Ferrari confirms Alonso to replace Kimi

Wednesday, 30 September 2009 15:14

Ferrari has finally confirmed Formula 1’s biggest open secret by announcing it has signed Reanult's Fernando Alonso on a three-year deal from next season.
The double world champion will replace Kimi Raikkonen after Ferrari agreed to terminate its agreement with the Finnish driver one year early by mutual consent.
Alonso will therefore partner Felipe Massa in a strong line-up at the Maranello-based outfit in 2010, with the Brazilian expected to return from injury well in time for the first race in Bahrain next March.
Announcing the deal on its official website on Wednesday afternoon, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said it was delighted to have secured the services of F1’s most successful active driver, while also thanking Raikkonen for his three years at the team.
“We are very proud to welcome to our team another winning driver, who has demonstrated his amazing talent by winning two world championships in his career to date,” said Domenicali in a statement after signing up Alonso to the end of 2012.
“Of course, we wish to thank Kimi for everything he has done during his time with Ferrari: in his first year with us, he managed to win the drivers’ title, thus making his contribution to Ferrari’s history and he played a vital role in our taking of the constructors’ title in 2007 and 2008.
“Even during a difficult season like this one, he has demonstrated his great talent, with several good results, including a great win in Spa and we are sure that we can share more good times together in the final three races of this season.”
An Alonso/Ferrari tie-up for 2010 – which is set to see Alonso replace Raikkonen as F1’s highest paid driver – has been strongly speculated about since the end of last season, despite Raikkonen having agreed a one-year extension to his Ferrari deal last September amid a difficult season for the then defending champion. Alonso’s imminent Ferrari move will bring to an end his second spell with Renault, the Spaniard having rejoined the team he won his two world titles with in 2005-2006 at the start of last season after an unhappy single year at McLaren.
However, the 28-year-old's second period at the time has failed to hit the heights of the first, with the team's difficult 2009 season compounded in recent weeks by the turmoil of the race-fixing scandal – a controversy which resulted in team principal Flavio Briatore and engineering chief Pat Symonds resigning from the team.
The announcement of Alonso's Ferrari deal should now kick-start the rest of the 2010 driver market, with the rest of the grid having waited for the Maranello outfit to confirm its moves before deciding on their respective line-ups.
Raikkonen’s early release from his Ferrari contract appears likely to pave the way for a surprise return to McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton, the Finn having left the Woking-based squad at the end of 2006 to join its arch rival.
Meanwhile, current BMW star Robert Kubica has been strongly tipped to replace Alonso at Renault, while Nico Rosberg is expected to make the off-season’s other big move and join championship-leader Brawn.

Source http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=47034