Rumours that Formula One double-world champion Fernando Alonso could move from ING Renault team to Ferrari received a new push after Gazzetta dello Sport claimed that Alonso had signed a secret agreement with the Italians to join Ferrari as of 2011.
Such rumours have been going around since May 2008 but temporarily subsided in November 2008 after Alonso extended his contract with ING Renault till 2010.
The twice Formula One world champion has never hidden his desire to go to the Italian team and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo recently fuelled the ongoing speculation by refusing to rule out the Spaniard’s future arrival.
The newspaper said the deal had several get-out clauses for both sides but added that Alonso could join Ferrari even earlier, in 2010, if 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen follows this year’s disappointing season with another bad campaign.
The 27-year-old won two races, in Singapore and Japan, and finished fifth in the standings for Renault, with whom he won the 2005 and 2006 world championships.
“We have (Felipe) Massa and Raikkonen under contract for the next two years,” Montezemolo said. “As for the future, we’ll see. Alonso is a great champion, but life is long. He’s young.”
Gazzetta indicated that the pressure is on Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, to deliver. Ferrari officials declined to comment on the report.
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