Alonso finally confirmed as Massa’s team mate at Ferrari for 2010

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Alonso thwarted Ferrari in 2006, now he will drive for them

Ferrari have finally confirmed what pretty much everyone in F1 expected by now – Fernando Alonso will drive for them in 2010.

Kimi Raikkonen is set to leave the team after this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and is most likely to end up back at McLaren.

Raikkonen was contracted to remain at Ferrari for one more season. Despite having won the title for them in 2007, the team are letting him go one year early in his contract, which can only be interpreted as a reflection on his performance.

Felipe Massa clearly out-performed him last year, but Raikkonen has had a resurgence in the second half of this season, including a victory at Spa-Francorchamps.

Giancarlo Fisichella will remain with the Italian team as a test driver.

The development sets up two fascinating driver partnerships for 2010, the first of which is Alonso and Massa at Ferrari.

The pair had a heated row after clashing on the final lap at the Nurburgring in 2007. Massa will in all likelihood prove the closest match to Alonso’s talent since he partnered Lewis Hamilton two seasons ago.

Hamilton, meanwhile, will surely face a stiffer challenge from Raikkonen if he does indeed take the place of Heikki Kovalainen next year.

Anyone else really looking forward to 2010 now?

F1 2010 driver moves

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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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331 comments on “Alonso finally confirmed as Massa’s team mate at Ferrari for 2010”

  1. Man I can’t wait for next season!

    Alonso -v- Hamilton battle is going to be immense.

    1. Indeed. F1’s best driver joining its best team. I’m looking forward to it.

      1. I agree will be interesting, but disagree they are the best team anymore nor is he the best driver in the field.

      2. I don’t think anyone will disagree Hamilton is the best driver now, but Alonso is close. He’ll soon throw his toys out the pram when Massa regularly shows him a couple of Ferrari exhausts. Meanwhile back at McLaren Lewis will relish the competition from Kimi. If Kimi still has his heart in F1 it should be a good match, but I think Hammy will have 2 tenths on him.

        1. I disagree, Alonso and Vetel are better, IMHO

          1. Vettel the car destroyer? He’s good but by no means the best yet.

          2. Vettel is hugely overrated. He’s struggling to beat Webber…a fate that clearly wouldn’t befall the best drivers: Lewis-Alonso-Raikkonen. Vettel is also a car destroyer who makes far too many silly mistakes.

          3. Lewis and Vettel are two of the best but they are car destroyers. They are the quickest guys in F1 but need to get rid of the silly mistakes

          4. Alonso and Vettle are better than Hamilton? I think that Alonso is probably just behind Hamilton you saw how they fought in the 2007 season? This was Hamiltons first season, he’s alot more experienced now. So easily Hamilton, then Alonso for best drivers.

            I just dont understand where vettle comes into it? Good driver yes, but no chance of him being the best, at least for the time being.

          5. And also agree with Alistair, vettle is hugely overated!

            If the championship was for stupid mistakes then yh, Vettle would be the best driver. I still cant beleive he drove around melbourne with his car in the state it is in after hitting kubica.

          6. There is some people really ticking me off on here. How on earth is Hamilton a car destroyer?

            Ive watched every single race he has done in F1 and can remember 1 real incident when he destroyed the car in a race and this was in monza, coming up three weeks ago, so how the hell is he a car destroyer if he has had one major car destroying incident in nearly 3 years in F1? Yes he has had incidents when he has made damage i.e. hamilton vs alonso last season at bahrain, but one fricking total is not bad!

            where as how many has german boy vettle had now? can think of a few and thats from this season

          7. Tom, tom, tom, your list there is three that stand out for Hamiltons mistakes, Japan 08, Canada 08 and monza 09.

            Shanghai 2007, yes he may have ditched it in the gravel but did you see the tyres, i think it is amaizing he managed to keep it on the track like that. Germany i think i can remember webber moving over and accidentally touching his tyres and Brazil 07, he went off and lost a couple of positions, but what i dont understand is how its hamiltons fault if his gear box lost the gears?

            And if he was an imature car destroyer, in monaco last year he made a mistake hitting the barrier, but I think he must have done something special to get the win, whether or not the safety car helped.

            I still dont get where vettle comes into it he only has 3 race wins which is now really his 3rd season in f1 as he had a few races in 2007, if he was that good i think he would have been more consistant this year. Plus teh fact he already has 12 retirements to his name to Hamilton 3 retirements in more races and one disqualification!

            And alonso so consistant once again Hamiton has had 3 retirements and 1 DSQ, whereas Alonso in the last 3 years, same races as Ham has had 6 retirements. And teh fact that Ham beat him in his first season i still dont get where lonso is the most consistant and best after comparing them together.

        2. *And Canada last year sorry, 2 in three years. not really bad eh?

        3. i disagree derek. yes, hamilton has done exceptionally well but he hasn’t really had to prove himself in a minardi or sauber or jordan or anything. he’s walked into F1 in with the best car on the grid for his first two seasons. i think it is this season that he is showing a bit more maturity cause he has to. his experience is showing. i still think alonso is better. and vettel will be shortly.

          1. ok maybe not car destroyer, but immature race destroyer:
            china 07
            fuji 08
            canada 08
            monza 09
            germany 09
            brazil 07

            like i said, showing more maturity now, but it is sill only his third year in F1, still plenty of time to improve with experience. but don’t be so blinded by his fortunate entrance to f1. and i’m sure i’ve forgotten some. as they said in the commentary at monza, alonso may not always be the fastest, but he is easily the most consistent.

          2. but HOW COME he “walked into F1 with the best car”???? they gave it to him for his pretty face?? to be in a top team you have to be a top driver, and mclaren saw that in him even before he was in F1… everyone else had to prove themselves in minardi, jordan, etc…

          3. Tom, tom, tom, your list there is three that stand out for Hamiltons mistakes, Japan 08, Canada 08 and monza 09.
            Shanghai 2007, yes he may have ditched it in the gravel but did you see the tyres, i think it is amaizing he managed to keep it on the track like that. Germany i think i can remember webber moving over and accidentally touching his tyres and Brazil 07, he went off and lost a couple of positions, but what i dont understand is how its hamiltons fault if his gear box lost the gears?
            And if he was an imature car destroyer, in monaco last year he made a mistake hitting the barrier, but I think he must have done something special to get the win, whether or not the safety car helped.
            I still dont get where vettle comes into it he only has 3 race wins which is now really his 3rd season in f1 as he had a few races in 2007, if he was that good i think he would have been more consistant this year. Plus teh fact he already has 12 retirements to his name to Hamilton 3 retirements in more races and one disqualification!
            And alonso so consistant once again Hamiton has had 3 retirements and 1 DSQ, whereas Alonso in the last 3 years, same races as Ham has had 6 retirements. And teh fact that Ham beat him in his first season i still dont get where lonso is the most consistant and best after comparing them together.

          4. sorry posted in the wrong conversation.

          5. @ ashes1991, i agree with you mostly, of course hamilton is a fantastic driver. i would certainly like to know how much of the china error was his fault or his team’s but from what i’ve read in various places, it was mostly his. brazil 07 i was not referring to the gearbox issue, of course that was not his fault, but more his overly aggressive start (like fuji 08) when he simply didn’t need to be. of course all of this is easier to speculate on in retrospect, i sure as hell wouldn’t be able to make split second decisions like an F1 driver under pressure like that, but of course that’s what their expected to do and it skill that will develop further with experience. and do you mean 3 retirements in the last three years? cause i can think of at least 4 at the mo. and germany this year, i’ve watched that footage over and over, webber holds his line, hamilton cuts in front, no way a ‘rebound off barrichello’ as some people say. don’t get me wrong though, hamilton is a wonderful driver, monaco 08, silverstone 08 china 08 and so on, absolutely in a class of his own and i expect we will see more of those performances in years to come.

          6. Tom….

            This is a link that ive used to back up my information:

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Hamilton

            Scroll down and it will show his race results for all his career in F1, 3 retirements and 1 DSQ, because he had done over 95% of race in italy was awarded 12 place. And sorry Germany 2009 I’ve just watched it several times now, I see t as Hamilton pretty much on the racing line, running along the pit exit line and webber slightly moves over (clearly visable from the overhead shot). But thats how i see it.

        4. I don’t think anyone will disagree Hamilton is the best driver now

          I’m assuming you don’t read many F1 forums…

          What’s great about F1 right now is that there is no Schumacher figure who dominates the sport. Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen are all World Champions. Massa was unlucky not to be. There’s not much to tell between the four, which is why 2010 should be interesting.

        5. are u kidding Hamilton better than Alonso? are u on drugs?

      3. ‘F1’s best driver’? Alonso!? You mean the reigning and double world champion who was beaten by A ROOKIE! (Please tell me the last time in F1 history that that happened.) Lewis beat Alonso when Lewis didn’t even know most of the tracks, for goodness sake. Lewis is still not even at his peak; heaven help the other drivers when Lewis reaches his peak in a few seasons’ time! Aside from being slower than Lewis, Alonso cracked under the pressure of having Lewis as a team-mate in equal machinery (which the Spanish FIA representative kindly confirmed for us all).

        Lewis is the best driver in F1. He’s the fastest; the best in the wet; the best overtaker; the fittest; etc.

        PS I’m surprised that Alonso is seemingly happy to race against Massa in equal machinery. Massa is much better than the Renault no: 2s that were hired to restore Alonso’s battered reputation after being shown-up by Lewis. I therefore wonder whether Alonso now has no: 1 status at Ferrari…

        Also, I commend Kimi’s bravery if he is to sign for McLaren. I wouldn’t expect Lewis to destroy Kimi, far from it. But I think that Kimi is brave to race against Lewis in equal machinery. Autosport reports that this prospect doesn’t sit at all well with Nico Rosberg, for example, who’s apparently afraid that Lewis would destroy his reputation. One sympathises.

        1. Wow… They pay you for this? :) Lewis drives in one of the best car on the field so far. When the car is worse or when he is in the middle of the back, Lewis starts to make silly mistakes. He is talented but definitely not the best on the grid. Who is? I think such comparisons are a complete nonesense.

          1. I hear that, drivers are fast at some tracks then snails at others, agile in dry sluggish in rain, quick in hot weather, dogs in cold.

        2. @Alistair
          Autosport reports that this prospect doesn’t sit at all well with Nico Rosberg, for example, who’s apparently afraid that Lewis would destroy his reputation.

          I read autosport, but i never came across this… would you kindly enlighten us mere mortals? Nico has been a teammate of Lewis in junior formulae and i do not think he fears Lewis, but rather bear a healthy respect for him as a friend/ person/ driver. Why he wouldn’t consider a move to McLaren is cos it is Lewis’s den. Lewis is the homeboy there and no matter what one says, it isn’t equal opportunity!

          Also, Alonso is regarded as the best of the current crop in the F1 paddock, where people are definitely more informed than you and i. I would trust their word any day over yours, and likewise many over here.

          Lewis, he’s learning and and will only improve with time. The only thing which stands between him and his target is he himself. He needs to learn to “engage brain before opening mouth”, as someone eloquently put in one of Keith’s earlier blogs. But it would soon end as flamewars, so i’ll end it here. He’s fast and a good driver, who can make mistakes when conditions are less than ideal.

          Alonso needs to prove nothing to anyone. He won 2 championships back to back, fighting against Kimi in one year and in the second, he won against a resurgent Schumacher, which speaks for itself.

        3. ‘F1’s best driver’? Alonso!? You mean the reigning and double world champion who was beaten by A ROOKIE!

          reigning world champion ?

        4. @ alistair, i think most of lewis’ success was indeed alonso cracking under pressure. i think they were very evenly matched for pace. but alonso in hungary 07 really annoyed me. hopefully he’s moved on and we won’t see that again. the best way to respond would be to just drive well. and you can hardly say hamilton beat him cause they did end up on the same points. and i agree, we haven’t yet seen the best of hamilton. nor vettel, nor algersuari nor buemi. the future of f1 drivers is in good hands i feel

        5. Hamilton is already quite disturbed that Kimi might join him. He is a spoiled brat with the fast smartest car on the track…give him the existing Renault and if he is still on the track you will find him in the back with his good friend Piquet…he was so spoilt by Ron to an extent that he wasn’t even sometimes listening to him… I believe in the Hungarian 2007 GP qualifications in the last dying minutes Ron asked him not to pit because Alonso was getting ready for his last qualification run…but he over ruled Ron’s decision and came into pit behind Alonso causing confusion in the pit, and panelized Alonso from Poll back to 6th on the grid…and if Alonso would have been on poll that day, sure he would have won and those extra points would have secured him the 2007championship. Ron Was so blind to support a new breed kid over a the experienced double world champion who just ended the Schumi winning era…Hamilton to me is a programmed driver with no character, but a selfish well coordinated student with a specific driving style (big f**k up in Monza)…he is a want to be a Schumi and I doubt he will ever be even close to that level.
          Yes Alonso might not be the regular/idol follower/ dream driver…but he is at least naturally talented and yes humanly react to peculiar situations but with a fighting spirit that turns all eyes on him because of his forceful driving style…The Ferrari family know exactly where they heading…Again we might very well enjoy in 2010 the human racing the robot

          1. Jonnie Siggie
            1st October 2009, 3:03

            Garbage! Given equal machinery, Hamilton will beat Alonso in 4 of the next 5 seasons. Your man was devastatingly shamed by a rookie and yet you make excuses?

