It seems that some within Ferrari feel the two-time world champion has been
throwing his weight around with rather too much abandon and needed to be cut
down a peg or two.
In an extraordinary and unprecedented statement on Ferrari’s official website,
Montezemolo did just that, reminding Alonso that “all the great champions
who have driven for Ferrari have always been asked to put the interests of
the team above their own”.
It was in this context that it was fascinating to hear Alonso talk this week
not only of extending his contract beyond the 3½ years it has left to run,
but of finishing his career at “the best team in the world”.
Was it his way of saying sorry? Or could it have had something to do with
continued rumours that Kimi Raikkonen might return to the Scuderia to
partner Alonso next season?
Some feel those rumours are a ploy by Ferrari to keep Alonso in check – the
Spaniard would undoubtedly prefer to see Felipe Massa stay on for another
year. Others think Montezemolo may actually be seriously considering
re-hiring a driver with whom relations soured badly in late 2009 when the
Finn was bought out of the remainder of his £32 million-per-year contract.
It would be quite a statement; a break with Ferrari’s longstanding tradition
of not having “two roosters in the same henhouse”, as Montezemolo put it
last year, but perhaps also a sign that Alonso will not have things all his
own way.
Raikkonen’s return seems unlikely but then these are strange times.
Like McLaren,
Ferrari have had to watch Red
Bull sweep all before them in recent years. Like McLaren, they are
presided over by a team principal who is a lovely chap but who may not have
the requisite steel to break that hegemony.
Alonso knows his value to the team. Make no mistake, it is the Spaniard who
has kept Ferrari in the last few title races rather than the other way
around.
It is why Montezemolo’s answers will be so intriguing on Saturday. What will
he say about Raikkonen? What will he say about his team principal, Stefano
Domenicali? What will he say about Massa? The Brazilian, so disappointing at
Spa two weekends ago, was eighth in practice on Friday, 0.2 sec slower than
his team-mate.
You sense that he would be gone if there were a viable alternative. Nico
Hulkenberg? Perhaps.
Meanwhile, Red Bull continue to dominate, Sebastian Vettel leading Mark Webber
home in a one-two on Friday as he closes in on a fourth straight crown. The
Tifosi are restless.