBC tell me to, or I could begin supporting a young driver again like I had done with Alonso back in the Manardi days. The problem with young drivers is that they tend to come and go, and most of them never really do well.

      1. “I could be a sheep and support Lewis because the BBC tell me to”

        Can you point out, anywhere, where the BBC has told anyone to support Lewis? Or are you trying to give people the impression they have, for some purpose of your own?

        1. As far as I’m aware the BBC follow Hamilton, Button and now di Resta because they’re British. But you often get interviews with the likes of Webber and Barrichello as well to name a few. I’m sure tv networks of all nations would focus on their drivers first, if they have some, before seeing whats happening on the rest of the grid.

          1. I’m not sure what you mean by “as far as I’m aware the BBC follow…”. Last season, the BBC seemed to focus a great deal on Red Bull, partly because they were doing so well, partly because of controversies within the team, and quite possibly because DC had good access to the team, because he works for them. Neither of the Red Bull drivers are British.

            They’ve had in-depth interviews with Alonso, Schumacher…the list goes on.

            I’d still like to understand what Rob means by “I could be a sheep and support Lewis because the BBC tell me to”. If anyone can point out any occurrence of the BBC telling anyone who to support, either openly or obliquely, I would be fascinated to see it. Otherwise it’s just someone talking out of their backside. This sadly seems to happen a lot on motorsport forums – it’s an attempt to lead people to believe something has happened or been said which absolutely hasn’t. I think it’s time we called people on it.

          2. +1 to the Pigeon.

          3. I think Robs ‘sheep’ reference refers to ITV, more than the current BBC line up. I remember the book called ‘Lewis Hamilton: the Peoples Champion’, when we all know the peoples champion is The Rock :)

    2. This in my opinion takes challenges away. Of course anyone would like to end their career with their dream team, but any driver would want to win titles and always be in a competitive car, whichver the team is.

      1. @Rob

        I agree with half your comment. I disagree with the BBC’s effort at drumming up support for Hamilton.

        Alonso was impressive since his time at Minardi, always held him in high steed, and at this point, is the only driver that I too can truly support. Of course if JPM was still around, I know where my faith will lie.

        I think the BBC is one of the most nuetral broadcasters considering theyve got a reasonably large contingent of British Drivers on the gird. Try watching F1 on RTL, its shows and talks to nothing but German drivers.

  4. Does anyone know how much green he will be getting?

  5. Does anyone know how much green (money) he will be getting?

    1. I’d like to know how much green Ferrari are getting for this, from Santander. Surely it’s them calling the shots?

      1. Ferrari secured him for that long because he is the best driver. Santander backing is just a bonus.

    2. Now they no longer have to pay Kimi not to drive for them, there’ll be a lot of money freed up for sure.

    3. 16 Million Euro per year.

  6. I’m really happy for Fernando: he’s an excelent driver and, with all his experience, he will never be “too old” to race! Fernando is just like Schumacher, a legend… Age cannot erase everything he did and all the contributions he has been giving to F1 world!

    Great Attitude… I hope to see him racing for many more yearsss! Good luck, Nano!!!

  7. Nice news for me and Alonso. I wonder there’s better team to him. It’s almost ideal for him.

  8. Personally, I am not a huge Alonso fan, but I am still happy to see a great driver find a comfortable spot at a top team. Good for him. It seems like it fits.

  9. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    19th May 2011, 18:40

    I imagine Alonso really want to say (aloud):
    “I want to finish my career in a verticalized team where I am considered a king and Massa or whoever can be besides me is just a pawn”
    “I want to be here because if we lose, Luca will create a scandal about it”
    “I want to finish here because Santander is making me RICH”
    “I want to finish here because when I went to Renault, one of the few chances I won waqs because of a crazy pilot who crashed his car in Singapure following MY manager orders and without caring about his own life… then I simply denied knowing about it forehand”
    “I want to finish here because I can win races after my partner “understands messages””

    1. LOL. Very good.

      1. Mouse_Nightshirt
        19th May 2011, 22:02

        On a serious note though, I’m sure Ferrari’s atmosphere of building the team around one driver was one of the main attractions.