          2. You Sir, are a moron.

          3. ^ my comment was to zuz byt the way!

        6. @Alistair

          Please tell me the last time in F1 history that that happened

          Never in the history of the sport, yet people label him the best current driver. I’ve been following the sport since 1993 & I’ve seen 10 champions drive & I rate Alonso the most mediocre of all. An all round driver needs to be honest & he’s not.

          1. And Lewis? do you think he’s honest? after lying in Melbourn 09?

          2. How old were you in 1993. 3? do you consider that to be a “follower”? I don’t get were all this hate comes from but I think you need help…

        7. never thought of it like that, Alonso was beaten by a rookie in his first year.

    2. We saw in 07 who was the best. The only challenge for Lewis would be if Alonso had a better car, as Massa did last year. Lewis was a rookie when he beat Alonso. This is amazing. Lewis now has quite a bit of experience and has gained maturity and confidence from winning the championship. In short, Lewis is only going to get better and better for many years as he matures as a driver; whereas, Alonso is not. So if they were in equal machinery now, Lewis would only beat Alonso more convincingly.

      1. Ha! Alonso will beat Hamilton next year and put him in his place. The overated latter who barely SCRAPED last year’s title still makes far too many errors compared to Alonso in what is now his third year of F1 driving.

        1. Hamilton has done a lot better than Alonso “the amazing car developer” this year. Besides beating him in 2007 and 2008.

        2. Er.. have I been watching the same F1 season as you? With the obvious exception of his crash at Monza, how many high profile driving errors has Hamilton made this year?

          And on Vettel, yes he’s made mistakes, but he’s still young, he’s had a load of bad luck with reliability and he’s absolutely destroyed the highly rated Mark Webber in qualifying, and outraced him more often than not. Remember, it’s only his second full season. So everyone get off his back.

          And Alonso- he may be a very good driver, perhaps the best, but I think it’s significant that the only time in his career that he had a top level teammate he got beat.

          1. Highly rated mark webber with one victory to his name. Lets face it in SOMETIMES the best car on the grid.

          2. vettel is smashing webber?
            well if you take the averages of webbers finishing places you get 5.4, the average of vettles, comes to 5.1. hardly smashed.
            this is of couse excluding dnf’s. if you factor them in, then webber is slightly ahead of vettel.
            best to do your homework before making comments like that !

          3. He beat Shumacher and Ferrari, two years… just a reminder.

          4. And Alonso- he may be a very good driver, perhaps the best, but I think it’s significant that the only time in his career that he had a top level teammate he got beat.

            The big question is, will Alonso be outpaced by Massa? If he is, his reputation will evaporate.

            He beat Schumacher and Ferrari, two years… just a reminder.

            What actually happened was that Michelin beat Bridgestone for two years, while Schumacher and Alonso watched from VIP seats.

        3. Scraped… in a car that wasn’t the best… ferrari had the best car, Hamilton just made the mclaren look better for sure!

          and ppl who say he can’t handle midfield.. well he drove a good start of the season with that crappy car imo.. and every driver will do some mistakes in midfield… just happens.. spa wasn’t his fault for starters, midfield is just hell :)

        4. @ Antiriad

          We’ll see about it.

      2. Well said Alistair, and I would also add that Lewis has proved himself against Kimi too. In 07, Ferrari was basking in the cohesion and tech development of the Schumacher years; i believe they had the faster car that season, which makes what Lewis did even more stunning.

        This is what Lewis did in 07, he stunned everyone, including his team mate, with his raw pace, almost into a panic!

        I believe Lewis, given his age , his experience and the negativity he has to work against, is pound for pound the best driver on the grid today, unfortunately this does not sit well with a lot of ppl in and out of the sport.

        I think Lewis would relish the chance to partner Kimi in EQUAL machinery and given EQUAL treatment without any underhand nastiness chipping away at his confidence, it would give him the impetus to push himself even harder; which bodes well for next season…

        On the other hand, Kimi is a slugger a very brave racer but with brain power of a toaster when it comes to technical feedback, hence his five years in a McLaren produced jack and he only came good when he reversed into a well developed car/team combo thanks to uncle Schumi and co…

        …So Lewis Vs Kimi/Alonso/Vettel/Massa/Kubica etc etc or what ever “great white hope” that is parachuted into the the season.. well i say bring it on chaps and chapettes lets race and the best of British luck to ya all :)

        1. I believe Lewis, given his age , his experience and the negativity he has to work against, I believe Lewis, given his age , his experience and the negativity he has to work against,

          I agree on his talent, but the negativity he has had to work against? You mean from a team that is clearly completely behind him with all their resources? or you mean from the massive F1 fan base that seems to have it in for Alonso any day of the week?

          He’s got pressures to deal with, but not beyond any F1 driver. In fact he had quite a lot of backing from the press once it became clear that he has speed and talent and is clearly the better story. Alonso has much more negativity against him, and mostly because he’s seems really inept at dealing with the media.

        2. SoLid said

          On the other hand, Kimi is a slugger a very brave racer but with brain power of a toaster when it comes to technical feedback, hence his five years in a McLaren produced jack and he only came good when he reversed into a well developed car/team combo thanks to uncle Schumi and co…

          Most of kimi’s mechanical problems and car reliability issues came straight from the engine. Kimi is still held in awe by McLaren mechanics for his super precise feed back and if you can gain the respect of McLarens picky people I think you’ve got quite a head on your shoulders.

      3. You are absolutely correct. Alonso can whine about it forever, but the fact is he’s yet to beat LEWIS HAMILTON!! If he was real man, he would have stayed on at mclaren in 08 & beat Lewis thereby showing to the world he’s the number 1. but instead he choose to run like a hen back to Flabbio. Epitome of bravery! This fella.

        1. Ahem, are you rewriting history? It looked more like McLaren kicked him out, judging from the statements at the time. Nothing to do with “epitome of bravery”, he could not have stayed if he had wanted to.

          1. MP4, I don’t think the choice was Alonsos to make.

    3. i cant wait for next year either, can jenson and Brawn wrap this up this sunday so that they can fast forward to 2010

      1. Was it just me who had to stop half way through this comment thread and set up base camp, it’s massssssssive! ;)

    4. “Alonso -v- Hamilton battle is going to be immense”
      Yeah right… Next season will be a huge disappointment for Alonso.

      1. will see…

  2. This is going to be one big mess. I really hope that Massa kicks his butt all over the tarmac next year, and I hope that RAI does the same to Hammy.

    1. Personally, I don’t see Massa beating Alonso, or Raikkonen beating Hamilton, but that’s just MY PERSONAL OPINION (before I get jumped on!).

      It’s going to be very very interesting though, regardless of who beats who.

      1. I think the most interesting thing in the case of Mclaren is the different styles oof both the drivers. In the ferarri team its more about the fireworks (fingers crossed).

      2. I agree. Alonso and Hamilton are the class of the field imo, but Massa had a great year in 08.
        It might be an Alonso vs Hamilton for the title, would be awesome! :)

        1. Massa did not out-perform Kimi last year. Look at all their head to head matchups, Kimi showed Massa is a 2nd rate driver.

          1. Chuffing nonsense. We can harp on all week about who is better than who, but you can’t say Massa is a second-rate driver.

          2. Yeah, that is why Ferrari is keeping Kimi…oh wait..

        2. Really? We saw that already, remember. Out of the McLaren drivers, remind me again who finished higher in the WDC in 07! When Lewis beats Kimi next year, the world should rightly think that Lewis was the deserving WDC in 07: he will then have beaten his world champion team-mate, Alonso, and the man who eventually nicked the title, Kimi.

          1. You, and many others, seem to be mistaken in your belief that Hamilton beat Alonso when they were team mates. Look back at the end results and you will find they drew even.
            I’m a big Hamilton fan, but facts are facts, regardless of who you support.

          2. How can you base the deserving champion of 2007 off what YOU THINK may happen next year? Just get over the past and stop being so blinkered.

          3. i agree that morally Lewis is the deserving 07 Champion and you’ll be surprised how many racing fans hold that view.. he had to battle against the reigning double world champion with the same equipment on some circuits he’s never driven on in his rookie season…meanwhile Ferrari had to hold back Massa to help the experienced Kimi to the title… by a single point from Lewis!

            and before you start… in 08 Lewis had a race win dubiously taken away from him and given to Massa, in Singapore he should have been 2nd if it wasn’t for Pique’s concrete fetish…. not to mention being the most penalized driver that season..

          4. @SYM

            You conveniently forget that if Hamilton was going to be 2nd at Singapore, Massa would have been 1st.

          5. David A
            You need to check your stats. Felipe finished 13th in Singapore because he took off with the fuel hose still attached ..Nico would have been the winner with Lewis being robbed of 2nd!

          6. Kimi won 6 races, Lewis 4. Kimi finished with more points. Kimi was the deserving champion. He beat Lewis & Alonso who had the best cars on the grid thanks to them stealing Ferrari Data, and Kimi also beat Massa who was favoured by the team. Kimi should have been 2008 champion as well, but Ferrari wanted Massa to win so they gave him the car suited to him. In the last races, Kimi even took off the car enhancements since they didn’t fit his style.

      3. I see Raikkonen and Hamilton being very interesting, whereas Alonso will simply destroy Massa.

        1. In fact, Alonso is as quick as Fisichella, this was seen many times during their time in Renault. He’s capable of winning yes, but needs 100 % support from the whole team. Alonso’s problem will be also the car, Ferrari cannot make a winning packet anymore. I’m also looking forward to see LH and Kimi in a team with a great performance.

  3. Finally! I got bored the news about the “when” and “how” Alonso will move to Ferrari.

    Alonso announced at his site that last year he had signed for 2011 for the Ferrari team. Hopefully, he saved us from this misery a year earlier!

    Fair well Alonso and I hope to create a lot of trouble to the red team :P
    Oh, they didn’t tell you. You are supposed to be the #2 driver :lol:

    1. Here is the link that says about the contract for 2011
      http://www.fernandoalonso.com/DEFAULT2_i.cfm?seccion=0

  4. I think it’s good that this situation seems to get resolved officially now, and I’m looking forward to seeing both compete with their new team mates next season.

  5. I remember Alonso back in 2006 season saying that he will never drive for Ferrari.

    1. Was this true?

    2. this was said by Briatore. His exact words were:

      “As long as Michael is there, Alonso will never drive for Ferrari. For Renault there is an easy way to secure the services of Alonso – one only has to provide him with the most competitive car.”

      1. So this is the picture I’m seeing… Alonso driving for Ferrari then you got Michael Schumacher as their “Advisor”. Seems like the bosses will have a hard time managing conflicts.

        1. Yeah that could be a problem I agree. With Schumacher and Alonso you’ll have 2 captains on one ship.. Massa may very well benefit a lot from this. But Alonso would be wise to compare his thoughts with Schumi’s, with those 2 you have the 2 best drivers of the past decade or so in one team (in terms of car set up).

  6. Alonso vs Hamilton. Ferrari vs Mclaren.

    Hopefully back to how F1 should be next year.

    1. Well it’s certainly got a better ring to it than Brawn vs Red Bull, Button vs Barrichello, mediocre vs mediocrer.

  7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=XWRvhA0YPgY
    video of the likkle spat.

    Tbh i kind’ve back alonso in that one get the translation and massa who did the dammage is just being a bit of a dick.

    But Yeah golden age approaches.
    Hopefully the brawns and redbulls will remain competative as well.

    1. I’d love a translation of that video!

  8. hopefully alonso is put in his place by massa cause hes not the #1 driver at ferrari.

    1. hes not the #1 driver at ferrari.

      There is a Poll In la Gazzetta dello Sport asking about who should be Nr 1 driver:

      87,4% of 7,572 voters said Fernando Alonso (Results at 19’01 h)

      http://www.gazzetta.it/appsSondaggi/votazioneDispatch.do?method=risultati&idSondaggio=5853

      In any case I’m pretty sure Alonso will be happy if he is able to have equal opportunities, and I’m sure he will.

