Ferrari’s president has paid lavish compliments to Fernando Alonso in a manner suggesting that the Spaniard may be on the Italian team’s shopping list for next season.
Luca di Montezemolo told Italian reporters: “Alonso is world class in every sense, an extraordinary driver. I have appreciated very much his sportsmanship. He lost by one point and I believe that it wasn’t his fault. “
The subtext to the Italian aristocrat’s pronouncements is that Alonso is highly likely to leave McLaren soon, and would theoretically be able to drive for Ferrari next year, while Hamilton will remain a McLaren driver for the foreseeable future. Andrew Baker, Telegraph.co
McLaren’s Ron Dennis has said a decision over the future of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso should be reached in the next fortnight.
The Spanish driver has repeatedly clashed with the Woking-based outfit’s hierarchy over his lack of preferential treatment in the face of a title challenge from rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The relationship reached a low when it was revealed the former Renault driver had threatened to pass damning evidence to the authorities investigating the season’s ‘spying’ scandal in an attempt to force McLaren to improve his status in their garage.In The News.co
Dennis has been accused of doing everything he can to aid “teacher’s pet” Hamilton’s tilt at the title to the detriment of Alonso. McLaren have been presented as selling Alonso short, shopping him to the FIA – who have also been accused of giving an occasional helping hand to the English driver – and not granting the Spaniard the privileges worthy of a two-times champion. But far from practising a policy of “equality”, Dennis stood accused and convicted of shamelessly backing the Brit. There was suspicion with every mechanical failure suffered by Alonso, the possibility of him being the victim of sabotage openly expressed.
That McLaren ended up with nothing was payback, the inevitable consequence of failing to make Alonso the undisputed No 1 and instead backing a rookie who could not take the pressure – a kid destined to choke, a man who was “nervous, greedy and lacked the character of a true champion”.
It all meant that it was not Alonso’s fault he had not been world champion but Dennis’s and McLaren’s; Alonso had not driven slowly, his car had been slow. He had been good enough to “defeat everyone except his own team”. And now McLaren would pay the price when, as Alonso himself put it, “their best driver walks away”.Sid Lowe, Telegraph.co
Fernando Alonso ended the season empty-handed, but his Spanish compatriots did not really care: The joy over the fiasco at McLaren-Mercedes and the defeat of Lewis Hamilton was greater than the sadness over Alonso’s failure to retain the world championship. “How dumb is Dennis! ” the daily El Mundo said Monday of the McLaren-Mercedes boss Ron Dennis in an opinion piece.
“Monday, the words “harakiri,” “rididule” or “gift” were frequent in the Spanish press, which hardly had time to regret Alonso’s own defeat.
The Spanish driver had said he would have “to do the impossible” to retain the title at the Interlagos circuit. He did not make it, but Raikkonen - for whom the task at hand was even more difficult - did.
“Ferrari is a real team,” the Spanish daily El Pais noted. EarthTimes.org
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