Turun Sanomat
HEIKKI KULTA
The people behind Fernando Alonso did everything they could to disturb the peace at Ferrari. The Spanish media kept on believing untill the very end that Ferrari absolutely wants Alonso and were trying to swap Kimi Räikkönen to replace him at Renault.
Even as late as Brazil the Spanish sources were trying to spread a rumour on the paddock that Alonso has been adviced not to commit to anything, because Ferrari is about to fire Räikkönen after the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The groundwork was layed during the summer, when the Spanish media claimed that Santander, the Spanish bank, is about to end it's contract with McLaren and start backing Ferrari. The rumour was that Santander will pay for Räikkönen's release and Alonso's salary as well.
The reality was that Santander extended it's contract with the British team and are now milking Hamilton's championship for all it's worth.
In Italy, Ferrari chief Luca di Montezemolo gave comments to the La Repubblica newspaper in order to elaborate on their driver policy.
- It's not a question of whether we have respect for Alonso or not, or any other driver, but we have the drivers we want. And we are continuing with them. Anything else is a fantasy, and I hope these stories will finally come to an end. We don't want to change a winning team, and we did win a championship in the end.
Earlier di Montezemolo had made clear that Ferrari had already made their choice between Räikkönen and Alonso four years ago - and not based on anything that happened this past season.
[via kr.com posted by Nicole ]
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