    2. It will be fascinating to see how Alonso deals with the situation. If he kicks Massa’s bottom then there’ll be no issue. But we know what happened last time Freddy had a really fast team mate.

  9. I don’t see Massa giving Alonso too much trouble. I really like Felipe and thought some of his drives over the last couple of years have been fantastic, but I would be amazed if he turns out as quick in Bahrain next year as he was before his accident. I really hope I’m proved wrong. If he does have the pace to match Alonso then I don’t think we’ll see a repeat of the situation at McLaren in 2007 – for Fernando, Massa is much more of a known quantity that Lewis was and I don’t think Felipe is the type to play mind games.

    The potential Raikkonen-Hamilton partnership will be interesting. Small soundbites from Lewis seem to hint that he’s not too keen on the idea, but it would be a good chance for him to show how much he’s matured from his first couple of seasons – or whether he’ll do what Alonso did in ’07. Either way, it aint gonna bother Kimi that’s for sure!

    I can’t wait for next year! If Massa can be driving as well as he was before his accident, and if Ferrari and McLaren regain their places at the top of the order then it’s going to be fantastic. Probably 4 of the best drivers in the 4 best cars, over a 19 race season with no more stupid refuelling? Yes please! If Kubica ends up at Renault and Renault find a bit of pace, and with a Rosberg-Button pairing at Brawn and the two Red Bulls on form again there could be some fantastic races. Add to that the new teams and the return of a few familiar faces and names and you have a recipe for success!

    I wonder what scandal will overshadow it all.

    1. somehow Teflonso will be part of this scandal..

    2. I really like Felipe … but I would be amazed if he turns out as quick in Bahrain next year as he was before his accident.

      Why not? Lauda had a horrific accident and came back to score a couple of championships. He appears to have a strong, confident character and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t return to F1 faster than ever.

      1. Also, look at how well Mark Webber’s done this season after breaking his leg last December. Sometimes an accident can spur drivers on in a new way to meet the challenges of racing. I think Felipe’s got it in him to make a strong recovery and he’ll be looking to make up for lost time when he gets back into that Ferrari.

    3. I’m slightly worried about Felipe to, you can never tell how head injuries are going to affect people.

      It’d be funny if McLaren and Ferrari turn up with two dump trucks next year after all this speculation :P.

      1. That will be even better, you’ll get to see who can claw their way from P20 to P3 in a race…

  10. Massa did not outperfomed Kimi last year

    France 2 point broken exhaust
    Silverstone 3 points wrong tyre choice
    Canada 8 points Hamilton crashed to Kimi’s rear
    China 2 points Kimi gave way to Felipe
    Europe 3 points engine failure
    Belgium 8- 10 points ( last minute rain and Kimi taking a risk for win)

    at least 21 points which Kimi deserved but did not get. If we take those away from baby Felipe we can clearly see who is driver and who’s not.

    I’m glad Kimi understood leave this Schumacher spoiled team with their egoist “president” Luca de something

    23 pointi

    1. Fantastic post!!

      1. Ok then you have to take into account all the problems Massa had, like the refueling rig, engine problems, hydraulics, etc…. who’s who then?

    2. Errr…Singapore? Hungary? That’s two races, and twenty points clawed back. Take away a bad start in Melbourne and a silly spin in Sepang, which could be compared to Kimi’s silly spin in Spa, and you begin to realise Massa was ptetty close to wiping the floor with the whole field last year.

      Take all that in to account, and to be honest, he was the best driver last year, by far. Aftert the first two Grands Prix, no-one could match him. They were chasing his exhaust fumes.

      1. The best driver last year? I think that’s over egging the pudding a little. Kubica and Alonso drove fastastic last year – indeed Kubica could have had a much better chance at the title if BMW actually listened to him. Massa’s driving last year swayed drastically from exceptional (Brazil, Hungary, Valencia, Singapore qualifying, even Fuji to some extent) to amateur (Australia, Malaysia, Silverstone). Races such as China, Belgium and France are probably more indicative of his place in the pecking order – although he seems to move to another level when he’s under pressure.

        1. The best driver last year was that bloke that won the championship, eh what’s his name again…….?

          1. ^ lol, this.

          2. This is the most sensible comment I’ve read. Of course the best driver from last year is the guy that won the championship. The best driver from any year is the guy who won the championship for said year.

            Anyone who claims that the world champion wasn’t the best driver of the year is blinded by their fan-boy-ism of another driver.

          3. So you think Button will be the best driver this year? What if he wins it without taking a single point in the last 3 rounds?

    3. Belgium 8- 10 points ( last minute rain and Kimi taking a risk for win)

      Aren’t all the drivers taking risks to win?

      1. No. Not at all costs like Raikkonen had to do there.

        He had a poor car for a few races and had to make up the deficit to Lewis. That meant finishing ahead of him or be out of the WDC.

    4. It’s a perversion of logic to give Raikkonen back all the points he lost through reliability/mistakes/whatever, but not do the same for Massa.

      1. Thanks Keith, finally some sense.

        Stats can be twisted to support any argument.

        1. didn’t follow F1 back in the 90’s but was villeneuve the best driver in 97? cause in the time i’ve followed f1, since 2000, he was just useless. maybe an example of not the best driver to win a championship?

          1. He sucked due to poor off track managment. He should not have gone to race for the team he did.

  11. This is going to be mega – internal fight between Alonso and Massa – Schumacher camp. Can’t wait for fireworks…

    1. I really hope that Massa returns to his best after that awful accident. Massa needs to stamp his authority on Ferrari: they already like Massa a lot; this should help him in his battle with Alonso.

  12. Is Kimi to Macca really such a done deal? How about the flirt with Brawn I read about somewhere a couple of weeks ago? I don’t think it’s too far fetched that Kimi and Rosberg go to Brawn and that one of the Brawn drivers is signed up to partner Hamilton. I’m not saying that this I what I think will happen, but it might be possible and I think w shouldn’t jump to conclusions as lo g as the other top teams and subtop have not announced their drivers.

    1. Barrichello already signed to Williams!
      Button to McLaren? I don’t think so…

    2. I don’t think it’s too far fetched that Kimi and Rosberg go to Brawn

      Brawn will need a quite good deal with Mercedes and someone else, to pay Kimi fees.

      1. God, if Button moves to McLaren and they have a British trifecta, I’m never reading anything that has “f1” and “.co.uk” in the URL. Ever. Again.

        I think i’ll learn another language and get my f1 link from that country.

        1. Button to mclaren..I doubt. He will be destroyed by kimi or hamilton.

        2. if Button moves to McLaren and they have a British trifecta

          I think the chances of having any team where they have two drivers of the same nationality is pretty unlikely. It’s a waste of marketing potential. It hardly worked for Super Aguri, did it?

          1. Even USF1 are back tracking on two US drivers now!

    3. Everything I am hearing is that Rosberg and Barrichello will trade places.

      I don’t see Kimi fitting in with the culture at Brawn. He will have enough trouble fitting in back at McLaren, if that is where he is going. I think one of Kimi’s favorite things about Ferrari was the relative lack of appearance commitments. McLaren sends its drivers all over the place in those silver shirts.

      1. I wonder if Lewis can handle Kimi.
        Cause kimi’s gonna ignore the crap out of him if he tries any mind games or something like that.
        Im honnestly more of a macca fan than a fan of either so i hope that anything that goes down between them isn’t to the detriment of the team

  13. 2010 will be a cracker of a season!

    With respect to speculation around whether or not Alonso has negotiated lead status – there really will not be much opportunity for teams to “favor” one driver over another. Other than development direction, and all points seem to indicate that Alonso and Massa prefer a similar handling car, there’s no longer the opportunity to give a driver a better fuel strategy with the refueling ban in place. Perhaps a handful of development parts will have to go to one driver first, but I expect most of the season to see equally paired drivers in most teams.

    Let’s hope the soap-opera stuff is kept to a minimum – I’m not optimistic though.

    1. Let’s hope the soap-opera stuff is kept to a minimum – I’m not optimistic though.

      At least one of the “Max’s brothers” will be leaving soon… hopefully!

  14. I think Alonso will do well at Ferrari, I think however with Massa still recovering this year he will have to be number 2 driver as his confidence will not be up yet.

    Bring on the Massa, Alonso partnership, despite what happened in 07 and their little dispute, you cant honestly think Alonso has held a grudge over that incident, and I don’t beleive Massa will be disappointed to be racing alongside Alonso at all. At least Alonso has character over the Iceman and Raikkonen’s performance has only marginally gotten better over the year.. I think Ferrari has made the right choice, lets just hope they can produce a competitive car for next year.

    A Raikonnen/Hamilton partnership will be interesting also, i think Raikonnen is a great driver on the edge without being too aggressive, while Hamilton is quite aggressive and lacks somewhat composure..

    Goodluck to all the drivers with their new teams!

    1. Goodluck to all the drivers with their new teams!

      Totally agree with this sentiment – at the end of the day, I’d like to see the best drivers feel at home in their cars and perform to their full potential, it’s perfect for F1 and for us fans.

  15. If Kimi wants to win, then he will beat Lewis. Massa and Fernando will be very close, I thinki Massa can beat him but the problem is Fernando is always consistent always delivers and Massa may need time to get back into form with F1.
    Can’t wait for next year. How F1 should be and it’s really not that far away :)

  16. I, for one, am the happiest person on earth. As Red Andy said earlier, the best driver is going to the best team.

    N.B. best team = my opinion
    best driver = fact!

    1. best driver = your opinion.

    2. You are so wrong. When he won his 2 wdc’s, the renault was the best car in the field.
      He then goes to mclaren and has to fight toe to toe with a rookie who was his equal or better all year and it was so embarrassing that he tried to blackmail Ron Dennis.
      If the ferrari isnt the best car next year and I dont hold my hopes as they have run off all their best people. He will be fighting massa for scraps as the mclarens and brawns will run away with the prize.

  17. Since Kimi was basically ousted by Fred, who obviously chose Massa out of fear of a resurgent Raikkonen, I expect Kimi will find the best possible motivation to kick Alonso’s *ss next year, revenge.

    For Ferrari, with no Brawn or Todt, I wonder if the charming but somewhat retiring Domenicali can handle Alonso.

    And Massa, like many Ferrari #2’s before, will soon find his car mysteriously breaking down while his teammate maintains a sensational reliability record, he will find himself leapfrogged due to curiously fussy pitstops. And if he does give the main man a good race and refuse to slide over he will get an unholy earful, for example, Hamilton in Indy 07, or blocked in the pits.

    As for McLaren, I think Hamilton will be just as quick but I fear that, in his zeal to dominate Kimi he may abandon the middle ground of mere dominance by reverting to his rookie form of alternately blowing people away or chucking it off the road. We are seeing this again now that the car is fast and the discipline of a championship fight is not there. There will be minimal fireworks there, because Kimi doesn’t do drama, and Dennis is gone.

    1. That will be the main thing for lewis. If he can calm down and not be intimidaited by Kimi then the championship is his.

    2. Massa has beaten Kimi fair and square – both in 2008 and in 2009 (before the accident).
      Get a grip. Kimi is way overated (he can only beat the likes of Coultard and Montoya) and Massa has proven himself

  18. I don’t understand why people now say that they don’t expect Massa to match Alonso’s pace, next season. I’m not saying he will, but why wouldn’t he? He gave Räikkönen a run for his money, in 2007 and ’08.

    1. I don’t understand

      I don’t have an opinion personally, but perhaps it is because people think:
      1. Massa may not regain his old form after his accident
      2. Alonso is better than Kimi

    2. He gave Räikkönen a run for his money, in 2007 and ‘08.

      Indeed, and not many people expected that – myself definitely included. But he’s returning from a serious injury as well. Massa is going to be coming back to a rather different Ferrari.

  19. Now that they have Alonso on board, the only weak link in Ferrari’s setup is one Stefano Domicelli. Since he took over from Jean Todt, he has:
    1. Lost the 2008 championship in spite of the driver (Massa) doing everything by the book
    2. Completely lost the plot in 2009
    3. Is clearly not a strong thinker and is unable to structure his thoughts well enough to close the loop on basic questions (even after accounting for English not being his first language).

    Alonso will be doing the right thing if he’s bringing his old team with him. If Ferrari want to emulate the Schumacher era, they’ll need the equivalent of Brawn or Todt as well. Domicelli doesn’t cut it.

    1. Sorry that should say Stefano Domenicali .

    2. Oh you’re opening a can of worms with this one…

      Since he took over from Jean Todt, he has:
      1. Lost the 2008 championship

      Winning the 2008 constructor’s doesn’t count? And neither does the fact that when he was in charge in 2007, Ferrari won both?

      2. Completely lost the plot in 2009

      Hardly. If the two teams battling for the 2008 championships both get beaten to the punch the following year, is that just a coincidence? Not to mention Ferrari are (currently) beating McLaren on points and have one win to McLaren’s two. Hardly losing the plot.

