Alonso Optimistic After Maranello Visit

Fernando Alonso admitted that his signature with Ferrari for the upcoming 3 seasons of Formula One is a guarantee of his return to success in the series. The Spaniard was out of the title race in the last 2 years because of his struggling Renault team and is now waiting to get back in the title hunt with a winning outfit.

Ferrari would easily qualify for that, despite the Scuderia's struggling season in 2009. Their recent switch in development for the 2010 machinery, however, is reason enough for every tifoso to believe Ferrari will again become competitive next year, especially with Alonso at the wheel.

“I can be optimistic now. With Ferrari you can be calm because you know they will give the maximum. Ferrari is a brand made to compete; sometimes they win the title, sometimes not, but there are no disastrous periods. I think Ferrari is the safest option for any driver,” Alonso told Cadena SER radio, shortly after his visit at the Maranello headquarters over the weekend.

While still to officially terminate his deal with Renault F1 Team, Alonso was seen at the early hours of Friday joining his soon-to-be team boss Stefano Doemnicali in a meeting at Maranello. Later that day, the Spaniard also had a first talk with Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo, the very man who pushed for Alonso to join Ferrari from as early as 2010.

Between the two important meetings, Alonso walked around the Maranello factory and watched closely the development of the 2010 machinery, while also checking out Ferrari's wind tunnel. In addition, he got acquainted with the technicians and had “a couple of laps on the Fiorano race track with the 458 Italia,” as reported by the Ferrari official site.