Horner was sorry to see a driver he has nurtured to 38 victories go, and
equally stunned to lose him to a team mired in troubles, possibly years away
from winning again, but Vettel was the emotional one.
In recent days, it has become evident Fernando Alonso’s time at Ferrari is in
its final furlongs. Vettel, who is believed to have had an agreement to
eventually drive with the Scuderia for some time, seized the opening.
For a man who claims not to be greatly bothered about his paycheque, with just
a handful of advisers – as well as the guiding hand of Formula
One’s ringmaster, Bernie Ecclestone, stirring away in the background
– he has brokered a phenomenally lucrative deal, understood to be worth
around £40 million a year. “I have a head and a brain,” he joked of his
negotiating technique.
While it would not be unreasonable to contend that he has walked away from the
challenge of overcoming Ricciardo, there is more to it than that. For all
drivers, Ferrari has an almost spellbinding allure.
His great hero, Michael Schumacher, won five titles there and turned it from a
basket case into an all‑conquering machine. But the need for a fresh
challenge seemed the most overriding motivation.
“You can compare it to deciding to grow up and move out of home,” Vettel said.
“It is a big step like that. But there is the desire and hunger to create
something new, and in the end that’s what made me decide to open another
door.”
The danger is that his quest to fulfil a long-cherished dream, having the
coveted Ferrari drive firmly on his CV, will end as it has done for Alonso,
who went to Maranello with similarly lofty ambitions.
His five-year love affair with Ferrari has ended in disaster. Twice he came
close to a third title, which would put him equal with his hero Ayrton
Senna, but he spent most of the time in a poor car, rendering him unable to
translate his unquestionable talent and boundless tenacity into victories.
Relations have become so fractured he looks set to risk his one last career
move – he is not young at 33 – on an unproven McLaren-Honda combination.
“I have my mind set,” Alonso said on Saturday. “I’ve had a plan, very clear;
for the last two or three months I’ve known what I wanted to do. I have the
opportunity to do whatever I want and I will do what is the best thing for
me in my career right now.”
While Alonso is widely regarded as the finest driver on the grid, his
decisions over any period of time longer than a split-second have been
dubious at best. In 2007, he lost his cool under sustained pressure from
Lewis Hamilton, walking out on McLaren and his chance at possibly two
championships.
At the end of 2008, he rejected overtures from Honda when they pulled out and
became Brawn. A championship for Jenson Button followed. And then, finally,
he opted for Ferrari instead of Red Bull, missing out on four years of
dominance.
Even now he has ignored the logical option: one more season at Ferrari, giving
him time to assess the lay of the land. As it is, McLaren-Honda will in all
likelihood have their star driver, or Formula One will lose Alonso to a
year’s sabbatical.
Either way, the typhoon which threatens the Japanese Grand Prix came a day
early. Unlike Phanfone, however, this storm will not leave the paddock until
Alonso has declared his intentions, leaving Jenson Button at McLaren with an
anxious wait.
There may be more tears than just Vettel’s to come.