      3. Is clearly not a strong thinker and is unable to structure his thoughts well enough to close the loop on basic questions

      I don’t know where you get your ideas from. He seems to talk perfectly legibly and intelligently as far as I can see.

      Alonso will be doing the right thing if he’s bringing his old team with him.

      This is my personal fave. No, really. So Freddy should recruit cheating Flav and Symonds then? Or the rest of the Renault team that have provided him with a substandard car this year?

      I think you’re stuck in the Schuey days.

      1. Winning the 2008 constructor’s doesn’t count? And neither does the fact that when he was in charge in 2007, Ferrari won both?

        Not as much as winning both, and Todt was in charge in 2007 – not sure why you’re crediting Stefano with 07 there. I’m saying Massa lost 2008 exclusively based on poor processes at Ferrari – which is Stafano’s domain.

        At the end of the day, leadership and executive positions have to be judged by results. Lower echelon positions can say “I did everything by the book, but it didn’t work!” perhaps, but the whole point of leadership is to mitigate situations like the one that happened in 2008 and again this year.

        I don’t know where you get your ideas from. He seems to talk perfectly legibly and intelligently as far as I can see.

        He’s gone blank on live TV for several seconds at a time when asked a question with two or more threads. He rarely answers the question asked (counting only the non-controversial ones) – he sounds exactly like anyone would if he was in over his head. Like a new employee who’s just taken over a larger role.

        Finally, I meant Alonso should get his engineering team – which will help mitigate any poorly thought out processes that Stafano might decide to push in Ferrari next year. This is what Alonso appears to be doing, so it looks like you’re saying he shouldn’t and that you know better than him.

        But, let’s leave it at that. I think the results speak for themselves – I hope I eat my words in 2010 because I would love to see the best drivers in competitive cars.

    3. Now that they have Alonso on board, the only weak link in Ferrari’s setup is one Stefano Domicelli.

      Well, then Alonso will bring Briatore as replacement with him ;-)

    4. The Problems with Ferrari recently have been more to do with Luca di Montezemolo than Stefano – he seems to do a decent job, and is certainly more highly regarded in the paddock than Jean Todt, which is essential with the new team unity.

  20. And how many months has this been dragging on for?? :P

    It will be cool to see alonso in a competitive car as I’m sure the 2010 Ferrari will be.

    I expect the front runners from last year to bounce back next year.

    It will be a great season though.

  21. Lustigson..and this year! Before the accident :(

  22. For whatever reason, it is rare that a driver rivalry plays out as people expect it to. I’m skeptical that Alonso will be able to take the fight to Hamilton or vice-versa. I’ll take a wait and see approach.

    One good thing that this allows for, is for some other driver to unexpectedly come out of left field and delight us…

    1. I’ll go and put £20 on Ralf Schumacher in that case…Doesn’t come more left field than that ;)

      1. LOL – You sick puppy ;)

      2. Who knows… Maybe one of the new teams will pick him up.

        This year everyone expected another Massa & Hamilton showdown and look what we’re getting Button & Barrichello.

  23. At last i dont have to support ferrari anymore!!! Kimi back and Mclaren where he belongs, order restored.

    1. Kimi at McLaren is pure speculation….
      I’m sure Lewis is whining about it right now.

      1. “I’m sure Lewis is whining about it right now”

        Whilst I’m in no better a position to say you’re wrong, than you are to say you’re right, I doubt Hamilton will be ‘whining’ about being partnered with Raikkonen.

        I’m betting he’s actually looking forward to it… let’s face it, Kovi hasn’t done much to challenge him and I reckon Hamilton will love the competition.

        You’ve got to remember, Raikkonen is a very different character to Alonso and is probably a better all-round partner for him in every way

        Anyway, as a few posts above points out, it IS still speculation… yeah right!

    2. That siad…I hope he ends up there, just for the excitement of 2010

  24. Schumi went to Ferrari having won 2 championships with Flavio Briatore and Benetton (one with a Renault engine).
    Now Alonso goes to Ferrari having won 2 championships with Flavio Briatore and Renault, which used to be Benetton.

    I have no doubts that Massa will be as fast in 2010 as he ever was. And I’m sure that Alonso cannot count on the team favouring him in any way, even if he turns out to be the faster driver throughout the season.
    I hope he’ll get pushed by Felipe.

    1. Im glad someone else metioned the Schuey/Alonso parallel…

    2. Schumi went to Ferrari having won 2 championships with Flavio Briatore and Benetton (one with a Renault engine).

      (Cough.) Schuey “won” the 1994 championship did he? In the same way Alonso “won” the 2008 Singapore race? Plenty of parallels then :)

    3. Yeah, but Schummi did not consider Formula One as Sport, and Alonso did, remember Monza 06??? Anyway, let’s see what he’s made, cause in McLaren, always cried about no one supported him but his engineers…

      1. I mean, Alonso was the one, who said: “I don’t consider F1 as sport anymore”.. sorry :)

  25. Being a hardcore Ferrari fan i would consider this a black day.This is the worst decision Ferrari could ever take.This jackass is going to convert ferrari into a bunch of jokers.If Kimi shifts to mclaren i think i would also switch my allegiance towards mclaren and support the iceman.If thats not the case i will go ahead and support only baby.No way in hell i am supporting this jackass.

    1. Why? If you don’t like Alonso that is fair enough. But you can’t claim that Ferrari will become a laughing stock because they have recruited a double world champion.

      1. Man, you are not a hardcore ferrari fan if you would switch your alligence to their arch-rivals following a driver.

        No Macca fan supported ferrari when kimi switched, may have retained a soft spot for the guy. I’m glad he’s comming home.

    2. Ha ha… everyone seems to hate Alonso now! I cannot for the life of me understand why this might be the case, he’s never hurt a fly… He seems like an thoroughly nice chap to me. And he can break walnuts with his neck!!!

      How about a poll: who do you prefer- Hamilton or Alonso?

      1. I think its something to do with the beard.

        1. And he can break walnuts with his neck!!!

          Does he do it fairly?

          1. The difference here is that Alonso will probable use Piquet Jr’s head to break that walnut while Hamilton won’t be able to break it, but will tell the FIA he did.

      2. You souldn’t be surprised this web has become a witch hunt. As I said before all this “bravado” is just fear that Alonso now is in a position to challenge Lewis, and everyone here is expecting that the McLaren is going to be a competitive car as we all did at the beginning of this year…

        1. @Carl27

          Probably the most astute comment on this thread.

    3. Arun.India…who cares if you even watch and follow F1 or even think about being a Ferrari fan…just eat your food and watch another channel next time when the race is on…who cares about your love to Ferrari and your hate to Alonso…respect yourself jackass and stop offending one of the most famous people in the world…and if you love the iceman so much, I suggest you shove some ice to cool down a bit…you wasted my time

  26. Im officially a McLaren fan for the next 3 years…

    1. you’ll find it a pretty awesome gig.
      your just in time for what i think will be our strongest campaign for the WCC in quite a while

  27. I think the Alonso Massa pairing is great!

    Felipe is a pretty good driver except he doesn’t seem to do at all well in the wet.

  28. Arun stay with Ferrari :)
    ExPatBrit, did you not see Interlagos last year? And he was pretty good at Nurburgring in 07 (but suffered vibrations with tyres in final stages), this year in China he went from 13th on the grid to 3rd but then engine problems made him retire, yes Silverstone was bad though in 08.

    1. Not yet making a pitstop is what got Massa in P3. Why do people keep forgetting that little tidbit.

      1. Leverage in an argument?

        1. And a little bit of cognitive dissonance.

  29. Take back all I said previously. I didn’t think this would happen this year. Its gonna be good boys. Alonso is probably the best all around driver. I know some will want to argue that Hamilton is. He is definetly in the same class. Consider that Alonso drove a tank of a car this year and really has done better than anyone would have expected. Alonso and Ferrari will be unbelievable because he and the tifosi will get on from the start. Unlike Kimi. The bad news is that I do not think Alonso and Massa will be able to remain “good” teammates with one another. That Latin thing is gonna rear it’s ugly head before the season is over. The good news is that Massa is SO committed to Ferrari and the championships, drivers and constructors, that he is going to give Fernando a hard, hard time. This is going to be great.
    Oh, by the way, Kimi is going to do just fine at McLaren too. (Come on, we all know thats where he has to be heading) Frankly I think Kimi and Lewis will get on much better than Alonso and Massa.
    Last note….can someone please tell me who pays the last 48 million installment to Kimi. That, to me, is the craziest thing of all. It is just bad business sense to pay a guy, any guy, that kind of dough to walk away. Does Ferrari really think Alonso is worth paying off Kimi and also paying Fernando a huge retainer to get him on board?

    1. somehow I believe that there will be fair battle between Lewis and Kimi. Lewis is not bad guy and when he will notice that Kimi is not like Teflonso, they begin to respest each other. Kimi is fair man – he want’s to win but by fair play – Lewis will learn this, only problem is father Anthony

      1. Lewis respected Fernando as a team mate. The problem was the respect didn’t come the other way. Alonso had trouble integrating into much of the McLaren team, not just with Lewis. I don’t think Lewis was at fault there.

        And what makes you think Lewis needs to learn about fair play? He hasn’t shown himself to be too ruthless or on the edge of cheating (except the Lie-gate thing, which I admit was a bizarre situation).

    2. can someone please tell me who pays the last 48 million installment to Kimi

      Well, it’s not clear at all. I even read somewere that Marlboro has taken care of the equalization.

      B Santander have renewed their sponsorship with McLaren. That probably will count. I’m pretty sure Santander have put some pressure on McLaren to hire Kimi.

      On the other hand, Fernando Alonso will take something around 7 Million less than Kimi, so, part of Kimi fees would have been paid by Ferrari using their savings in Alonso’s agreement. At this point, one could say Alonso has paid a big part of Kimi fees!

  30. Leaf I read that Santader had helped pay for Kimi

  31. *Santander

    1. During the last couple of years they bought Abbey, Alliance & Leicester,ABN amro, Bradford & Bingley and Sovereign bancorp.

      Compared to that Kimi’s salary is peanuts

      1. Santa-nder.
        i wonder if the ferrrari Xmas mascot has a sponser

        1. “Santander” is a Spanish or basque town (Donosti in euskera)

          1. forget about donosti

  32. Hopefully a Hamilton-Alonso rivalry will bring back the old fiery rivalry we’ve been missing >D

    1. There was no love lost between them just before going onto the Singapore podium eh! Alonso had a handshake for Glock, but not for Hamilton.

      1. yeh he did.
        when he came into the ?waiting room? first thing he did was aknowledge hamilton.

        It was very tense though. None of the chatter when it was Brawns or Redbulls up their.

  33. hehe this is great news. Not only will Alonso beat lewis, but so will Kimi!

    Also, Lewis is not better than Alonso. To be better, he would need to two more world championships (to end with 2-3).

    Lewis lost the championship last time he had to compete with a high ranking driver (Alonso – 2007), and still struggled when the situation was reversed in 2008 (Kimi took a lot of points off Massa, while Hekki took hardly anything off Lewis).

    With 4 race winning drivers in the top 2 teams next year, either the championship will be won by the faster car(Two way contest), or by the best driver (four way contest). Hopefully its the later.

    1. Hello! Engaged your mouth before your brain?

      Lewis is not better than Alonso. To be better, he would need to two more world championships (to end with 2-3).

      You’ve got your maths screwed up here mate. Alonso was in his fourth season (ok, third season with a good team) before he won his first championship. Hamilton became champ in his second season. Sounds more impressive doesn’t it?

      Lewis lost the championship last time he had to compete with a high ranking driver (Alonso – 2007)

      Lewis lost the lead in the championship, but only to Kimi. He finished in front of Alonso because he won more races/seconds.

      the championship will be won by the faster car(Two way contest), or by the best driver (four way contest)

      If it’s down to the best driver, surely it will be a 26-way contest?

      1. Hamilton had a championship winning car in his first two seasons. Alonso drove in a Minardi in his first and two in a Renault car which was not a championship winning car. Sounds less impressive doesn’t it?

        Alonso convincingly won both his titles, Hamilton bumbled his way to the second…

        1. in his second year…
          i acept it was by no means a perfect campaign but seriously, HIS SECOND YEAR. He had a fraction of the race craft Alonso had by this point. I think Lewis is going towards many more WDC and some in much more dominant fashion.

          1. Jack Villeneuve also won the title in his second year – he also almost won it in his first year. And he is one of the most mediocre F1 champions ever…But I agree that LH is not in the same league a JV.

        2. Alonso won both championships with an illegal car that went unpunished because the powers that be were sick of Schu winning every year, end of story.

