Ferrari: Alonso Will Drive for the Team, Not for Himself!

Ferrari’s CEO Luca di Montezemolo insisted that he would have never hired Fernando Alonso if the Spaniard was not planning to become a team player at Maranello. The Italian boss emphasized that the organization he’s running needs drivers who are racing first for the team, and only after that for themselves, otherwise they are free to leave at any time and form their own team in the series.

Obviously, the Ferrari CEO was the first one to want Alonso in an all-red Ferrari race suit as soon as possible, but some concerns were indeed raised at Maranello over the Spaniard’s strong personality. Needless to say, his tough relationship with McLaren Mercedes back in 2007 was what caused that feeling of uncertainty at Ferrari.

However, Di Montezemolo insisted that the matter has been taken care of already and Alonso understood his message loud and clear.

“I spoke about these elements with (Stefano) Domenicali maybe 1000 times, not 100, 1000 times, and I spoke with Alonso. I told him: 'If you come to drive for us, you drive for a team, you drive for a group, you don't drive for yourself,” said the Italian during Ferrari’s Christmas party on Friday, as reported by the GMM news agency.

“If you want a team, then you do your own team, fantastic, like John Surtees. In Ferrari we want to put you in the best condition to win. If not, we will never hire you,” added Di Montezemolo.

In addition, he responded to Kimi Raikkonen’s accusation that it was Ferrari’s new sponsor Santander to throw the Fin out of the Scuderia one year before his contract had ended, rather that the Italian officials.

“Certainly, they (Santander) are happy, but it is not the sponsors that choose the drivers: we have never operated like that and we never will,” added the Italian.