Alonso: ‘No problem’ with Hamilton or Vettel as team-mate

F1 News
Date: 22/June/2012

Thursday at Valencia, on the eve of this weekend’s F1 Grand Prix, saw Fernando Alonso face a grilling from the media over how much influence he has in determining future Ferrari team-mates.

Alonso is signed up for Ferrari until 2016, and currently battling for the world title. Present team-mate Felipe Massa is just 14th in the championship and expected to be replaced at the end of this year.

Among the names hotly linked to the future Ferrari drive are fellow former champions and two of Alonso’s closest rivals - Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton’s own long term McLaren deal expires at the end of this year, while reigning double champion Vettel has a Red Bull contract until 2014.

However rumours suggest Vettel could leave at the end of 2013 if performance clauses are not met and some are even suggesting that Vettel has signed some form of pre-contract with Ferrari.

Alonso brushed off the latest speculation:

“Rumours about Ferrari are always the same: when I won the 2005 Championship with Renault, I was linked to Ferrari immediately – and I arrived in 2010.

“So, if Sebastian is linked now, maybe he’ll arrive in five years’ time.”

He added: “Extremely happy with Felipe, whatever team-mate comes in the future will be welcome, will be part of the team and part of Ferrari.”

While an Alonso-Vettel line-up would likely need to wait at least one season (in turn spawning rumours of a one-year Ferrari deal for Vettel’s present team-mate Mark Webber) an Alonso-Hamilton tie-up is contractually possible for 2012.

But that seems highly improbable given their explosive season together at McLaren in 2007. Alonso admitted he is now consulted about the identity of his team-mates.

“In the past, never. Now at Ferrari, yes,” he confirmed.

But Alonso played down suggestions that he could block the signing of a driver he didn’t like.

“I doubt it. It’s an open chat, we talk, but in the end, it’s their decision,” he said.

Alonso then raised eyebrows by claiming he would have no opposition to the idea of working with Hamilton again - despite the 2007 rift between them causing Alonso’s multi-year McLaren contract to be torn up after one season.

“No problem,” he said of driving alongside the Englishman again, a phrase he repeated when asked about Vettel.

After becoming the seventh different winner in the opening seven rounds, Hamilton leads Alonso by just two points at the head of the championship standings.

Hamilton, a McLaren F1 racer since his spectacular 2007 debut and supported by the British team through the lower categories, was asked about recent comments by McLaren Executive Chairman Ron Dennis.

Dennis suggested that Hamilton and his management must be aware of how the economic climate has changed when negotiating his new contract.

Hamilton said: “Ron is a very tough negotiator. He was very tough when they negotiated the contract that I have now and I expect him to be the same when we go back in [this time].

“I don’t see there being many problems, to be honest,” he added, words that cast doubt on a possible split from McLaren.

Asked to reflect on their tumultuous 2007 season together, both Hamilton and Alonso avoided the favouritism claims, deteriorating off-track relationship and spying scandal.

“Losing the championship was definitely the [worst moment]” said Hamilton. “I think the best moment was having the great opportunity and privilege of working alongside Fernando and Pedro [de la Rosa, test driver], and working for such a great team, and winning my first race in Montreal. That was part of my life that I could only have ever dreamed of.”

“Yes, same,” declared Alonso. “The worst moment was losing the championship, for sure, at the last race after being at the top of the table for the whole season, and then we lost it at the last race.

“Best thing for me was the technical approach that was very different compared to Renault and all the things that I learned on the technical side in that year… I think they were very, very important for the rest of my career and I improved 200 percent as a driver that year.”

Alonso and Hamilton finished the 2007 season level on points and just one-point behind Ferrari’s surprise Champion Kimi Raikkonen.