    2. That is absolutely the most rediculous statement yet.
      Hamilton came in to f1 and went toe to toe with a 2time wdc and tied him in points and coming in second in the championship. He put so much pressure on alonso that alonso tried to blackmail special treatment out of r dennis. This kid has been in f1 for 3 yrs and has won 1 wdc been 2nd his first year and will still place well this year with a car that was clearly inferior to the competition early on. Base his abilities on number of races and how well he has placed and no one but no one has the record of hamilton.
      I also believe that he will get the better of alsonso if the car is remotely competitive to ferrari. I am not a hamilton fan, but I do recognize his abilities.

      1. Well, Jacques Villeneuve started out with a similar F1 record: 2nd in rookie year (with 4 wins), WDC in second year (with 7 wins) and 5th in third year, all at Williams. Later results with BAR were less memorable.

  34. Three world champions in two teams, neither of whom will get preferential treatment and cause fireworks or complaints about “illegitimate” titles…and of course, there’s always Seb Vettel and Nico Rosberg to spoil the party…

    Maybe we should have three-car teams after all and get these two in equal machinery to the others ;-)

    1. Oh, and I’m including Massa in there too.

      Glad you were happy about 5th in Singapore, Jenson. You’re going to have to get used to them!

  35. HounslowBusGarage
    30th September 2009, 20:34

    Arun.India said

    Being a hardcore Ferrari fan i would consider this a black day.This is the worst decision Ferrari could ever take.This jackass is going to convert ferrari into a bunch of jokers.If Kimi shifts to mclaren i think i would also switch my allegiance towards mclaren and support the iceman.If thats not the case i will go ahead and support only baby.No way in hell i am supporting this jackass.

    I don’t think your wrong, but for different reasons.
    Next season, apart from any other changes, each car will be carrying two or three times the amount of fuel it has this year for much of the race. And that amount of extra weight is going to make handling very different over a race distance. It occurs to me that the cars will have to be radically different from this year’s versions to deal with the extra weight.
    As far as I can see, Ferrari have not been the swiftest to react or the most agile in the design department this year, and unless they have already imported new design talent, they aren’t going to be at the sharp end next year.
    Alonso when he’s winning seems like a very different creature to Alonso in the midfield or Alonso at the back.
    Unless Ferrari produce a heavyweight front-runner for next season, Alonso might descend into a sulk that could outdo Heathcliffe for brooding resentment. And his first target could be his teammate.
    Todt, Brawn and Schumacher held Ferrari rigidly together for many seasons. If Briatore is right, and Schumacher is gone next year, Ferrari could suffer bigtime.

    1. If Briatore is right, and Schumacher is gone next year, Ferrari could suffer bigtime.

      Why? What has he contributed? Apart from a bit of advising Felipe he doesn’t appear to have any function in the race team. It sounds a daft idea that Ferrari would fall apart because Schuey can’t get a third car or can’t be bothered sitting on the pit wall any more.

      Briatore says what he likes. Like when he repeatedly claimed he didn’t cheat.

      1. HounslowBusGarage
        30th September 2009, 21:39

        I think Schue had a centralising influence and exercised a certain discipline and singlemindedness of purpose. If he’s gone, I can see effort being disipated very easily.

        1. Agree on this HBG. Schumi walked into Scuderia Ferrari when the family was bigger than the product. I believe he DID provide the focus and drive, along with Ross and Jean, that made the Ferrari resurgence possible. I believe that, he still provides SOME motivation, but suspect things are slipping.

          Completely off topic, but wouldn’t it be nice to see Schumi leading a team in the paddock. Far better than Prost or even Stewart, Michael has shown himself to be an excellent player on the F1 board.

          1. SCHUEY SHOULD SIGN UP AT BRAWN.
            spend a few years as sporting director be the mans apprentice and learn Team Principling from the hands of the master then in 5-10 years take over.

            Between them they could build a dynasty to match McLaren.

  36. worst thing to happen in F1 since Schumi’s retirement..2010 will be a driver-supporting season for me, with Massa Kimi Nico and Sebastian (Vettel, that is)..Hamilton and Alonso belong in the same team, whining about each other and losing titles together, as they’re both extremely egocentric..and frankly, both are pretty overrated on the same level, only each with his supposed god-like skills (Hamilton with busting tyres with his “determined and aggresive” i.e. irresponsible andimpulsive, and Alonso winning when his car stays on the track or when a certain team wakes up only half-way through the season, or when his team-mate causes a safety car)..now since this site is full of brits, I know my opinion won’t be well received, because any british driver from your point of view is the next Senna or the next Schumi

    1. only legard says that of button.

      this site has fanatics (geddit… sorry)) supporting pretty much everyone

  37. driving style*

  38. This is the best F1 history in years, I just cant wait to see the man in red and driving a Ferrari.

    I hope to see Felipe in good shape too because he is not the pet that Alonso had in Renault. It will be a Titans fight!

    James Allen have written the best words about what we will see next year:

    Formula 1 has it’s dream scenario, which harks back to the Prost vs Senna days – Hamilton in a McLaren vs Alonso in a Ferrari, two drivers on the same level with some history between them. F1, like any sport, works at its absolute best when it has a really great rivalry and we now have that. Except that it’s even better than that because Kimi Raikkonen is also in a McLaren and he’s out to get Alonso too.

    After all the pain and misery of the off track politics in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the scene is set for some classic years of racing.

    1. Villeneuve has said today that F1 drivers are boring, are too nice and polite, and the sport needs a bit more fire and gladiatorial combat. Maybe next year we’ll see some :) can’t wait!

      1. Villeneuve didn’t just say this today,he always has said this.Being unpolite and not too nice himself,he is just trying to promote himself because he wants back in F1.

  39. Nice driver choices Sicali and I am British but support Italian team and Brazilian driver.
    I don’t think Alonso and Massa will neccessarily have a problem; a lot of it has been hyped up but Alonso wasn’t the only one at fault in 2007. There is room for tension but hopefully, and I half expect it’ll be fine and we can get back to watching the best race each other. Excellent.

  40. Well, what can I say? We all knew this was coming. All I have to do now is replace my Ferrari wall, and maybe make it a McLaren, a Ferrari-sans-Alonso, or a McLaren-sans-Lewis wall. As you can see, Raikkonen and Massa are possibly (if not definitely) my favorite drivers. I can’t wait to, though, see how both drivers do with their teammates. Lewis and Kimi are going to be unstoppable (although I don’t know how Lewis is going to like not having horrible Heikki to compare to) and Alonso and Massa (if he’s completely recovered) are going to be pretty darn good, as long as no scandals/arguments/etc. are stirred up.
    I’m starting to think next year’s going to be pretty promising. Even if I have to commit the ultimate crime and wear Ferrari and McLaren tee shirts :D

  41. Grace Massa and Ferrari…as much as I love Kimi he’s gone to the other side :P

    1. Darn, well, I guess it’s time to get rid of my Ferrari memorabilia. Hammy’s tolerable, but I just can’t stand Alonso.
      Sad day for me! :(

      1. no no no Kimi’s comming back home.
        =)

  42. I shall read the other responses after I’ve penned my tuppence worth – saves clouding my opinion. Sorry if I echo anyones sentiment overtly (or sound mad, of course).

    AWESOME.

    Alonso is a VERY hard nosed and quick driver. Massa is a different beast, able to drive fast, and yet, he relies on the very smart talents of Rob Smedley to such a degree, you almost wish Rob was that fast himself. Odd combo. Alonso will struggle with the new team and car initially one would think, but the hardware maybe the least of his problems. I suspect, just my opinion mark you well, that Fernando needs to feel the team is pulling for him. They will be. But given what Massa has just gone through, there will be a lot of love there for Felippe. Dunno what his team building skills are like, but Alonso is gonna need all of them to succeed at Ferrari (Michael had that in spades don’t forget). Awful thought. But would help his cause if Massa never cleared the final med check – which I sincerely hope he will.

    Now the FUN one. Lewis and Kimi. McLaren. Someone explain to me why this isn’t the best F1 driver line up since, erm…, Senna and Prost LOL.

    Difference is, I got a funny feeling these guys, both being total racers, are going to enjoy racing each other. If McLaren manage to actually produce a good car at the start of the season, forget the rest, these boys are going to rip a hole in spacetime trying to outdo each other. Great news for F1.

    Finally, a word about the Ham vs. Alo opinion that envelopes the blogs/boreds. Both these guys are great drivers, as is Kimi on his day. See a lot of crap about hate between the two etc. But when Alonso stated 2 weeks ago, that he may not be the fastest driver, he wasn’t referring to Luca Badoer. These guys are the best. They know it as well. Damn sure they respect each other and share a healthy respect.

    No excuses for the teams. Minor rules changes for next season. If MCL & FER are slow outta the box, hope their sponsors punish them.

    Looking forward to a resurgent Ferrari and McLaren from week 1 – Bahrain – in 2010.

    Going to be a VERY good WDC. All the big players in decent seats.

    1. Totally agree, damn the haters, next year is shaping up to be great. Hopefully Brawn GP (Mercedes?) and Red Bull keep up their pace as well, with rosberg driving for the former.

    2. Good points. Prost tried to get along with senna but was ultimately shunned by senna. Prost being prost used that to his advantage and psyched out senna.
      Your accessment of hamilton and kimi are probably better, they will race and enjoy the competition.
      Meanwhile in maranello if alonso doesnt start shinning and massa does it is going to be stormy weather. Get out the cheese here come the whine.
      If Brawn can figure out another few things and get his team really tracking the right direction then we will have a 3 car championship as I think red bull has shot their wad.

    3. Good comment, and I hope to see a resurgent Ferrari and McLaren also. If that happens, we will have an extraordinary season!

      But, on the other hand, I don’t totally agree with you in “Minor rules changes for next season”

      They will have to make a car quite fast with no fuel for qualifying, and then put a car full loaded for the race.

      Finally, I hope to see RBR and Brawn in the top also. So it seems to me next year could be one of the best!

  43. Who will have the odd and who will have the even number on his Ferrari car?

    1. Surely they’ll want to go for a non-controversial solution, perhaps just giving the lower number to whichever of them gets the most points this year. That’ll be Alonso.

  44. I always believed that 2 good drivers in one team is not going to be a great success. Look what happened with Senna and Prost combo.

    It will be a good challenge for Whitmarsh if Kimi moves to McLaren. Having said that Kimi is a quite “Mind my own Business ” guy with very less complaints and whining. So it might not hurt. Again Kimi has driven more McLaren than Lewis so he might know the team a lot better. I believe he was not in great terms with Ron otherwise, He would be still driving for them.

    On the Other Hand there is absolutely no big problem in Ferrari. Alonso is clearly the number 1. Felipe is a nice guy and a Hard worker but not a smart worker. Where as Alonso is. All said and done Alonso truly believes that the team should be centered around their star driver like how Ferrari was Centered around Michael. He Truly relishes that and would like that to happen and Ferrari on the same note also believes the same thing. Remember Massa was always the 2 driver until Kimi got bored and switched off in 2008. If it was not for Kimi to lose the motivation Massa would have been still the No 2 driver.

    Exactly oppposite to Mclaren, Ferrari belives in No 1 and No2 driver and that no 2 drivers are equal and should be treated equally.

    It would be also good if Kimi moves to Brawn and Nico to McLaren. But then Nico will spoil his career there teaming up with Lewis.

    1. I always believed that 2 good drivers in one team is not going to be a great success. Look what happened with Senna and Prost combo.

      Completely “agree”. They won only 15 out of 16 races that season. Which team would want a mess like that on their hands?

      *rolls eyes*

  45. Mike "the bike" Schumacher
    30th September 2009, 22:01

    Excellent, hopefully back to the good old days next year, Ferrari V Mclaren, Alonso v Massa v Hamilton v Raikkenon

  46. With this deal done in July, I cannot see why Ferrari have hired Michael Schumacher as their ‘advisor’ for 2010 (they are paying him a load of cash for what?)

    How is this going to work exactly?

    Ferrari seem to be making mistake after mistake since they won the WDC in ’07, both on and off the track.

    Massa and Alonso will bring fireworks. They are both firery characters that do not, as far as I’m aware, get on well.

    One thing is ‘for sure’ though… 2010 is going to be absolutely great :)

    1. Schumacher fiddles with their road cars and then Ferrari sells them for more money :-)

  47. Alonso is indeed the best driver in the field and definetly the best one in setting up cars along with Vettel. Hamilton and Vettel are a little more spectacular regarding passing manoevres but they didn’t beat Michael Schumacher twice in a row at his prime. Alonso did and he did it in style too. Alonso had a little bit of bad luck with McClaren and as Martin Whitmarsh said “We didn’t pay enough attention to him, we should have listened better.”, damn right they should have. No doubt Hamilton is a tremendous driver with huge skill, but he did benefit from Fernando’s experience in setting up cars, he pulled McClaren out of a gap hen he went there. He’s going to do the same for Ferrari and he will be world champion next year since he’s more reliable than Hamilton and Vettel (and Massa) and definetly as quick as they are provided Ferrari can give him a good enough car. He just takes less riscs with passing and he’s thinking a bit more in the car.

