Alonso pledges to finish his F1 career at Ferrari

2013 F1 season

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Fernando Alonso says he does not expect to drive for another team in F1 after Ferrari.

Asked during a fans Q&A session if he would finish his career with the team Alonso said: “Yes, that’s what I’m going to do.”

“It’s the best team in the world, there’s nothing above Ferrari,” he added.

However he did not rule out racing in other categories after calling time on his F1 career: “That’s something I haven’t decided on yet. It depends on how I feel when the moment comes, my personal situation,” he said.

“What I am sure about is that if I continue racing, it will be more for fun than for anything else. But we’ll see about that – there’s plenty of F1 life still in me.”

Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001 and marked his 200th F1 race weekend in the last race. He is contracted to remain at Ferrari until the end of 2016.

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Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

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

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58 comments on “Alonso pledges to finish his F1 career at Ferrari”

  1. So Massa’s going to stay on till 2016 too, after which he’ll be sacked. Splendid..

    1. @wsrgo Nah, I don’t think so. Better to bed in a new #2 now so that they have continuity even after Alonso retires. Assuming Vettel replaces Alonso as lead driver, who would work as a good #2? Hulkenberg is available. but I wouldn’t be surprised if they went after Perez again (depending on how he fares at McLaren).

      1. The Hulk is no number 2 driver. Bring him in and Alonso may remember 2007.

        1. The Hulk is good, but I don’t think enough to bite Alonso’s tail.

          Unless he comes with a first year as a #2.

          Most likely if a certain Frenchman in Marussia continues ro impress, he’ll have his #2 seat at Ferrari to mature beneath Alonso.

        2. Jules Bianchi is probably the next number 1 driver. Him or that young Italian in Formula 3 Euro (Maricello ?). Ferrari’s next number 2? I say Romain Grosjean or Esteban Gutierrez.

          1. I actually think Ferrari will do with Bianchi as they did with Massa. Slowly brought him into the grove, as test driver, time at Sauber, then #2, and afterwards it’s up to him.

            Grosjean, even though Luca has hinted of him, he’s rather fast on a good day, so I doubt he’ll want to play #2 to Alonso.

            And Guiterrez, well, he still needs time in a F1 car to show us what he can do?

          2. @blockwall2 You mean Raffaele Marciello? He’s only 18, finished runner-up in last year’s European F3 and is leading the championship this year.
            @ivano di Montezemolo hinted that they could take Grosjean? When?

          3. It was comment during the whole would Massa stay or go period last year, and Luca said something in the lines of we’ve got our eye on someone fast, but needs to get his act together. Something like that.

          4. @wsrgo

            I can’t find his original interview in Italian, but here’s another when he referred to it during the Vettel rumours.

            Quote, “And also the young man who on the first laps this year was sometimes a little too fast,” Montezemolo said, undoubtedly referring to Frenchman Grosjean.

          5. Oops, sorry, here’s the link.

            Montezemolo refers to Grosjean.

          6. @ivano Wow, I didn’t know that. Honestly, I would love to see a driver change at Ferrari in the near future..but I doubt it’ll happen.
            Thanks for the link!

    2. How do you know that? Anyway, 2016 is very long, Alonso is going to be here for another 4 dull years giving competition to Vettel and maybe Lotus, Mercedes.

  2. It’s the best team in the world, there’s nothing above

    Doesn’t every driver say that?

    1. Only Ferrari’s drivers

      1. And Jensen… and Lewis (At McLaren)… and Vettel…

          1. And Mika… and Alonso joining McLaren…

          2. And Villeneuve:
            If someone said to me that you can have three wishes, my first would have been to get into racing, my second to be in Formula 1, my third to drive for Ferrari.

          3. But Villeneuve was the first one. ;)

  3. Alonso will stay at Ferrari at least till 2018-2020…but even more if his physical and mental performance will be the same. For a F1 driver the age is not as important as a soccer player..when you see Schumi at 43 years old beating Rosberg..everything is possible

    1. +1

      Lauda and Prost also proved this, and Senna 34 was still starting in Pole.

    2. @nomore Depends how you see it. F1 isn’t soccer, but it demands a lot from drivers.

      F1 ain’t rally or touring cars. A soccer player can keep on going until very late in his 30’s because he has another 10 guys alongside him and he can leave the field half an hour before the end. A F1 driver needs to be in the car, at Monaco, for 2 hours straight. Or worse, at Singapore, in the heat and suffering the bumps.

      Modern ages might stretch the life of F1 drivers, but I doubt Alonso can manage to be competitive after 2016… specially if new kids keep on coming faster and faster…

      1. @fer-no65
        Yours it’s a good comment is not that i disagree, i simply think that in athletic sports the physical strength is more important than in a car race sport.

        I hope we will be here to see how Alonso will perform after 2016, i hope he will continue in the same level..:)

        1. @nomore I hope that too… !

