Ferrari are poised to announce that double world champion Fernando Alonso will join the team for 2010.
The Spaniard, 28, has signed a two-year contract with options to extend and will earn a salary in the region of 19-25 million euros (£17.3m-£22.8m).
The deal, which has been widely expected in Formula 1 for some time, is likely to be made public this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
He will partner Felipe Massa, with Kimi Raikkonen tipped to move to McLaren.
The Finn had a contract with Ferrari until the end of 2010, but the team have been in negotiations to move him to another team.
As part of the cascade of driver moves that will follow Alonso’s switch, Pole Robert Kubica is tipped to fill the vacancy left by Alonso at Renault.
The most successful active driver in F1, Alonso signed his Ferrari contract as long ago as July 2008, according to sources close to the team.
The Italian team had been planning to announce it at the end of the season, but it has become such common knowledge that they have decided to bring that forward.
A Ferrari spokesman said: “At this moment, there is nothing we can say. In the last few weeks, something has changed. We are talking to the drivers and when it is the proper time we will make an announcement.” BBC Sports
Alonso is under contract with Renault until 2010 but has the option of leaving at the end of this year.
If he completes six years with Ferrari, Alonso will be 34 and could then retire from the sport, Cadena Ser said.
After winning the drivers’ championship with Renault in 2005 and 2006, Alonso spent an unhappy year with McLaren before returning to the French constructor last year. AFP
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