    Kimi vs. Hamilton is indeed FUN! I think if Kimi has his day he’s the quickest guy on track. The way he can just blaze through the field is just amazing. (from 20 to 3 in Australia, anyone?) The question is wether he’s motivated enough to do so and if he can be as consistent as Alonso and (a little less) Hamilton. I can see him off to go rallyracing and I wouldn’t be surprised if Rosberg stepped in. If Kimi does step in we’ll have Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonnen, Massa and Vettel all fighting for the world championship (with Alonso and Hamilton having the best chances IMO) and Possible Button and Rosberg if the Brawn stays on top. Btw Vettel isn’t that much of a car destroyer, the renault engine just sucks. Vettel won a race in a torro rosso and since he came to red bull they scored more points than in the past 4 years COMBINED. It’s ignorant to not acknowledge this guy’s talent.

    Btw, Rosberg in a Brawn/McClaren should be huge as well, the guy is very quick and very consistent (nvm his dumb “rooky mistake” in Singapore) and has had great results at williams. It would be very wise for Williams to get Rubinio in there alongside SUPERTALENT Nico Hülkenberg. He was more devastating than Hamilton and Piquet jr. together at the Gp2 series and he practically dominated every series he’s been in (including Gp2, A1, Formula three euroseries and formula BWM). In test drives for the Williams team he was already a lot faster than Nakajima. I don’t think he’s going to need a guy with experience in setting up cars but he can definetly benefit a LOT from the most experienced driver ever in F1. Do not underestimate this guy, he’s probably going to struggle in his first year but I really think he’s going to be a dominant force in the future.

    Renault would also be wise to hire Robert Kubica, excellent fast driver with huge potential. Grosjean didn’t do bad so far (except last weekend). He could stay with Alonso better than Piquet Jr which isn’t bad at all. Curious if we’re going to see him back btw! Piquet surely has talent, did a good job in Gp2 and A1 but besides his “lack of good material” he also cheated (ok against his will, so he claims, but still!) and he did make a lot of errors himself. And what about Sebatian Loeb? Rumours of the superrallydriver coming over are interesting as well. Perhaps he could drive next to Hamilton and Kimi taking his place in the Citroën :)

    Interesting times!

    1. Agree with many of the comments but 1 of them is not very convincing.

      but he did benefit from Fernando’s experience in setting up cars, he pulled McClaren out of a gap hen he went there. He’s going to do the same for Ferrari and he will be world champion next year since he’s more reliable

      If he has so much of that talent why is that he is not able to do the same thing in Renault where the whole team is dedicated to him, Where people crash cars to make him win. Nobody has supported Fernando more than Flavio. Both of them know that very well. Then why did’nt he pull Renault through in 2 years ? We can’t complain the engine because RBR seems to be doing just fine.

      On a different note. Drivers who seems to connect more with Audience seem to be more popular and make the sport thrilling. My list of the top three are

      1) Vettel
      2) Alonso
      3) Hamilton

      It is no surprise that Bernie is ready to throw his money on Vettel and would like to seem him in a Ferrari Soon.

    2. Hamilton and Vettel are a little more spectacular regarding passing manoevres

      Which passing moves did Vettel make?

    3. Good post Dennis.I am glad someone has shown some respect for Vettel.He is still young and has plenty of time to develope his talent.

      …and yes,the Kimi vs. Hamilton aspect is very exciting indeed.(I’m pulling for the Kimster!)

    4. Good point Dennis ^_^ I’m such a Kimi fan but I am okay with Vettel and Alonso as well. But Hamilton was one of my lesser choices since the Kimi vs Lewis in 2008. anyway, I’m just sad that Kimi is a bit distracted… but he can cruise down the track smoothly if he is just motivated enough :D He’s just not that consistent though but I am still waiting to see him be in back in his days again :)

    5. KImi blazing through the field…..? Yeah, sure, ok.

    6. i agree with pretty much everything, except i really don’t think vettel will be challenging for the championship next year. i just have the feeling next year will be back to mclaren v ferrari and both teams will leave everyone else in their wake. but i guess we’ll have to wait and see. and going on from that, it seems unwise to me for vettel to have extended his rbr contract for 3 years. he should take any opportunity to get in a mclaren/ferrari asap cause he is exceptionally talented

  48. Paige Michael-Shetley
    30th September 2009, 22:13

    I can’t see anything but an epic turf war happening at Ferrari. Alonso is reportedly campaigning for Ferrari to hire his laundry list of engineers. If this happens, Massa will surely not react positively, as he’s established close relationships with everyone in the current team (including those on Raikkonen’s side of the garage) and could only interpret such a move as him being relegated to number two status. Massa won’t accept this after he’s beaten Raikkonen, and rightly so. On the other hand, if it turns out that Massa is beating Alonso at some point next season (a possibility that is much stronger than people might think; personally, I don’t think Alonso is that much, if any, better), then we’ve already seen that Alonso will throw his toys out of the pram if a teammate is challenging or beating him. It’s not just going to be a battle between Alonso and Massa, but among Alonso’s people (if he brings in some engineers) and Massa’s people (Rob Smedley, etc.).

    Very, very bad decision by Ferrari. They ditch Raikkonen just as he’s returned to form, and in a car that hasn’t been upgraded since the Nurburgring at that. By all accounts, he and Massa got along fine, and he didn’t stir up trouble publicly last season when Massa beat him in contrast to Alonso making all kinds of ridiculous trouble in the media when Hamilton beat him at McLaren.

    If Raikkonen goes back to McLaren, he and Hamilton will form the best pairing on the grid. Raikkonen will be more at home in a team that just asks him to show up, drive, and give them feedback instead of having to fit in to any kind of “family.” Hamilton will be motivated by the challenge presented by Raikkonen and will take his game to another level. Neither will throw their toys out of the pram if the other is beating them and will just focus on getting better and doing their jobs. It’s really a perfect pairing for any team.

    1. Couldn’t agree more with you Paige.

    2. Fantastic post!

    3. well firstly Kimi has to race

      Raikkonen says he might leave F1 :
      http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79082

      1. That would really be a shame. I know Kimi has said quite a few times that Ferrari is the last team he will race for, but Im much more excited about a Kimi-Lewis pairing than the Massa-Alonso rivalry in the making.

    4. I think Kimi chan’t catch up with Hamilton.
      Mclaren stuff had already relied on Hamilton deeply and he has power in the team.
      Kimi is not a team player and when kimi was in Maclaren three years ago,he didn’t get as good relationship with the team as Hamilton have done.

  49. @ Dennis: Well done mate, couldn’t have put it better myself!!!!…..Excellent post!! :-)

  50. I think an important aspect of aligning the right driver with the right team needs discussion. It seems a driver’s nationality/ personality aligns better with similar management. For example, Ferrari’s results changed when they got Brawn, Byrne and Schu. The previous “spagetti” culture had a hard time with lasting results, even when they had Prost. Now that the British regime at Ferrari has passed, we are seeing something of the old ways in effect. Perhaps, Kimi’s cool doesn’t mesh well with the current regime. An Italian/ Latin mentality may well do the trick with Alonso’s signing. Just as Kimi’s assumed Mclaren signing seems to suit that marriage. That template of observation can be applied to any of the pairings down pitlane.

    1. Interesting insight PL : the spaghetti spaceship against the black beer bomber

  51. Massa-Alonso, Lewis-Kimi is hugely exciting.
    Mclaren is at the moment unquestionably Lewis’s team, everything is centred around him. But although Kimi was champ with Ferrari in 07, I actually thought he was more impressive in 05 with Mclaren. Raikkonen doesnt care enough to get paranoid about the team favouring Lewis like Alonso did. He’ll just get on with the job. I think thats what Whitmarsh wanted: 2 mega drivers who wont cause trouble.
    With regard to the Ferrari line-up, I’m not convinced that Alonso will dominate Massa as many here expect. People immediately claim he wont be the same but doctors have given him the all clear and he has a long time to recover. A long break can do a driver good(anybody remember Schumi coming back in Sepang 99 and blitzing everyone in quali by a second)

  52. Made a note in my diary today. Simply says: “Bugger”.

    I have few doubts that Alonso will do well at Ferrari but there’s just something about the guy I don’t like and I’d really prefer to keep Raikkonen.

    I don’t know what it is about Alonso, when he first came into F1 with Minardi I really liked him but since he first moved to Renault I’ve taken a dislike for him that even I don’t really understand.

    1. Yea, I’m kinda bummed that Kimi got dropped. Everyone is making Massa out to be the hero because he beat Kimi a handful of teams, when in reality, Kimi has a WDC.

      Alsono can be fun to watch though. I think the races are better when he has a faster car….and maybe Ferrari will be fast next year!!

    2. Made a note in my diary today. Simply says: “Bugger”.

      +1 for the Blackadder quote :-)

      1. For the sake of my family & friends I try not to quote it too often but this one was just too perfect and really summed up how I felt.

        It really is a work of Genius !

  53. I guess this is the most dissaopinting news i have heard so far in my F1 followup for 10+ years. Being a hard core ferrari fan, i feel the move isnt any good. we know how alonso ruined the mclaren team and i dont want it to be my fav team. alonso is an aggressive driver and think selfishly about him and his laurels and not a team player. kimi any day is a better choice.

  54. There’s hardly any difference between ham/alo/rai skillwise. It’s just a matter of form/fitness and equipment, really.

    1. Agreed. I would also add a few other drivers to that list.

  55. I think the Kimi match would be good for Lewis. Considering the 2007 season, Lewis is more consistent against the two time world champion than last year. So it should be a trigger for him.

    In terms of consistent lap times and qualifying pace, I think Massa will match with Alonso. But Alonso’s got some extra specialities like overtaking and setting the car. Anyway, I think it’ll be a near battle.

    IMHO, Lewis-Kimi pair is better than Massa-Alonso. Let’s hope these two teams have competitve cars, so we can enjoy the show.

  56. wow didn’t take long for the fanboys and haters to get stuck into this one. TBH, i’m a fan of all the top drivers, they are each fantastically skilled and if they were all cut from the same cloth, well that would be a bit bland, same for the teams.
    I’m looking forward to next year, i just hope there is no FIA governance/penalties controversies and we can all watch a fantastic season. It could be epic, if regulations are quite similar, i think the are, and Ferrari, Mclaren, Brawn, RBR are quite close in performance, it could be an epic season. Heres hoping.

  57. Prisoner Monkeys
    30th September 2009, 23:52

    Okay, Alonso’s at Ferrari.

    Now can we [i]please[/i] shut up and get on with the rest of the season? I’m sick of the endless rumours and people trying to hammer it down our throats, especially the Spanish newspapers.

    1. Same here, and let’s get on with the rest of the driver moves. For two years now the rest of the paddock has moved on Fred’s every whisper…let ‘s get things rolling!! :)

      1. Prisoner Monkeys
        1st October 2009, 2:10

        Well, it’s funny: I crunched the numbers the other day – largely to prove a point – and froma purely theoretical point of view, Alonso isn’t much of a driver.

        He has not won a single race in a striaght fight since traction control was banned. Indeed, his only vicotries – Singapore and Japan last year – came about from a fixed race and the Ferrari and McLaren drivers forgetting what they were supposed to be doing at the start respectively. His podium in Singapore this year is the only time he has been in the top three on his own merits since he left McLaren.

        From a points perspective, Fred is behind both Raikkonen and Massa over the past two years. Even if you factor in his two wins, he’s still thirty points adrift; image ine what that difference would be if Massa hadn’t been KO’d. This, of course, ignores the differences between the Ferrari and the Renault. However, I think there’s something of a paradox going on. From the way people trumpet about Fred, you’d think Jesus was the first coming of Fernando Alonso. Taking in the opinions of him, you’d think his ability would compensate or a poor car. The paradox stems from the fact that Alonso’s fanclub claim he’s the best and deserving of a Ferrari drive, but attribute his lacklustre performance to a poor car.

        I guess the short version is that while he’s a good driver, he’s also over-rated. He might be in the top five on the grid, but I rate both Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel as being better. Massa and Hamilton round out the top five. While I don’t think signing him is a mistake, I don’t think it’s going to be the coup de grace (see, I remembered the proper coding this time) everyone makes it out to be, either. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Massa humbles him on more than one occasion.