    3. @nomore Your crystal ball must be very effective, can you give me the numbers of lottery tickets next week?

      Now seriously, Fernando staying beyond of 2016 will depend in the next 3 years results and Santander not giving on in sponsoring Ferrari.

      1. Santander is a factor, even though Ferrari can easily find another sponsor.

      2. @celeste i respect your opinion but i hardly disagree.

        If you really think that Alonso is in Ferrari for Santander, for me there is no point of discussion if you really think this…i’m not interested, you can continue to debate but not with me.

        http://brandfinance.com/news/press_releases/apple-pips-samsung-but-ferrari-worlds-most-powerful-brand

        And they will need Santander’s money to tell them who will drive ? Seriously…
        Sure the results will always be a factor in Formula 1 especially for Ferrari, if Alonso will be outperformed by his team mate then yes he will be in trouble ( i.e Raikkonen )…but i can’t see that happen..but who knows maybe will happen, and im wrong.

        As much as i know and for the connections that i have in Ferrari, Santander can leave tomorrow if they want Ferrari will find another sponsor…but they will move the center of the earth( if they can ) for not losing Alonso …i can guarantee you this…:)

        Everyone is free to have its own opinion, but if you ask me as a Ferrari fan i never have seen someone like Alonso before in Ferrari. Im not happy with him, i’m SUPER happy…sure if in place of Massa would have been Hamilton it would have been the perfect duo for me…but i never mind
        If someone asked me to design the perfect driver, i will not be able to design something different from Fernando Alonso. I’m not his fan, i’m not a driver fan, for me if Ferrari wins with Alonso or Karthikeyan it’s the same.

        1. @nomore

          You just gave Karthikeyan hope. ;)

          Only thing I disagree with, is that Kimi wasn’t outperformed by Massa, but more like he relaxed too much and wasn’t giving his Kimi. Like we saw him recently in Australia, to suddenly vanish in Malaysia.

          1. @ivano ;)

            Agree but if Alonso relaxes like Kimi as he will be sucked, for Ferrari is the same they want always 100%…and i don’t like that super love that Alonso have for the twitter…it’s just losing time and deconcentrate him.

          2. @nomore

            and i don’t like that super love that Alonso have for the twitter…it’s just losing time and deconcentrate him

            I disagree, Alonso is 120% committed at his job,Luca Di Montezemolo said that since the days of Shumacher he never saw anyone spending so much time working in Maranello like Alonso, i give you an example:
            after the Malaysian GP win last year i read in La Gazetta Dello Sport that Alonso didn’t return to spain he went straight to italy and the next day he was working in the gym at 8 am, so i don’t think that maybe 5 minutes a day of Twitter will make him lose his focus

          3. @nomore

            Totally agree on that. And Ferrari have every right considering Alonso’s salary. And in my view, Alonso seems to have lost a bit of edge in his pace since his divorce and love for Twitter. But hopefully he can prove me wrong. :)

          4. @tifoso1989

            Alonso is well loved by the factory for his hard, no doubt about that, and hopefully that 120% will evantually pay off. His way overdue for a red title and by dominating it. Sometimes I fear Ferrari might deliever, and will have wasted another era like Alesi’s.

          5. *hard work

          6. Sorry, it’s been a long day. Meant *Ferrari might not deliever a winning car.

          7. If one driver “relaxes” while the other performs, then he has been outperformed. :) It’s why I’ll always hold drivers like Alonso and Schumacher in a much higher regard than Raikkonen. They never lose interest, relax, or “phone it in”.

        2. @ivano

          and will have wasted another era like Alesi’s.

          Please don’t remind me of that !!!!

        3. @nomore I didn´t say that, but everyone knows that Santander policy is that a big part of the money they are giving Ferrari is to pay Alonso.

          Weather Alonso can or not win a championship in this next three years will say if he can stay or don´t.

        4. Kimi didn’t relax or phone it in. Did Alonso relax or phone it in when he lost to Lewis in Mclaren? Or did Lewis relax or phone it in when he lost to Button in Mclaren? Or could we say that in all of these cases there where other forces at work? Politics, not fitting in with the team ext. ext.

    4. I guess that depends on what he will achieve with the team. If he wins probably, but if he does not I doubt Montezemolo will renew his contract irrespective of who is to blame for the lack of performance. It would also make sense as fresh blood would need to be injected into Ferrari to jump start the ‘success train’. As Alonso just said “there’s nothing above Ferrari” and he should be wise to remember that includes himself as well.

  4. Mind you, so too did Schumacher pledge to finish at Ferrari. ;)

    1. Schumacher did finish at Ferrari. Then he started over again. :P I just can’t see Fernando going anywhere after Ferrari but possibly Merc or RBR; maybe with a sabbatical in between. And that’s dependent on if those teams are doing well circa 2016.