        I wonder where this leaves Vettel? Newey says he wants to stay with Red Bull for the rest of his career, so there’s no need to move, but a German in a Ferrari? That would make some headlines!

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          20th May 2011, 0:25

          Yep, but at the same time I don’t really imagine Ferrari hiring Vettel at the same time with Alonso , he has had enough headaches being Hamilton’s teammate. So there’s probably a line in Alonso’s contract ensuring not any talented driver as Vettel can have the second Ferrari seat

  10. If I knew that the world was to end in a few days I’d have signed a 20 year contract. What does it matter when May 21st 2011 is at hand!!!

    1. What’s happening on Saturday?

        1. Thanks for the help I couldn’t type!

  11. If at some point a better driver occurs, Ferrari will do the same as with Kimi. Or Schumacher, if you believe some of the rumours.

    They’re conservative guys at Ferrari, so they will stick with Felipe. Maybe, but maybe not when his performance stands to Alonso’s like Luca’s(or even) Fisichella’s to Kimi.

    In the meantime, they let Perez grow at Sauber for two years and then bring him in. If Perez at that point is faster than Alonso, I think everything will be open then. From Alonso’s side, because he can’t deal with a even or better teammate and from Ferrari’s side, if there’s a matured Vettel looking for a stint at his dreamteam.

    But maybe by then Mercedes has ditched Brawn for Newey and Alonso follows the same route as Schumi in the end.

    Ah well, how easy it is to speculate from here…

    1. I might be the only one who thinks this, but I could see Paul di Resta join Ferrari. Maybe not very soon, but maybe one day. Brits have driven for Ferrari before and Paul comes from an Italian family.

  12. Nice to see them happy and the stability is good for the team. Maybe Luca preparing to have the team work without him in the top seat already?

  13. sid_prasher (@)
    19th May 2011, 20:17

    I think Kimi had said the same thing…
    It would have been nice to see Kimi and Alonso pair up!

    1. Kimi’s career did end with Ferrari. The problem is it should not have ended.

      1. sid_prasher (@)
        19th May 2011, 20:35

        I still hope he returns! Unlikely though :(

  14. If he doesn’t win a single championship with Ferrari, how will you remember him?

    1. As the guy who didn’t win a single WDC for Ferrari.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        20th May 2011, 18:41

        Ha ha ha a really good one!

  15. UKfanatic (@)
    19th May 2011, 20:51

    He must have received a s… load of money secondly if i was a driver i would prefer to end my career at Ferrari than any other team just like ayrton intended to do

  16. It’s not like Alonso has much of a choice of teams anyway.

    1. Im pretty certain he could have gone to Mercedes instead of Schumi, Red Bull instead of Webber, back to Renault….. infact what you mean is he couldn’t go back to Mclaren

      1. Possibly, yes. I guess few of us really know what his options have been. I personally don’t think his personality helps him – he’s high maintenance and seems to cause trouble and controversy wherever he goes. But he brings money with him and F1 is, above all, about money.

      2. Mercedes are a step backwards, he burned his bridges with Renault and of course the idea of McLaren is enough in itself to bring about the End Times. Red Bull don’t want a serious challenger to Vettel and Alonso would never dare step into a team where there was even emotional favouritism.

        So there really was nowhere to go.

        1. “Alonso would never dare step into a team where there was even emotional favouritism.” – Come on, when Alonso signed for Ferrari, Felipe-baby was the team’s “favourite son”. It was Fernando’s charisma, talent and most importantly – results that won the Italians’ hearts. So I think this idea about him needing inferior team-mates is BS.
          And I don’t see how he burned his bridges with Renault, they parted in good terms in 2009.

  17. No wonder, he is working good with the team & finally the team have found someone who is self motivated, talented & can help develop the car,so why not.

  18. this is a great news..alonso should end his career at ferrari..this ensures that no other team will have a disgrace of having a loser driving for them..

    go alonso..you suck!

  19. i also hope that he dosent end ferrari’s f1 career with his own ;)

    and looking at other teams working hard on their cars, its unlikely that ferrari will reproduce the golden era they had with schumacher.

  20. If they don’t improve soon I’m sure he will …

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