        I also noticed in the Autosport article that Alonso only became an option in the past few days. Something evidently changed, probably Ferrari coming to terms with Raikkonen because they couldn’t rightly sign thre drivers for two cars. I doubt the Spanish tabloids will see it that way. I wholly expect that Spanish newspapers will be filled with reports about how people like Lobato (I seriously doubt he and Alonso are as close as he would like us to think) made the Alonso-Ferrari relationship happen back in March.

        1. Excellent observation. Schumacher could and di take cars that were lesser cars and compete with them and even win. When alonso wom his championships the renaults were the best cars on the track, and he still didnt walk away with it the way schumacher did when he was winning championships back to back to back.

        2. I also noticed in the Autosport article that Alonso only became an option in the past few days.

          The way I read that Alonso was expected for 2011, but getting him in for 2010 only became possible recently (presumably because Ferrari only just found a way of getting Raikkonen out).

  58. Best thing that happened to F1 this year. Let’s be done w/ this year’s formal proceedings and fast-forward to next year. I can’t wait !

    Oh, and Kimi is going to destroy Lewis if he gets the same car (which one would expect he would).

  59. @Paige Michael-Shetley: totally agreed!!

    I still think Ferrari is losing a fantastic partnership (Massa-Raikkonen), with two great drivers, championship contenders, that respected each other and spent two years and a half in harmony, just to have Alonso, that, while proving to be best on the current field (making miracles with his under-performing Renault), is arrogant and problematic…

    But the most interesting thing will be watching how Hamilton will react with Raikkonen as a team-mate. In 2007, Alonso was labeled the “bad guy” whinning because the rookie beat him…

    If Kimi and Lewis fail to get along well, probably it’ll be Lewis responsability, because, as we all know, Kimi doesn’t bother anyone, nor does get bothered by anyone… to some extent, 2010 will show us how “good” or “bad”, in terms of ethical behaviour, Lewis Hamilton really is…

  60. I’m ****** off. As a Ferrari fan, I loved the news of Kimi moving there. And now I’m disgusted by how Ferrari ditched him even before the end of the season, just as he was busy showing them what they could have done if they’d made a car to his liking rather than to Massa’s.

    I think Alonso will do well at Ferrari though. He’ll be the leader on-track they want with a bit more positive input than Massa could provide. Massa stands to gain from that as well, if their driving styles are as similar as they seem.

    A Hamilton-Raikkonen pairing seems hugely exciting too. I think two drivers of their caliber going at it in equal machinery can only be good for F1, if they can both keep it all fair and square. I have no doubts about Kimi, but Hamilton has shown cracks in that respect before. Remember it wasn’t Alonso who started the whole unholy mess in Hungary. So as exciting a prospect as that may seem, I’m voting for Kimi to Toyota together with Barichello :) Get Barichello to lead, Kimi to give the feedback and Toyota to do the work. First (and 2nd, 3d, 4th etc.) win for Toyota: here we come ;)

  61. i am very excited! i can’t wait for 2010 to start to see the my man fernando in the glorious red car! ring the bell!

    i certainly hope brawn and red bull remain in race-winning form next year, too. button, barrichello, rosberg, vettel and webber are seriously capable drivers that have had inferior cars stand between them and championships.

    but what about lewis? not only are other teams legit threats, but now he has an equivalent driver in an identical car. doesn’t look good, i’m afraid….

  62. Disappointing for Ferrari they ditch Kimi for no reason,I am fearing that Alonso will want to rule over Massa just he did in Mclaren with Lewis.Ferrari is going to create another drivers clash.Kimi is very unhappy about it.

    But if he joins Mclaren that will be great because It will set up a fantastic,highly explosive environment in the Mclaren team. You simply couldn’t have a greater contrast between smooth-talking, urbane Hamilton and the hard-line, racer Kimi. I think it will be a clash of contrasts that could propel either driver to the 2010 title. Secondly Kimi deserve a drive for Mclaren so that he can win his title with them.

    Now lets hope the ICEMAN not thinking about Rallying it will be a great lose if we lose somebody like Kimi from Formula 1

  63. I wish him and the the team all the bad luck in the world and wish Kimmi and Lewis a kick ass season start and total domination till the end!

    The bad apples are in the sabe basket. I’m happy – Alonso + Ferrari. I only feel sorry for Massa (and I don’t even care so much about him, but we will suffer with the spaniard as his team mate…

  64. Where is Piquet going ?

  65. Lets concentrate on somethings else.

    In Singapore the Renault Engine used 1 litre of fuel for each 1.58 km to that a F1 car will need max 200 litre for the 305 km race around the circuit next year.As there is no refueling (which I am not a fan) the best car that looks to handle well with good pace is Mclaren(according to past history),remember in 2005 in many races Kimi came from behind to score many podium with heavy fuel loads.So Mclaren is looking in a good shape

    But we still have a long time to go

    LETS WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  66. Actually to be very honest with the Ferrari fans, I’m sorry if I’m putting you down or something, but I think Ferrari will perform abysmally bad next year. The reason is because, they are doing what BMW did last year. Look what’s happened to them. At least BMW had the excuse of having to build a car radically different for the 2009 rules. But the 2010 car will look the same as 2009, except for larger fuel tank etc. The aero & the rest remains the same. I dunno how well they are developing their engine, its inferior compared to mercedes & honestly they will not have Massa’s feed back during winter testing, I don’t expect him to recover by then. Again driving karts is completely different to driving F1 cars, Fisi & Badoer have shown us that. I think Ferrari will take some time to get going. I don’t expect them to be on par with Mclaren or red bull or even Brawn for that matter. just my opinion.

    1. honestly, where is the “click to ignore this user” option?

        1. that’s hardly the standards keith has asked for on a site he graciously provides.

          however, i do very much feel the same towards loonies with no real appreciation of the sport. here’s a finger right back at ya!

      1. honestly, where is the “click to ignore this user” option?

        I second the motion.

    2. Honestly its very difficult to say at the moment and its just all guesses and speculation. There are plenty of history of a team turning out a complete lemon after a totally dominating car.. like Mclaren in 08/09, 05/06, 91/92, Ferrari 08/09, 95/96, Williams 03/04 ..etc .. circumstances might be different in all the cases but these things could be a coin toss… i do think that Fisi in the Ferrari now is showing us what a great driver Kimi is though, and the guy gets fired .. F1 is a strange place indeed..

    3. yes, focussing on next years cars didn’t work out for honda/brawn,
      no massa for testing, well that’s not a certainty, and now they have Alonso who, no matter what you think, is no slouch. The fact that regs won’t change much for next year is a good thing for ferrari. If they no what is fundamentally wrong with their car, there is no point sticking aero updates on it to make it go faster. Learn your lesson and start again.

    4. I dunno how well they are developing their engine, its inferior compared to mercedes

      Fisi said the other day

      Fisichella said the problem is not Ferrari’s engine, with many commentators believing the Mercedes he has raced for most of 2009 is clearly the best in the field.

      “The power (of the two engines) is about the same but the driveability of the Ferrari is better,” he said.

    5. It is very possible that the Spaguetti Special is not up to par with some other 2010 cars. Now with these new rules, it sems that what Ferrari will need is a good aero team.

    6. Mp4 there hasn’t been any mass regulation changes this year which caught many out. Ferrari don’t have any stars in their team so maybe they will suffer for that and Mclaren could have a better car, but not by much.

  67. Mclaren are only taking Kimmi back, so they can steal the Ferrari info again.

    1. Maybe Kimi is a double agent ..

      1. But he doesn’t talk …

        1. he just mumbles incoherently

          1. I’d still like to see Kimi and Ward Burton (former nascar driver) give an interview together.

          2. Kimi is not there to talk or smile. He is there to drive.

  68. Why??? This is so sad! Alonso is not even that good!

  69. Here is to three years of in fighting at ferrari

    and a return for me to cheering for Macca(I left cause they hired alonso)

  70. Does anybody honestly believe that Alonso and Hamilton received equal treatment at McLaren in 2007? We know Alonso pushed (and later blackmailed) for no.1 status, but, let’s be honest, I think he would have been happy with equal status, seeing as McLaren made no secret of their love affair with their little spoonfed British driver.

    That is what bothers me should Kimi return to McLaren. Alonso is the best driver on the grid, no question, but I think Kimi may (and that’s a may) well beat him on outright speed. He is just not reliable and consistent enough. Raikkonen will trounce Hamilton in the same equipment. The problem is only whether McLaren will provide him with the same components, treatment and support as they do Hamilton.

    1. Are you serious, when alonso was at mclaren he wasnt blackmailing Dennis for equal equipment, he wanted the bestter stuff exclusively and hamilton to not get any of it. It is senna all over again. Hamilton was spanking his ass with the same equipment and I watched him do it every race. . Kimi was upset by the unreliability of the mercedes engine when he was there and that was why he was up and down. Now that they have neutered the engines so they became reliable that isnt an issue anymore(unless it is a renault )
      The little spoonfed driver grew up in the shadows of mclaren so yes he was known by everyone there, but unlike renault that group is professional enough not to pull the favoritism trick. Also remember that Pedro de la Rosa(Alonso’s boy) was giving him all sorts of data from the simulator when they were using ferrari data. So if anyone was getting special treatment then it was alonso..and we didnt hear any whining from hamilton.
      I believe kimi and lewis will be fine, if there is an issue it will be driven from outside sources.

  71. I can’t wait for the infighting to start at Ferrari next year. It’s going to be too much fun to watch!

    Massa is well established in the team and is probably at the stage in his career where he feels he should be Ferrari’s number 1. Alonso probably feels that he should be number 1 because he is a double world champion and, according to some people but definitely NOT me, “the best driver in F1”. Domenicali isn’t going to be able to deal with these two!

    My prediction is that Alonso and Massa will have a public disagreement about who is the Daddy in the team before the Turkish Grand Prix and they won’t be able to work with one another by the British Grand Prix.

  72. I don’t think this is a good move at all. Of course it will do Alonso’s reputation a world of good to have ‘Ferrari’ on his CV, especially after the length of time it has been rumoured to be happening, but how on earth is Massa going to cope with a driver who expects to be No 1 in any team he joins? Isn’t Massa expected to be confirmed as No 1 if Kimi is out?
    Of course, Ferrari will say that both drivers are equal – and we have seen with Mclaren that Alonso won’t like that at all….
    And what on earth have they done to Fisci? There goes any hopes of him getting a podium or a first in any race next year, being stuck as a test driver when no testing is allowed….

  73. if ( (KR + LH) == (FA + FM) ) then 2010 will infinitly enjoyable :)

  74. Kimi never one the championship, it was give to him be default as both McLaren drivers were only allowed to continue the season after the spy-gate on condition they don’t win it.

    This explains two things:
    1) 17 lost in two races.
    2) The not so excited Kimi reaction to winning the world championship.

    Ali

    1. Now, if this is true then FIA must be suspended for 2 years as what WMSC applied when renualt try to fix the race results.

      1. They have been fixing it for so long that is so obvious to those who care to look.
        Remmeber Glock last year? Hmmm and Trulli almost doing the same time half a lap behind when the conditions are different :)

        Ali

    2. I love cute little conspiracy theories. It is like puppies barking. You just have to smile.

  75. Kimi & hamilton for Mclaren
    Alonso & Massa for ferrari
    just can’t wait for 2010

  76. Well it’s finally been made official, the worst kept secret in F1.

    Alonso is going to Ferrari knowing that Massa is loved by the team and that they will both get equal treatment. Assuming when Massa comes back next year he is back to his best I think he will be able to beat Alonso at tracks where Massa has always excelled such as Turkey and Brazil but overall Alonso should come out on top

    If Raikkonen does go back to McLaren I don’t think he will be bothered by having Hamilton as a teammate, and if Raikkonen is back on top form I think it could be a very evenly matched pairing.

    I know some have said one of the reasons Massa sometimes beat Raikkonen at Ferrari was that the Ferrari is more suited to Massa, does anyone know if the driving styles of Hamilton and Raikkonen are more similar?

    Hopefully both McLaren and Ferrari hit the ground running next year and Brawn and Red Bull are competitive aswell, it would be great to have drivers from multiple teams able to win every race and challenge for the title.

  77. I think Kimi didn’t quiet fit in Ferrari, and therefore felt uncomfortable in the car, I also think Ferrari centere their car on massa, and the team was really more focoused on giving back the title they lost for Massa than concentrate on Kimi thats my opinion!!! And thats how i explain Kimi’s sudden “low” in perfomance. However after Massa-s accident kimi has had a “boom” in perfomance, causing me to believe that now that Massa has gone they centered the team on the only winning driver in the teAM, Kimi!

    I explained it really badly, but you can sort of get what i mean right?