  5. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    10th April 2013, 15:19

    I hope he does. I can’t really imagine him in any other car tbh. He suits the Scuderia very well, both in mental focus, and intensity.

    1. He just needs to win more races with them. ;)

  6. The Blade Runner (@)
    10th April 2013, 15:27

    In fairness to Alonso, he’d be crazy to consider another team even if Ferrari don’t always deliver a car that’s consistently competitive. He has a support structure around him that most drivers only dream of and the team’s approach to the sport appears to fit perfectly with his own.

    Personally I’d love to see Vettel partnering him but I think the twin factors of (a) Ferrari having a “driver 1 & 2” structure and (b) Vettel likely to be reluctant to break the Red Bull “umbilical cord” mean that it is unlikely.

    It will be interesting to see what happens if Massa consistently out-performs Alonso this season though.

    1. Since Germany 2010, it’s like Ferrari has recreated it’s reputation that it has fixed #1 and #2. I tend to disagree as it’s not always been their practice. I won’t deny they made it clear to favour the more expereinced driver, or the driver in the strongest position for the championship, but lets not forget 2007 to 2009, where the drivers were freely racing till the last quarter of the WCD.

      Aside from the Schumacher era, before that Ferrari always treated their drivers as eqauls IMO, Berger-Alesi, Berger-Mansell, with perhaps the exceptions of Prost-Mansell and Schekter-Villeneuve, but that’s because both Prost and Schekter demanded #1 status to be on board. And the Villeneuve and Pironi incident was something alla recent Redbull fiasco where the race was over, so hold positions.

      And even 2006 Massa was allowed to beat Schumacher if in position. Even this year so far Massa has been allowed to stay in front of Alonso.

      But other than that, every team, with Mansell and Patreses and McLaren’s Mika and David duo, they also favoured the driver in the best position towards the end of the championship.

      I know of Luca’s comments that he doesn’t want two roosters, but in all fairness, I think if he could, he would, and Alonso wouldn’t have much of a say regardless of the rumoured veto against Lewis.

  7. Chiz (@a-flying-toilet)
    10th April 2013, 15:44

    Alonso is still the best driver in F1 and has been since 05. 9th year straight of being the best driver in the world. Not bad if you ask me.

    1. Ummm Vettel and Hamilton have something to say, and maybe Kimi

  8. I can see him going beyond 2016, but if Montezemolo gets tired of him like he did with Schumi or Kimi, Alonso will be out like a flash. If he start to win titles with Ferrari, I’m pretty sure he will continue more years but in the other hand if he keeps missing titles by few points, maybe he will call it a day, after all who could have imagined a Spanish driver winning 2 titles and being one of the stars of the show for so long.

    1. Luca was never tired of Schumey, that’s why he even stayed on board after 2006, and if it wasn’t for his injury, Michael would have replaced Massa during 2009 as Luca wanted.

      1. Chiz (@a-flying-toilet)
        10th April 2013, 17:21

        I would have loved to seen ALonso and Schumi paired in 2010-2012 in a ferrari. Alonso could school the old dog just like he did in 06, but in an even car now (The ferrari was far superior to Alonso’s renault in 2006)

        1. @a-flying-toilet

          “The ferrari was far superior to Alonso’s renault in 2006”

          Ridiculous assessment of the 06 season! Go watch it again. Renault were unstoppable during the first half the season. You could argue that it was because of an illegal mass damper. But whatever the case, Schumacher’s comeback in the second half of the season was astounding.

  9. Miki Lauda promised Commandante to remain in Ferrari as long as the old man would want him a year (IIRC) before he left in a hurry (he did not even finish the last season properly), one of the more famous moments of his career. Let’s hope Alonso did not put a hex on himself with his promise.

    1. Who is this Miki Lauda person? was he a racing driver and was he any good?– just joking, you made me laugh and I thank you for it!

  10. I Love the Pope
    10th April 2013, 19:15

    Are there any fans that still associate Alonso with Renault (in their mind) because of his titles, or is it pretty standard to think Alonso-Ferrari now?

    Second, I was not a follower of F1 until 2010. I have heard about crash gate and the non-competitive cars that Alonso drove during his second stint at Renault. Did he leave there unhappy too, like McLaren?

    I associate Alonso with Ferrari only and it is hard for me to even imagine him on another team, let alone McLaren or Renault. But that is because Alonso-Ferrari is all I have known in the sport.

  11. The Day Masa starts regularly beating Alonso, he will opt for voluntary retirement.

  12. I guess if they don’t win a single championship in this season and 2014, we may just see a new no.1 at Ferrari. Probably Vettel, 3 championships in a row and he is still the NEXT Big thing. Who else can be Ferrari’s next No. 1? That is the question.

  13. I’ll have greys by then…

Comments are closed.