    1. Sorry about the “typos”!

    2. I would take a diferent view, the car was difficult for Kimi but not because of any preference to Massa, that would have been crazy, Ferrari were paying Kimi enormous sums to drive. The car had evolved from Schumacher inputs, and that may have been the problem. As for Kimis inconsistance, that is simply down to having his head turned by various different distractions.

  78. I am so sad when i heard the news. I am a very big fan of Ferrari ever since. when they got loud mouthed Massa, I was a bit disgusted. And now, they have 2 temperemental drivers… I don’t know if they can still have my support. I am the most affected and deprived fan next season. Oh God help me…

  79. Im probably a bit of toppic with this post, apologies for that. But as there are some great posts here, i would want to hear your opinion on a question that has been bothering me.

    Button started the season incredibly well and won a lot of races and gained a lot of points. Was this only possible by him having a superior car? If he would be teamed up with drivers like hamilton, alonso, raikkonen, massa, could he match their speed?

    Is Jenson Button a top-driver?

    1. In one word…….no, probably with the exception of Massa. Hamilton, Alonso and Kimi are for me way above the other drivers. All have very natural speed, good understanding and the ability to make the most out of a bad situation. Jenson has a very good style, very smooth and precise with minimul input which makes it very effecient, but this season we have seen that he doesn’t have the strength of mind that the other three have all demonstrated, perhaps it’s something that can be developed, as Lewis has had to do this season. But at this moment in time I would say Jenson is in the second tier of drivers with Rubens, Vettel, Rosberg, Webber and maybe Kubica.

  80. Now correct me if I’m wrong here, but I seem to remember that in both of Fernando Alonso’s championship years he got off to great starts, and then fended off challenges from other drivers with nothing more than a string of podium finshes.

    I’m not saying that he had the kind of dramatic downturn in form that Jenson has had, but he did go through long spells in both seasons were he didn’t win a race. Alonso had a 4 race winless drought and a 5 race winless drought in 2005 and had a 7 race winless drought in 2006.

    1. I find that kind of natural to happen either for Alonso and for Button. I just think you start playing safe. You are not aggressive with the car development, with strategies and with your driving style. I mean, we have been previously used to an incredible superiority of Ferrari in the previous seasons.

      I don’t think the Renault was clearly the best car on the grid when Alonso won his titles. And for Button, they haven’t touched the car much.

      1. I have to agree with you.

        My point was simply this: It has happened before that drivers have made great starts to the season in great cars, only to go off the boil to a greater or lesser extent and still win the WDC.

        If your just looking at the numbers then hell, even Nigel Mansell had a dip in form in 1992 in the all conquering Williams FW14. Nige won 8 of the first 10 races in 1992, and then only 1 of the next 6. Ok, he did wrap up the title in race 11, but you get the point! ;-)

  81. 1 fact that Alonso is bettter then Hamilton……….. “he doesnt choke when under pressure”.

    Hamilton had nothing to lose in 2007 he was full of beans driving next to the best full of confidence, Alonso on the other hand was trying to defend his title and win 3 years in a row i think a slight more pressure for Alonso then Hamilton that year, and look how Hamilton treated his own teammate nerly driving him off the road even i was shocked how alonso got treated by him and he deserved to be shown what kind of guy hamilton is on the race track. 2008-09 Alonso has had a crap car from the start and improved alot at the end and it still shows he is one of the best of all time for making the car reach the limit its built for, what other driver for the past 2 years has done that?.

    Vettel is not overrated lets see how well Hamilton does in a Torro Rosso in his first years and put Vettel in a Mclaren as a first team you will see they are both pritty much equal so to the people who say vettel is overated is just laughable. he has a decent car this year for once and he has beaten Hamilton pritty much this year. If vettel was overated why does every other team want to sign him up??? IMO Vettel and Rosberg are going to be on PAR with Hamilton when they get in bigger teams.

    when the day comes when Vettel replaces Massa in Ferrari, Hamilton will have to deal with a driver who is more determined, calmer, younger and more respected in the F1 world then hamitlon is because when the job gets tough, Vettel just stays calm and helps the team improve as a whole and keeps optimistic. Hamilton on the other hand just blames the team and says its got nothing to do with him and cough…”threatens to leave” if they dont improve in a professional sort of way. just prooves he is acting like a modern day footballer close to a C Ronaldo attitude, a utter mercenary i think.

    Hamilton has only done so well for the past 2 years because he has pritty much been driving a Ferrari with the schematics scandle.

    If anything it just prooves hamilton is the one overrated because he hasnt prooved himself in a lower team yet and has been given the best start in Formula 1 History with having a silver spoon stuck in his mouth since he started racing . chuck him in a Torro Rosso or a Force India then lets see how good he really is, and im not getting on the Hamilton glory train because he still hasn’t prooved anything to me yet in the formula 1 seasons. 07 chokes, season 08 almost chokes again and season 09 just plain terrible.

    Alonso will walk away with titles for years now that he is with the big red machine and the 09 season pritty much means nothing now with big news like this. heard it here first “he will get past 5 world titles”

    1. Vettel needs to overtake more, but I think maybe he could be compared to Massa. Yes very different drivers, (or others throughout past in same situation) but take 2007, first year with a chance at championship, some silly mistakes but was a real wake up to potential champion. Vettel has all potential to be a driving legend nevermind champion.
      I am anti-Hamilton but I can’t deny his talent and he has had to work hard this season when the car was a dog. But his situation is unique as in his first year he was already in a car capeable of winning a championship. I actually think he’s most overrated as a good driver in the wet.

    2. well, I totally disagree. Alonso won’t be getting any championship with Ferrari, which will prove Michael’s greatness :)

      Before Schumi&Brawn came to Ferrari, Ferrari was almost nothing. 3 championships from 1965 to 1995 years. wow… so great.
      It was Schumi & Brawn who showed “the way” to Ferrari, leading to 5 championships in 11 years and being there almost all the years.

      However Ferrari has been fading since then and they just kept the momentum, until they had to redesign the whole package (this year).
      I still believe that the FIA handed the championship to Raikkonen in 2007, because they couldn’t allow a cheating team to win anything (it’d be the most shaming thing ever saw in sport, worse than crashing a car to win a race)

      While Newey and Brawn get some decent budget, they’ll be dominating the races. And when the budget is capped, they’ll get far better bang for the buck than Ferrari (and all other teams) will, bringing them back to the mid-grid where they were before the Schumacher era. Luca should leave. He shouldn’t have changed Schumacher for Raikkonen (he’d have won the 2007 wdc with a hand tied at his back) and now he shouldn’t be substituting Raikkonen for a troublemaker that will start whinning when Massa stars beating him.

  82. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/79082

    kimi may walk away from F1…interesting. I still think he’s going to head to WRC if there’s a hot seat.

    1. Dsob may just have been right then about Kimi leaving for rallying, I swear he can predict the future.
      I still think he’ll sign for Mclaren for a bit maybe 2 years and then head to rallying. I just don’t get the feeling he is quite done with F1 yet.

  83. Can you clarify whether Fernando has any advantage in his contract relating to Felipe?

    SD: Easy, no. Equal.

  84. Oh also

    Will there be any changes on the engineering side or chassis side for next season with regards to Fernando? Is anyone coming with Fernando?

    SD: No. The talk about 20 people coming with him to the team is not the case, 100 per cent, because we have strong people enough in Maranello. I don’t see anyone coming…

  85. Although my favourite driver is Alonso, I don´t care wether he´s better than … (put any name you like). For one reason or another, we´ve got a group of excellent drivers; one is faster, another consistent, the third good qualifier. Some are plenty of experience, others are arriving to their maturity. Kubica, Nico, Hamilton, Kimi, Felipe, Fernando, … and what about cars? Will Brawn keep the advantage? Or maybe McLaren & Ferrari finally evolve a 2010 top car? Some teams are changing engine supplier. We all feel a pretty competitive season is coming; whoever wins, fans will enjoy, no more boring races. Congratulations.

  86. Alonso, finally, the worst kept secret in F1 is revealed! If I were the Alonso sponsors I would be a little nervous of the investment as Alonso better play this gig straighter than straight and be whiter than white. We will all be watching closely.

    Lets hope Kimi bucks up his attitude at McLaren as it would be a real shame for McLaren otherwise. On another note, and I know it won’t likely happen anytime soon, but I would really like to see some drivers contracts especially in this case the clause that allows Ferrari to boot out Kimi. I guess Kimi will have to take a pay cut but I’m guessing the money issue may well become a bone of contention between him and Lewis too…

  87. WhisperingWind
    1st October 2009, 17:37

    Well, Enough has already been speculated on the why’s and how’s of Kimi/Alonso/Ferrari affair and of other drivers’ capabilities.

    While admitting outright that I am a Kimi Die-hard fan, my choice has,in reality,no “guaranteed” bearing on who the best driver is.

    Results are what speaketh the most.Rest is nothing but pure Perception.Maybe some of us do attempt in some rational analysis, but it still remains that – Perception.

    So results wise, the best driver would be Schum(as much as i resent him),though his 2003 title was pure luck and his 2001,02,04 were due to severe misfortune of other drivers'(whose cars seemed to be doing 1 lap for every two laps of Schum’s ).

    Coming back to topic, Kimi was “released”(as against ousted),much in the same manner as Schum was….to make way for another sensation for Ferrari.And as long as Luca stays the chief, such fantasies(of being media-centric) will only continue.

    As far as the debate, on who is better b/w Alonso and Kimi is concerned, the latter has the unbridled enthusiasm of his fans like me to count as support towards the vote… be it Ferrari, Mclaren or Rallying.

    My 2 cents !

    What

  88. Have you seen the GM ads lately? I think they fit in perfectly for this discussion: “May the best car win”

  89. Guess who is back? Alonso is back in a competitive car and hopefully we will see Alonso vs Hamilton vs Button and the likes.

  90. BTW why is Alonso being paid so less? Or was that the term to let him in?

  91. “If Raikkonen goes back to McLaren, he and Hamilton will form the best pairing on the grid.”

    RAIKKONEN FOR THE TITLE 2010… I hope :)

  92. well, I’m selling all my Ferrari items which don’t have a big “Michael Schumacher” on it. Getting the whinning baby at ferrari is an offense to michael’s “memory”

  93. Wooh i’m looking forward to 2010
    Hope Ferrari and mclaren are back at top with brawn gp and redbull racing.

    I do hope that raikonnen doesnt get put in the corner for hamilton like they did with Alonso.

    This could be one great year 2010.. lets hope for it

  94. “Raikkonen was contracted to remain at Ferrari for one more season. Despite having won the title for them in 2007, the team are letting him go one year early in his contract, which can only be interpreted as a reflection on his performance.”

    Bull****!

    Santander, anyone?

  95. ive read all the posts and its quite funn actually

    Hamilton is great yes but all you alonso haters are hilarious! seriously you know nothing about the sport if you cant admit or acknowledge the fact that he is one of the best drivers around atm. he may not be the best in certain departments but he certainly is up there in all of them and i think is the best overall!

    his fans love his passion he wants to win all of the time! everyones moaned once in a while!

    also i study Pyschology and to say Hamilton thrashed Alonso in 07 is just not right! for a start in the 2nd hald of the season alonso was much better and thats when he fell out with mclaren! he never felt comfortable there and as a result if you dont fit in then like in any job your not going to do as well! still 1 point of the championship in a team which didnt like you isnt bad going. they had the same machinery yes but only the blinkered Mclaren fan would say they had equal support! oh an to say mclaren always have equality between drivers! HA! just ask kovi, coultard, montoya even Haikkenen would of been number two behind senna!

    long post i know but all this petty Alonso hate for just grassing up mclaren who for some reason you all think are saints is just a bit sad

  96. another thing (sorry)

    with the fueling ban i believe this benefit drivers like Alonso and button who are very smooth and can maintain there tyres very well and will be able to stay out longer on a set, unlike Hamilton Kimi vettel etc who thrash around like theres no tommorow! tyre preservation and tatics are gonna be a big part to play so Brauwns drivers and Alonso will have a bit of a an advantage at the start

    but although i hope Alonso can prove everyone wrong and win i think Kimi will have a diffrent mindset and just scrape it

  97. Please correct me if I am wrong.
    I thought the ban was on refuelling only, not on tyres. We will still have pit stops for tyres only, RIGHT?

    1. Yes we will have pit stops on tires only

  98. Is Kimi the confirmed driver with Mclaren? If yes, I am excited. It will be a spectacular season next year.. Can they not start it on January 1st 2010 this time?

  99. lets hope for massa and ferrari in 2010

    1. lets hope that ferrari once again find their winning ways back with the likes of massa and alonso,and massa to lead the standings in 2010…….

  100. heard while watching F1 that Michael Schumacher is coming to race again with Massa.. Is this a speculative comment or true?

    Why is Kimi not disclosing his move?

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